Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Good teams don’t let struggling teams get healthy. There might have been mild concern that the St. Louis Blues were due for a win, especially when the home team came out of the gate hard, scored the first goal, and would’ve added to it if it wasn’t for the greatness of Ilya Sorokin.
"I thought we weathered a storm. Our goaltender played really well for us. Then I thought we came out in the second period and we had a real good start. So I did like our resolve." - Lane Lambert
The Blues had been outscored 14-6 in second periods entering Thursday. The Islanders needed to stay patient; their chances would come - and they did, fast. 14 seconds into the second Kyle Palmieri tied the game, and the Isles were off.
In a 5:12 stretch, Brock Nelson scored for the fourth straight game, Josh Bailey’s elite effort extended the lead, and Anders Lee added to his team-high total.
The Isles stayed hot, the Blues stayed cold, and the winning streak reached five.
Coming up, the highlight reel goals are coming for the Barzal line, and Brent Thompson talks about red-hot Bridgeport. Plus, a Binninton bump, two first-time-ever stats, a first and only Parise hatty, and we talk about Bruno. But first, let’s recap the Isles’ 5-2 win in St. Louis.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Anders Lee and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist as the Islanders won their fifth straight, defeating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 at Enterprise Center on Thursday. Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves, and Noah Dobson had two assists for the Islanders (7-4-0). Josh Bailey and JG Pageau (EN) also scored. Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for the Blues (3-6-0), who have lost six in a row.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 As their 5-on-3 PP expired, Dobson intercepted a Ryan O'Reilly outlet pass and moved the puck down to Lee, who quickly found Nelson for a 2-1 lead.
🔶 The Islanders scored their fourth goal of the period when Nelson glided around the net, got Binnington out of position, and found Lee waiting to put a one-timer in the net for his team-leading sixth goal. The primary assist was Nelson’s 400th NHL point. He’s the 15th Islander to reach that mark.
3 REACTIONS
❶ CAME OUT HARD: “We knew they were going to come out hard; they're a desperate team right now. We had to weather that in the first, but we found a way to get on the board here a few times and play the right way.”- Josh Bailey
❷ BIG PUSH: "We wanted to come out with a push, and we added a huge goal right away, putting one in in the first minute, and then taking advantage of the power play, which was a big opportunity which is huge... From there, I thought we did a good job closing it out." - Brock Nelson
❸ KEPT IT SIMPLE: “I think our line, we know our role and we want to just play simple and make sure we put pucks deep and start going after their D, I thought we did good, going into the second with a great mentality and it paid off.” - JG Pageau
⏭ NEXT UP: The Isles are back on the ice in Detroit to take on the Red Wings in a Saturday matinee. Puck drop is set for 1:00 PM.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: After avoiding a suspension, Casey Cizikas was in the lineup and was joined on the fourth line by new father (of two) Matt Martin, as Ross Johnston was a scratch after skating on Tuesday night in Martin’s absence.
◾️ From Andrew Gross in Newsday, Thursday was the fifth consecutive game Mathew Barzal centered a line with Josh Bailey and Oliver Wahlstrom. While the team has accounted for three goals in their first four games together, it’s still a learning process.
IT’LL COME: “The chemistry comes the more you play together,” Bailey said. “Sometimes it’s instant. Sometimes it’s for sure only to get better and better the more you play together. With Barzy’s playmaking and Wahlly’s ability to finish, I think we’re going to see some more highlight-reel goals out of the two of them.”
◾️Wahlstrom played a team-low 8:40 against the Blackhawks on Tuesday, but Lane Lambert isn’t harking back to last year’s growing pains.
LITTLE THINGS WELL: “Last season is last season,” Lambert said. “Right now he’s playing well. He’s doing the little things well. And he’s a shooter. Barzy’s a possession guy and he can make plays so it seems like a good combination to me.”
The team formerly known as the Sound Tigers sounded off during media availability on Thursday. We heard from B-Isles head coach Brett Thompson, fresh off his 300th career NHL win and AHL Rookie of the Month, Ruslan Iskhakov, who had 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 8 October games.
KID CAN PLAY: “I think he’s confident,” said Thompson on Iskhakov. “He’s confident that he can play in this league. I got to see him at UConn, and I think going back to Europe and playing two years of professional hockey over there has certainly helped his development.”
PRETTY GOOD: “I’m trying to get better every day,” Ishakov said. “I’m not a big guy. I gotta be quick and shifty. I always make plays so I’m a pretty good playmaker, and I think I have a pretty good shot.”
😭 POOR FORM: Blue goaltender Jordan Binnington is a Stanley Cup Champion, but he also has the reputation for being a bit of cry baby, a sore loser, etc. After the second period, Binnington intentionally through his shoulder into Ilya Sorokin as the players passed each other on the way to the bench.
Perhaps Binnington was hoping some of Sorokin’s ability could run off on him so he could make saves like this …
“It’s an all-world save. He can move laterally, and it’s just a fantastic save for us,” said Lambert about the key save.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Islanders have now scored an empty net goal for the fourth straight game, the first time that’s happened in team history. It’s also the first time the team has won their first five games against Western Conference competition since the Eastern and Western conferences were created for the 1993-94 season.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On November 4, 1975, JP Parise scored the first and only NHL hat trick of his career and added an assist as the Islanders topped the California Golden Seals 5-3.
With the win, the upstart Isles improved to 7-1-4 in the early season. Denis and Jean Potvin each had two assists, and Ed Westfall added a shorthanded goal. Chico Resch made 21 saves and earned his first career assist.
🔗 NY Islanders prospect Samuel Bolduc turning heads with Bridgeport Islanders by Michael Stahurski, Eyes on Isles “Not too long ago, Samuel Bolduc was nearly a member of the NY Islanders' opening night roster for the 2020-21 season. Between the shortened schedule in the AHL due to the COVID pandemic and an injury that caused him to miss last year's training camp, Bolduc finally looks like he is back to 100% and returning to the form the Isles expected from their second-round pick in 2019.”
🔗 Islanders prospect Ruslan Ishakov is opening eyes in Bridgeport by Peter Schwartz, WFAN.com “One of the big reasons why Bridgeport is off to a flying 6-1-1-0 start to the season is the Russian forward, who was the Islanders’ second-round pick (No. 43 overall) in 2018. Ishakov has four goals and seven assists, and his 11 points are tied for the club lead with Andy Andreoff”
And we leave you with this ….you can’t talk about Bruno (Encanto reference!), but you can talk to Bruno. Former Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais was the latest guest on Talkin’ Isles and talked about Al Arbour’s 1,500th game, Fight Night and the Coliseum and more with Greg Picker and Cory Wright.
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Thank you to Isles Fix! As an Islanders fan since 1975 living in FL, I love Isles Fix. You guys do a great job reporting on each game while adding in interesting stats, stories from the past, news about prospects for the future, and some fun personal interest info about players past and present. I look forward to each email. Keep it up!