Good Morning Islanders Country,
An entertaining return of Islanders hockey didn’t end on a high note in Music City on Saturday. In what was a feisty matinee showdown between two teams that haven’t seen each other in two years, the Nashville Predators (4-4) bested the Islanders (3-2-2) 3-2 in a shootout at Bridgestone Arena.
We’ll get you all caught up on the weekend happenings, including a new team for Aatu Räty and a busy two days for Bridgeport, but first, let’s recap Saturday’s action.
🏒 IN SHORT: Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom scored for the Isles and Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves in the 3-2 shootout defeat. Tanner Jeannot recorded the first two-goal game of his career and Juuse Saros had 34 saves for the Predators, who have won three in a row. Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi (GW) scored in the shootout.
The Isles are 3-0-2 in their last five games; their eight points match their highest total through seven games under Barry Trotz.
🗣 QUOTEBOOK
CHARGED UP: “I liked our game,” Trotz said. “This is a hard building to come into. We were emotionally engaged right from the start. If I just take the 60 minutes of the game, overall, I thought we deserved to at least get a point and maybe even win the game.”
SPECIAL TEAMS: “Our penalty kill was committed and made a couple of adjustments and got better as it went on,” Trotz added. “Our power play got us a point in terms of scoring our goals tonight and I liked a lot of our game.”
SOLID EFFORT: “For sure we want the two points, but I thought it was a pretty good road game,” Josh Bailey said. “I think [Trotz] mentioned after the game, obviously we want the win but we're collecting points. We played well. They got a break late in the game to tie it up. But yeah, we'll take it. I thought it was a pretty solid effort collectively.”
🔑 KEY MOMENT(S):
🔻A bad defensive sequence led to Tanner Jeannot’s second goal of the game, tying things at two in the third period. Zdeno Chara lost his stick, Mat Barzal fell down and a tired Islanders group couldn’t get out of the zone leading to this shot from Matt Benning deflecting off the shin of Jeannot to tie the game.
LUCKY ONE: “The boys were just working hard, playing our game we want to play down low,” Jeannot said. “(Benning) made a great play going wide and threw it to the net. I was standing there and it happened to go off me, so I got a lucky one.”
🔺 With the game tied at 1-1, the Islanders regained the lead at 12:04 of the second on this rocket of a wrister from Oliver Wahlstrom that beat Saros high to the blocker side just underneath the crossbar.
HIGH TARGET: “I just tried to put myself in the best possible spot to get my shot off,” Wahlstrom said. “This goalie is good, but he’s a little small too, so we had to work to get pucks above him. The goalie was tough all night to get pucks by.”
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ POWER PLAY DELIVERS: With two power-play goals in four opportunities Saturday, the Islanders equaled their power play production for the first six games of the season. Entering Saturday, the Islanders had the league’s 25th ranked power play with a 12.5% success rate.
❷ SOROKIN SOLID AGAIN: Ilya Sorokin set a career-best shutout streak of 146:54, ending on Tanner Jeannot’s second-period goal, after making 81 saves during that span. The Russian netminder has now started seven straight games to start the season, the third-longest such streak by an Islander goalie. The longest streaks are Tommy Salo (18 in 1998-99) and Felix Potvin (9 in 1999-2000).
Sorokin made 21 saves on Saturday, none better than this pad stop on Eeli Tolvanen late in the 3-on-3 Overtime period that gave the Isles a chance in the shootout.
❸ OT TROUBLE: The Islanders have failed to get the extra point in two attempts this early season and the lack of chances generated at 3-on-3 has been noticeable. After the game, Trotz acknowledged the loss of their two best skating defenseman, Devon Toews and Nick Leddy as a factor. “You look at our three-on-three the last couple of years, there is a Leddy and a Toews,” Trotz said. “Just because they have the ability to get separation on those odd-man situations or those quick breaks or change of possessions. They can make a difference. We don’t really have lots of that.”
⏭ NEXT UP: Three more days off this week, before the Isles head up north to take on the Habs on Thursday and the Winnipeg Jets as part of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Islanders top forward prospect Aatu Räty was traded in the Liiga Sunday morning from Oulun Kärpät to Mikkeli's Jukurit in a multi-player deal.
WHAT THIS MEANS: This should come as good news for Räty and the Islanders as the 18-year old center has only seen the ice in six out of 18 games for Kärpät. Often a healthy scratch, the hope is Räty can get more ice time for Jukurit to help further his development.
LOOKING AHEAD: Räty’s Liiga contract ends at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, and he could join the Bridgeport Islanders and continue to develop his North American game as soon as Jukurit’s season ends.
👶 JR. ISLANDERS: The Bridgeport Islanders split the weekend with a regulation 6-4 win against the Providence Bruins on Saturday and a regulation 5-1 loss against the Hartford Wolfpack on Sunday.
SATURDAY: Otto Koivula extended his point streak to five games, tying the game for the Baby Isles at four. Blade Jenkins, Simon Holmstrom, Richard Panik all scored their first goals of the 2021-22 season, while Anatolii Golyshev and Andy Andreoff continue finding the back of the net.
SUNDAY: Cory Schneider made his season debut for Bridgeport after dressing for the varsity club through their first six games as Sorokin’s backup. Schneider surrendered five goals on 35 shots, ending the night with 30 saves. Austin Czarnik scored the Islanders lone goal, his first of the season.
TOP PROSPECTS: The Islanders’ top prospects look as though they’re taking a step forward this season. Koivula and Arnaud Durandeau are tied for the lead in points for Bridgeport with six (1g,5a each), Golyshev has four goals in five games, Simon Holmstrom accrued five points (1g,4a) in seven games, and Robin Salo leads the blueline with one goal and three assists.
👩🏫 SOUND SMART: Anthony Beauvillier’s first-period goal vs the Predators on Saturday afternoon was his 84th career goal, tying him with John Tonelli for the 3rd most by a left-winger before their 25th birthday. Only Clark Gillies (161) and Derek King (91) have more before turning 25.
SCORE FIRST: The goal gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead. New York has scored first in five straight games and in six of their first seven games; last season the Isles scored first in 27 of their 56 games.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: Yesterday, we not only celebrated Halloween but also the 88th birthday of Phil Goyette, the first head coach in Islanders history. Goyette went 6-38-4 behind the bench in the Islanders’ first 48 games in the NHL before being replaced by Earl Ingarfield Sr.
🔗 Oliver Wahlstrom is moving up the learning curve for the Islanders, by Andrew Gross, Newsday: “Oliver Wahlstrom is the Islanders’ leading goal scorer after snapping a three-game stretch without a point. He’s also the team’s youngest player so much about life in the NHL for him is still a learning experience.”
🔗 Interesting swap deal in the hockey league - super talent will gain new momentum in his career under Olli Jokinen's leadership, by Christoffer Herberts, Sporten: “Here, Räty will be coached by Olli Jokinen, who himself has 17 NHL seasons behind him, as a player not entirely different from Aatu Räty.”
🔗 Islanders’ goalie tandem is ready to ride again with the return of a skinnier, healthier Semyon Varlamov, by Arthur Staple, The Athletic: “They do have a great relationship,” Trotz said. “There were a few times last season when Varly was playing as well as anyone in the league and he’d tell me, ‘Give Ilya the next one. He needs it.’ That’s when you know you have two goalies that are really in sync, and it’s a real luxury to have as a coach.”
🔗 Islanders Third Line Has Potential To Be NHL’s Best, by Scott Mitchell, Eyes on Isles: “It’s no secret that the New York Islanders have a great team this year. From the first line, which consists of Anders Lee, Mat Barzal, and Kyle Palmieri to the fourth line, the Islanders identity line, this team is stacked. One of the underrated lines on this team has to be the third line. The trio of Zach Parise, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Oliver Wahlstrom could be one of the NHL’s best third lines.”
And we leave you with this … Danilo Santiago (@nyibrazilianguy) held a jersey retirement at his home in São Paulo, Brazil last week for Butch Goring and John Tonelli.
MSG Network featured his tweet of the ceremony on Saturday’s broadcast.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until tomorrow’s newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.