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Believe it or not, the unconventional hockey town of Fort Worth, Texas, has a Long Island connection. During the 1970s, the town was home to the Fort Worth Texans of the Central Hockey League (CHL). They were initially a Red Wings affiliate, but starting with the 1974-75 season, they teamed up with the Islanders.
To match their new big club affiliation, the team changed their colors to blue and orange and adopted a circular logo with a hockey stick over Texas (sound familiar, Isles fans?). Texans alumni include lots of players who went on to great things on Long Island, including Bob Bourne, Richie Hansen, Lorne Henning, and Bob Lorimer.
Shop Fort Worth Texans apparel at Vintage Ice Hockey, including jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.
Happy Halloween, Islanders Country.
That game started off as a treat and ended as a trick.
The Isles were dictating play and held a 2-0 lead after two periods, with Ilya Sorokin looking as sharp as ever, making nonchalant glove saves with ease, foiling opportunities for a Detroit Red Wings team that was averaging four goals a game. Then, inexplicably, the Isles got away from what they were doing, turning the puck over, creating zone time for Detroit, and suddenly found themselves down 3-2 a little over halfway into the third period.
“When you have a 2-0 lead, there's a certain way our team has to play, we have to keep pushing. But we deviated from that, and it’s not a recipe for success for us.” - Lane Lambert
It was like expecting to come home with Snickers and M&Ms and instead having nothing to show for your efforts but Dum-Dums and candy corn.
For the second time in this young season, Bo Horvat was clutch, scoring a goal late in the third period to secure a point, but for the second time, the Islanders were unable to grab two and lost in overtime.
The OT loss against New Jersey felt different. In that game, the Isles hurt themselves with penalties that overshadowed the good things they did at even strength. While that game was always winnable, this one was firmly in their control until it wasn’t. Casey Cizikas said the errors and miscues that presented themselves in the third period were “easy to fix” and perhaps he’s right and this game serves as a teachable moment.
But right now, despite scoring the late goal, last night feels as if they lost a point as opposed to earning one, which makes it a bit harder to take positives out of a game that has quite a few through two periods.
Coming up, the Isles had a surprise wardrobe change, and “The Perfection Line” tells us what makes them so perfect. Plus, Zeeker passes Mike Bossy in games played, Halloween blowout vs. the Rangers is remembered for a personal achievement, and Denis Potvin in costume.
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