Happy New Year, Islanders Country.
If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you likely had bigger and better plans than watching the Islanders and Penguins on New Year’s Eve. For some of you, that could have meant seeing Billy Joel play at UBS Arena, or perhaps you are one of the thousands obsessed with seeing Phish live at Madison Square Garden.
For those with more low-key plans who stayed home and watched the game, it was a frustrating end to 2023. After having “one of those games’ against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, you were hoping they would be able to avenge the 7-0 blowout loss. Lane Lambert felt played well enough to win, but they weren’t the better team, though they had plenty of scoring chances to earn at least a point.
With an extra attacker on in the final minute, Anders Lee had the best chance to tie the game, receiving a beautiful pass from Kyle Palmieri, but Lee, skating hard downhill at full speed, was in too tight, and a little disruption from Jake Guentzel prevented the captain from tying the game.
The Isles played alright but needed better than alright against a Pens team that has been playing much better and climbing in the standings. Instead of putting the Pens in the rearview mirror for a while, Pittsburgh is among the teams within an arm’s length of the Isles in the super tight Metro that can see you slide from 2nd to 6th in a matter of a few days.
The loss to the Penguins ended a five-game stretch against teams in the Metro to close out the calendar year. The Isles went 2-2-1 for five out of a possible ten points, not as a disaster, but not as good as they had hoped either. The Isles now play 17 straight games outside the division until the Stadium Series showdown outdoors against the Rangers on Feb. 18th.
If 2024 is anything like 2023, prepare for an always interesting, sometimes thrilling, sometimes frustrating year of Islanders hockey.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: The Pittsburgh Penguins got 36 saves from backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic and defeated the New York Islanders 3-1 at PPG Paints Arena on New Year’s Eve. Lars Eller had two goals, including one into an empty net to seal the win. Noel Acciari also scored for the Penguins (18-13-4), who have won three straight and are 5-0-1 in their past six. Defenseman Samuel Bolduc scored his first goal of the season for the Isles (17-10-9), and Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves in the loss. It was the Pens’ second win against the Islanders in five days.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 Trailing 1-0 in the first, Alex Nedeljkovic made his best save of the game. With his mask loose, he dove to the left to stop a Brock Nelson stop shot. It was one of many good looks the Isles had that Nedeljkovic denied in the first two periods.
🔻 Noel Acciari made it 2-0 at 2:20 of the second period, deflecting a sharp-angle shot from Drew O’Connor between the legs of Scott Mayfield that conf
🔷 Samuel Bolduc got the Isles to within one with his first goal of the season at 13:51 of the third period when Mathew Barzal’s centering feed ping-ponged its way to him at the left circle for a one-timer. Barzal was not given an assist.
3 REACTIONS
❶ WELL ENOUGH TO WIN: “It's frustrating. It's disappointing. We played well enough to win,” Lane Lambert said. “Both goalies played well, and we had some real good looks. We couldn't get it by [Nedeljkovic], and that was a difference in the game, but it was a game that chances went both ways.”
❷ DIDN’T GET THE BOUNCES: “That first power play I think three or four of those saves we could have had and then you know some of the ones at the end,” Scott Mayfield said. “We just didn't get their bounces. One bounced off my skate of in front of squeaked in and we couldn't get that on the other end.”
❸ STICKING TO OUR GAME: “We played a good game,” Casey Cizikas said. “It was a tight game the entire time, and their goalie made a lot of big saves to keep the lead for them, so we just have to keep attacking and keep doing what we're doing and sticking to our game.”
GAME IMPACT SCORE
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders’ first game of 2024 will take place in Denver when they take on Devon Toews, Cale Makar, and the Colorado Avalanche.
Face-off is set for 9:00 PM EST.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Head coach Lane Lambert made forward Pierre Engvall a healthy scratch for the second time this season, electing to move Hudson Fasching up to the second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. With center Casey Cizikas back in the lineup following missing Friday’s game with an illness, Matt Martin stayed in the lineup and dropped the gloves with 23-year-old John Ludvig seven seconds into the game and got the best of the youngster.
News & Notes
◾️ On Saturday night, the Islanders announced that defenseman Ryan Pulock had been moved to Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). By doing so, per CapFriendly, the team has now raised their overall LTI salary pool to $11.9M and $9.950 in usable salary cap space remaining if there were to make an acquisition between now and the trade deadline on Mar. 8, 2024.
◾️ Defenseman Adam Pelech was also spotted on the ice at the morning skate, working on his own as the team practiced special team drills. Pelech hasn't played since Nov. 24 in Ottawa with an upper-body injury.
The fact that he's traveling with the team and starting to skate is an indication that he could rejoin the lineup sometime during the road trip, which takes the Isles to Colorado, Arizona, and Las Vegas.
BIZ VS. BOOMERS
Paul Bissonnette may think that it’s all fun in games in his back and forth with Isles legend, but Spittin’ Chiclets co-host Ryan Whitney isn’t too sure the 1981 Conn Smythe Award winner on the joke. Goring made sure he would have the last laugh of 2023 with this comment to “Biz” on Dec. 30th.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Sunday was just the Isles' second loss in their last 15 games on New Year's Eve (12-2-1), with the other loss coming in Colorado six years ago. This was the second December 31st meeting between the Islanders and Penguins, with the Isles winning 6-1 in 2003 at Mellon Arena for their most one-sided New Year's Eve win. Jason Blake had two goals and two assists, while Garth Snow picked up the win and added an assist.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On Jan. 1, 2022, the Islanders defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime in a New Year’s Day matinee, thanks to the overtime heroics of Noah Dobson. The Islanders were previously winless in seven attempts on New Year’s Day in franchise history before Dobson’s goal 3:52 into the extra session. Anthony Beauvillier forced the extra session with a goal 2:23 into the third; the Isles out-shot Edmonton 16-2 in the third period and overtime.
🔗 Islanders’ new minority owner John Collins eyes hosting ‘tentpole’ events by Ethan Sears, New York Post “Collins has a long history as an executive that includes a nearly 15-year run with the NFL and nine years with the NHL over which he was largely credited for creating the Winter Classic. He recently worked as the CEO for OnLocation Experiences and in the same role for Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp.”
🔗 Islanders Legends Share Their Thoughts on State of Team by Stefen Rosner, The Hockey News “At the grand opening of The Park outside of UBS Arena, New York Islanders legends Denis Potvin and Billy Smith shared their thoughts on the state of the team.”
And we leave you with this ….Brock Nelson and Cal Clutterbuck were among the parents on the sidelines, cheering on their kids in the tournament while checking out The Park. Nelson and his wife, Karley, lifted their two kids on and off the ice for their shifts.
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