Reversal of Fortune
In an instant (replay), a save became a goal and a win became a loss
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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Ilya Sorokin slid to his left, made a jaw-dropping glove save, and UBS Arena was the loudest it had been all night. The Isles had a third-period lead, were still on the power play, and the crowd was chanting, “ILYA SOROKIN!”
Then, the whistle blew, the replay was queued up, and everything changed. It showed that while Sorokin had stopped the puck, it carried his glove over the red line. It wasn’t the save of the year. It was a Minnesota Wild shorthanded goal.
But the play in real-time looked offside; for a moment, there was still a glimmer of hope that none of this counted, but then … on-side.
And with that, the air was sucked out of the building, the power-play failed to convert, and it felt like we were waiting for the inevitable, which soon came as the Islanders lost a game where they entered the third with the lead for only the second time this season (15-2).
The Islanders played a choppy, undisciplined game with no flow. Yes, they were in a position to win, but their lead literally came on a lucky bounce, and while the penalty kill did its job, it was the power play that failed them again, going 0-3 and allowing the short-handed goal.
They had 23 turnovers (TWENTY-THREE!) to just 5 for Minnesota and took six penalties, which prevented the offense from getting into any rhythm with their top line on the bench waiting to get on the ice. The team generated just five high-danger shots and 16 scoring chances overall and continues to lack the finishing touch. The Isles have scored just one goal in each of their last three games and five total in the last four - all losses.
In the post-game, Lane Lambert said, “there’s always urgency.” Well, that may be true, but there are levels of urgency, and things just got turned up a notch or two.
Coming up, Pelech skates with the team, and Aho skates in his 100th career game. Plus, Dobson goes to the videotape, a new plan for the Coliseum site (this one feels for real), and a fun win at MSG on “the deuce.”
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Frederick Gaudreau and Sam Steel scored 1:33 apart in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild came from behind to defeat the New York Islanders 3-1 at UBS Arena on Thursday. Scott Mayfield tied his career-high with his fifth goal of the season for the Isles (22-18-3), who have lost four straight (0-3-1). Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves. Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal and added an assist, and Filip Gustavsson made 19 saves for the Wild (23-14-4), who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-1-2).
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 Only 1:33 after replay showed that Frederick Gaudreau had scored, Sam Steel gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead at 12:28 on a snapshot after Mats Zuccarello showed great patience before sliding a no-look pass over to Steel for the goal.
3 REACTIONS
❶ BEAT OURSELVES LATE: "We played a good game, just beat ourselves late in the third," Anders Lee said following the loss. "We just kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit too much tonight."
❷ THROWS THE RHYTHM OFF: "It takes away from the flow of the game," Josh Bailey said. "I think the guys that aren't on the kill... they're sitting there for quite a while. It just throws the rhythm off."
❸ TAKES MOMENTUM AWAY: "I think whenever you give up a shorthanded goal, it's going to take a little momentum away," Scott Mayfield said. "We got some chances on the powerplay and couldn't convert."
GameScore Impact Card
⏭ NEXT UP: The homestand continues on Saturday night when the Islanders meet the Montreal Canadiens for the first time this season. Face-off from UBS Arena is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Defenseman Adam Pelech skated with his teammates at the optional morning skate at Northwell Health Ice Center on Thursday, an encouraging sign that he may soon be available to return to the lineup.
"He's getting closer, whatever that closer may be, said head coach Lane Lambert. "It's a big step for us."Pelech did not make the trip with the team during their four-game Pacific coast road trip and had only recently started skating on his own.
“Yeah, he provided some energy even today, just [at] the morning skate with the guys,” said Brock Nelson. “It’s fun to see him out there.”
In the New York Post, Ethan Sears takes a look at how Noah Dobson has turned to video as a way to aid his improvement this season. We’ve all seen players watching replays with tablets on the bench during games, but the team also gives players access to tape via an app that allows them to tag video clips and pull up their film by simply entering their number into it. Sounds pretty cool.
LEARN A LOT: “I think you can learn a lot from watching,” Dobson said. “Obviously, watch a lot of my shifts, and you can pick up things from there. Just see what you did wrong, what you did right, and where you should’ve been. It’s an easy game when you’re watching on a computer. Obviously, things happen fast in the game, but you can learn a lot from watching.”
◾️ Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho played in his 100th career game. Making his debut during the 2017-18 season, the smooth-skating Swede has played in a career-high 39 of 42 Isles games this season and has asserted himself as the team’s sixth defenseman.
The 2017 fifth-round pick has had an up-and-down Isles tenure, with more time spent in the AHL and the press box before this season. He signed a two-year, $1.65M deal after becoming a Group 6 unrestricted free agent during the summer.
MAYBE NOT GOING TO HAPPEN: “Of course the mind plays some tricks on you,” Aho said. “It’s been quite a while and it’s been a lot of games up in the stands just watching. I’m not going to lie, there’s been a couple of times where I’ve been like, ‘Maybe it’s not going to happen.’
Officials confirmed to Newsday that casino and resort company Las Vegas Sands has struck a deal to become the new tenants of the Nassau County-owed site where the Nassau Coliseum resides as part of a proposed formal plan to build a privately-funded, multibillion-dollar tourism destination.
WHAT TO KNOW via Newsday
Las Vegas Sands has submitted a proposal for the Nassau Coliseum site to build high-end hotel space, "a world-class live performance venue," and a gambling casino if the company can secure state approval.
Sands, a casino and resort company, is willing to spend an estimated $4 billion on the project, company officials said.
The project would go forward even if the state does not approve a casino.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Isles killed all five Wild power plays and are now over 90% on the home PK – which is the best in the NHL; they are 12-12 in the last five home games.
🗓 ISLES REWIND: On Jan. 13, 1997, the Islanders went into Madison Square Garden and defeated the New York Rangers 4-2 in a nationally televised game on ESPN2, aka “The Deuce.” Zigmund Palffy opened the scoring at 14:34 of the first period with his 26th of the season, and Brent Hughes scored just 14 seconds later for a 2-0 lead after one. Leading 3-2 in the third, Scott LaChance scored his second of the season on the power play, and he converted his own rebound that trickled past Mike Richter to seal the victory.
You can watch the game, with Gary Thorne on the call, in its entirety HERE.
🔗 Sebastian Aho perseveres to reach 100-game milestone by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Sebastian Aho was in the Islanders’ lineup for the 39th straight time, meaning Thursday night’s match against the Wild at UBS Arena finally marked his 100th NHL game.”
🔗 Islanders game film accelerating Noah Dobson’s improvements by Ethan Sears, New York Post “Particularly in the positioning aspect of that equation, spending time watching film has been a vital part of Dobson’s improvement. The Islanders give their players access to tape via an app which allows them to tag video clips.”
And we leave you with this …. members of the playoff-bound New York Giants Offensive Line (notably no starters) were in attendance and were hyped to be there - especially swing tackle Korey Cunningham. We hope NY Rangers fan head coach Brian Daboll didn’t oppose.
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.....more and MORE, what we're seeing reminds me of the conflict with Gordon's 'overspeed' system; if they're TOO far back, REALLY can't make much in the way of scoring attempts but, CAN lessen number of those for opposing teams - too far UP, and the latter's in a MUCH better position to score, while RELENTLESSLY tight forechecking makes it nearly IMPOSSIBLE to carve out ADEQUATE 'time & space' for QUALITY shots; would suspect this team is WARY about getting MORE physical than it already IS - that COULD help to do so but accruing even FURTHER extended injuries, games LOST : (