This week’s newsletter is presented by Dynasty Hockey Co.
For this month’s giveaway, one paid subscriber will be selected as the winner of a Dynasty Hockey Co. T-shirt of their choice. To qualify for this giveaway, upcoming virtual events, and to unlock all our newsletters, please consider upgrading to a paid subscriber.
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
When Saturday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens ended, it felt a little dissatisfying. Although the Isles earned two points and ended their four-game winless streak, the game didn’t wake the team from their offensive slumber - even after scoring the earliest two Islanders goals in UBS Arena history.
Montreal came in allowing over 5 goals per game in their last eight, and the Isles looked primed for a much-needed offensive explosion when Casey Cizikas and Anthony Beauvillier both scored by the 6:03 mark. But despite 38 shots, they failed to score more than two goals for the seventh time in eight games.
Brock Nelson (0 goals in 12 games) and Noah Dobson (0 goals in 13 games) are among those still waiting to break through. Cizikas is tied with Mathew Barzal for the most points (5P in 7G) since the calendar turned to 2023. And for as much talk as there’s been this season about the team scoring more, they are now 22nd in the league in goals-per-game, the same spot they ranked a season ago.
We’ll see if some of those long overdue goals come tonight when the Isles take on a Washington Capitals team ahead of them in the standings, but one that has been struggling since their nine-game point streak (7-0-2) ended.
The Caps come in having lost back-to-back games to the Philadelphia Flyers and three of their last four in regulation. Alex Ovechkin is fourth in the league in goals with 30 after tying Mike Gartner for the most 30-goal seasons in NHL history with 17 when he scored on Saturday’s 3-1 loss at home vs. PHI.
Coming up, Ilya Sorokin has been carrying the load, and Scott Mayfield really, really, really likes it on Long Island. Plus, bagel orders, Beau game-winners, remembering Gino and KO’s four-goal game.
Let’s dive in.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Isles Fix to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.