Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Holiday week home games are traditionally some of the best to be at as a fan. It’s usually a fun, boisterous, energetic, and carefree crowd looking to unwind and enjoy themselves before the regular redundant routine of life starts back up.
It was a sell-out at UBS Arena last night, primed for a good time with an added buzz before the game as the NHL Network and MSG pre-game shows were set outside for the opening of The Park, the newest UBS Arena attraction.
It was all set up for a celebratory evening at the rinks, both indoors and outdoors. Yet, one long-time season ticket holder had an eerie premonition:
That’s a man who has seen a lot of Islanders hockey from Section 329 over the years, but even he would admit he did not see that six-goal second period and the worst home defeat since February 18, 2013, coming.
It was the tenth time the Islanders had allowed six goals in a single period, with the most recent happening on March 21, 2000, when they also allowed six goals in the middle frame against the Penguins at Nassau Coliseum. (FYI: the most goals allowed in a single period is eight on 3/31/1973 vs. PHI).
"Sold out rink like that tonight in front of our fans, it's unacceptable. We've got a game in two days that we'll be ready for and put on a better show for them" - Mathew Barzal
This was the Isles’ first clunker of the season, and it came after being off for three straight days, but there’s no excuse to play like that at home against a divisional rival that flew into New York and traveled to Long Island earlier in the day.
The Isles may burn the tape, but they insisted that they would talk about what transpired in the second period, confront why they failed to respond, and ensure that the uncharacteristic play during those 20 minutes doesn’t happen again.
The Isles will have opportunities to lick their wounds, first against a Washington Capitals team that lost 5-1 to the Rangers at MSG and then to avenge this embarrassing loss on New Year’s Eve in Pittsburgh.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Kris Letang became the first defenseman in NHL history to get five points in one period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins routed the New York Islanders 7-0 at UBS Arena on Wednesday night. Letang finished with six assists, five coming in a six-goal second for the Pens. Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist, Evgeni Malkin scored twice, and Marcus Pettersson had four assists for the Penguins (16-13-4), who extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1). Tristan Jarry made 21 saves for his NHL-leading fourth shutout of the season. Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 25 shots for the Islanders (16-9-9), and Semyon Varlamov made six saves on seven shots in the third. [NHL Recap]
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 After a scoreless first, the Pens struck first when Rickard Rakell gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 6:44 of the second period, jamming in a rebound after Guentzel's redirection got behind Sorokin.
🔻 Jake Guentzel made it 2-0 at the 10:15 mark when he deflected Letang’s shot that was going wide past Ilya Sorokin for his 15th of the season.
🔻 After Guentzel’s goal, Lane Lambert called time out, but inexplicably, Guentzel scored 12 seconds later on a breakaway to make it 3-0.
3 REACTIONS
❶ A LITTLE LOST: For whatever reason, we were the team that wasn't really ready,” said Brock Nelson. “We felt a little unorganized, a little lost. [It’s] unacceptable for us, not a whole lot of good to take from that one.”
❷ COULDN’T STOP BLEEDING: “The concerning part is just our lack of ability to stop the bleeding and have a response,” Anders Lee said. “You're going to have moments where they pop one or two quick, but to let it get to where it got, it's just not part of our DNA.”
❸ NEED TO ADDRESS: “We're definitely going to have to address something after tonight,” Mathew Barzal said. “They got a couple of free looks close to Ilya tonight in the crease that we can't be giving up, so we'll clean that up.”
GAME IMPACT SCORE
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders will look to bounce back on Friday night when they host the Washington Capitals. Face-off is set for 7:30 PM EST.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Scott Mayfield participated in the morning skate on Wednesday, a positive sign for the defenseman who hasn’t played since suffering an upper-body injury on Dec. 11 and being placed on Injured Reserve. The 31-year-old defenseman has four assists and 58 blocks through 20 games this season.
◾️ Oliver Wahlstrom drew back into the lineup on the one-year anniversary of his season-ending knee injury. Wahlstrom was a -3 and did not register a shot in 8:19 TOI.
◾️ Noah Dobson played 26:03 in the loss and, in the process, set an Islanders record with his 16th straight game averaging over 25 minutes.
Snubbed off Snubbed list
The Athletic released a projected Team USA roster for the next international tournament (yet to be named), expected to be played in February 2025 during the NHL season, with Canada, the USA, Sweden, and Finland participating.
The center position is highly competitive; it’s understandable the three contributors each left Brock Nelson off in favor of younger players such as Dylan Larkin and Tage Thompson, but what got under the skin of Isles fans was that Nelson, despite his back-to-back 30-goal seasons and near 40-goal pace this year wasn’t even on the “snubbed” list of any of the three.
The Park Opens
NHL Network hosted their show from “The Park” at UBS Arena and had Isles legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin open the show. Wearing a Charlottetown Islanders hat of the (QMJHL), Potvin talked about his dynasty team, playing on Long Island, and what he loves about this current Islanders team, especially the offensive production of fellow defenseman Noah Dobson.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per NHL PR, Kris Letang became the first defenseman in NHL history to record five or more points in a period, with six in the second. He also became the first player in Penguins history (of any position) to do so.
When Letang recorded his sixth assist in the third period, he tied the NHL record for a defenseman with six assists in a game shared by Gary Suter, Paul Coffey, Ron Stackhouse, Bobby Orr, Pat Stapleton, and Babe Pratt. Suter was the most recent defenseman to get six assists in a game on 4/4/86.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On Dec. 28, 2018, Mathew Barzal had two goals and an assist to help the Islanders score four times in the third period and rally for a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators for their fifth win in six games. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee, Johnny Boychuk, and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Isles, who came back from a pair of two-goal deficits.
"Anytime you're down two, try to get one before the end of the period," Lee said. "We got that. And for Johnny to come out in the third and rifle one home really set the momentum for the rest of the game."
🔗 Islanders want Oliver Wahlstrom to get more shots by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Oliver Wahlstrom’s strongest hockey attribute is his blistering shot. Islanders coach Lane Lambert wants to see more of it when the former first-rounder is in the lineup. “You can’t just take any shot if it’s not a decent shot,” Lambert said. “Certainly we would like to see him get more shots.”
🔗 Islanders’ defensive problems are ‘fixable’: Lane Lambert by Ethan Sears, New York Post “Lane Lambert does not believe the defensive breakdown that befell the Islanders in their disastrous 7-0 loss to the Penguins points to any bigger-picture issues. Rather, he feels there were “fixable” problems limited to one very bad period of hockey — the second period Wednesday in which the Isles allowed six goals.”
And we leave you with this …. Kevin Weekes, Mike Rupp, and Pat LaFontaine outside UBS Arena during the NHL Network’s pre-game show outside The Park.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.