Good Morning, Islanders Country.
No one is going to feel sorry for the New York Islanders. They were hoping to get their full group together and get some traction, but Mathew Barzal landing in Covid protocol was the latest unfortunate twist in this strange season.
“It’s part of our day in, day out life right now, said Barry Trotz after last night’s loss. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it and move on. Feel sorry for us? Not a chance.”
Missing Barzal and missed opportunities left Trotz’s team once again searching for answers as they fell 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night. The Isles were on the end of the same result — another one-goal defeat albeit in overtime — just ten days ago against this same Detroit squad.
The Isles shift their focus now to home ice where they play seven of their next eight at UBS Arena, essentially in what could determine whether they are playing meaningful games deep into the season.
Coming up, the NHL is hit hard with Covid cases, the lines shake up and the organization announces a new strategic partnership. But first, let’s get you caught up on another setback in Motown.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: The Islanders (7-12-5) lost 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings (14-12-3), on Tuesday night. Dylan Larkin’s power-play goal broke a scoreless tie in the second on a shot that Ilya Sorokin misjudged with his blocker. Michael Rasmussen made it 2-0 late in third on a two-on-one rush. Anders Lee scored the Isles’ only goal with under three minutes left in regulation. Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 34 saves; Sorokin stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 With the game still 0-0 early in the second, Anthony Beauvillier had a chance at the side of the net — an empty net — to give the Isles the lead but pushed the shot wide keeping the game scoreless.
🔶 Down 1-0 in the second period, Nelson, Beauviller, and Bailey broke out on a 3-on-1, but Alex Nedeljkovic made a great save on Nelson, and then Robin Salo hit the post as the Islanders were kept off the board heading into the third period.
🔻 As the Islanders looked for the equalizer, Zdeno Chara’s feed in front of the Detroit net found its way Adam Erne who flipped a high pass to a racing Michael Rasmussen who came in and beat Sorokin blocker side to make it 2-0 Red Wings.
🔶 With Sorokin pulled, Anders Lee got the Islanders within one with 2:33 left in the third period as he deflected a Noah Dobson slap shot from the point past Nedeljkovic. The assist from Dobson his fifth point in the last six games.
3 REACTIONS
❶ LONG LAPSES: "There were just too many lapses on our own end that gave them some opportunities to keep momentum,” said Islanders captain Anders Lee. “Especially in the second period we got hemmed in a little bit too much and it took the flow away from our game. We ended up chasing for too much of the game tonight.”
❷ BEAU BE BETTER: “I don’t know if he’s picked up anything. But I liked his desperation,” head coach Barry Trotz said on Beauvillier being back in the lineup. "I thought he was more noticeable tonight than he’s been in quite some time. He has to have an impact night in and night out. That’s expected.”
❸ IT’S LIFE RIGHT NOW: “This is an ongoing dilemma for a lot of teams, not only us. We were hoping we could get our group together and get some traction,” Trotz on the team’s COVID situation still lurking. “And it just continues. It is what it is. We’ll just deal with it. It’s a part of life right now. It’s part of our day in and day out life right now.”
⏭ NEXT UP: The Isles are in a stretch where they are playing nine out of eleven games at home. The next home game is Thursday night vs. the Boston Bruins followed by a Sunday matinee against the Vegas Golden Knights.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Mathew Barzal became the ninth Islander to enter Covid protocol this season. He had 9 points (1 goal and 8 assists) in the last six games before missing Tuesday’s game. The Isles were supposed to be on the other side of this - they had had their outbreak, lost games with an undermanned roster, and their season had been paused. After Saturday’s win, it was now time to get the team at full strength and string wins together. Life and the virus had other plans. Instead, their most important offensive player will likely miss an extended period of time. If asymptomatic, Barzal can come out of the protocol with negative tests in consecutive days. If not, his time away from the team will be lengthy in terms of both days and games.
🔁 LINE CHANGES: JG Pageau took Barzal's spot alongside Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri while Anthony Beauvillier returned to action after missing Saturday's game as a healthy scratch, skating on a line with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey. Matt Martin returned to the lineup after missing four games, skating with his ‘Identity Line’ teammates Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck.
🚨 DESPERATELY SEEKING GOALS: With Barzal out, production from top-six forwards is a must, specifically those that have been struggling. Both Bailey and Palmieri each had just one goal entering Tuesday and Bailey had taken just 14 shots in 18 games. “You talk to Bails about, ‘You get an opportunity, let’s put it in play,’ Trotz said before the game on Tuesday. "He’s been working on shooting pucks before and after practice a lot more. We need a guy like him and a guy like Palms to find the back of the net. They’ve done a lot of good things in other areas of the game. But that one area where they can help us out, it’s on them to shoot the puck and find the back of the net.”
📈 RISING CASES: The Islanders were not the only team hit by Covid on Tuesday as organizations across the NHL, NBA, and NFL are dealing with rising cases impacting their rosters. As of yesterday afternoon, 23 players had been added to the NHL Covid list in 36 hours and additional games were postponed.
For the NHL and NHLPA, the decision to play in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing is getting further problematic by the day. Josh Bailey having to remain in Florida or Mat Barzal in Detroit is one thing, but as TSN’s Chris Johnston reported over the weekend, a player testing positive during the games would be forced to spend 3-5 weeks in quarantine in China. This could way heavily on the ultimate decision whether or not to play giving the personal and team ramifications if a player tests positive during the Olympics. There's a January 10th deadline for the players to withdraw without financial penalty.
📚 SOUND SMART: Via Eric Hornick’s The Skinny, Oliver Wahlstrom had five shots and eight attempts in 15:14 of ice-time; it was his 3rd-highest ice-time of the season. Noah Dobson has five points in the last six games (3-2-5); he leads all Islander defensemen in goals, assists, and points (3-6-9). Detroit is 10-0-2 when leading after two periods; the Isles are 0-10-2 when trailing after 40 minutes. The Red Wings have 49 points from rookies – most of any NHL team.
🎧 No Sleep Till Belmont - Episode 122 by The Athletic New York “Arthur and guest cohost, former Islanders head coach Scott Gordon, discuss the Isles doing the right things to start turning their season around, including getting more regulars back into the lineup and coming out of their own zone smoother, getting more contributions from veterans like Zach Parise and Zdeno Chara, and more.”
🔗 Barry Trotz shuffles Islanders lineup, looking for production by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Trotz also chose to re-form his longstanding identity line by putting Matt Martin back with Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck after burly Ross Johnston had dressed the last four games."I’m interested to see how everybody plays," Trotz said before the game. "If they get an opportunity to get back in, I want them to make a statement. Tell me I’m wrong."
🔗 Mat Barzal enters COVID protocol just as Islanders thought outbreak was over by Ethan Sears, New York Post “The NHL postponed two of the team’s games at the peak of the outbreak, but the Islanders lost 11 games in a row from Nov. 7 through Dec. 11 — a span that includes all of those players being out. Now, with the team finally having won two of three games headed into Tuesday, it has lost its top point scorer. Barzal is also on a hot streak, having notched nine points during a six-game point streak.
And we leave you with this …. on Tuesday, Socios.com announced a marketing and advertising partnership with the New York Islanders. Socios is an all-in-one influence and rewards app and direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform that leverages blockchain technology to provide the world's leading sporting organizations with the tools to engage with and monetize their global fanbases.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.