Good Morning Islanders Country,
The first win at UBS Arena remains elusive, but the first point was secured and that’s a step in the right direction, albeit a baby step. It was not the result the team needed, not after Barry Trotz declared that their “playoffs sort of start now” considering the hole the team dug themselves. There are two chances this weekend to get right.
Coming up, Butch Goring is on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury, just how bad was November in one graphic and Brendan Burke’s coffee run takes an unfortunate turn. But first, let’s recap last night’s game.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: D Erik Karlsson scored 39 seconds into overtime to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 OT win over the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday. With the loss, the Islanders' slide extended to nine games. It was the first point for the Isles since Nov. 6 as their previous eight losses all came in regulation.
Nick Bonino scored on the power-play, and Adin Hill made 24 saves for the Sharks (13-9-1), who have won three straight to begin a five-game road trip. Mathew Barzal opened the scoring with his 5th of the season, and Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves for the Islanders (5-10-3), who have been outscored 34-8 during the losing streak. The Isles have played 15 periods of hockey at UBS Arena and have yet to have the lead at the end of any of them.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 On their first shot of the game, Barzal gave the Islanders their first lead at UBS Arena and their first lead in 357:48 when he beat Hill with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle at 1:04 of the first period to make it 1-0.
🔻 After Bonino tied the game with a PP goal, Anders Lee made a beautiful move on Brent Burns, but his backhand from the bottom of the left circle hit the post and crossbar with 48 seconds remaining in the first and the game remained tied.
🔶 Sorokin was sensational in the second period, making 15 saves. The period was highlighted by this sequence where he made three left-pad saves before Noah Dobson stepped in the crease to block Rudolfs Balcers’ shot and keep the game tied 1-1.
🔻In overtime, Anthony Beauvillier got caught low, allowing the Sharks to break out on a 2-on-1. Adam Pelech made a strong defensive play to prevent Tino Meier from getting a shot off, but his momentum took him out of position and Karlsson was able to sweep the centered puck into the net for the win as Beauviiler failed to get back in time.
3 REACTIONS
❶ TAKE THE POINT: "It's been a long time since we had a point, so we'll take the point," Trotz said. "It's a step in the right direction. We'll keep trying to clean up our game. We had some good pockets where we were fine and some pockets when we weren't so good. That's been a little bit of the inconsistency that plagued us before we got into the COVID trouble. Getting these veteran defensemen back like Pelech and hopefully [Zdeno] Chara back into the group that we'll get this right and hopefully take another step."
❷ OVER THE HUMP: "Sorokin was unbelievable back there, he played really well and gave us a chance all night," Andy Greene said. "We came out with a good start and we battled hard tonight. We need to get over that hump and continue to do the right things, shift in and shift out. When we managed the puck we did pretty well tonight and when we didn't we were chasing a little bit."
❸ BUILD OFF IT: "It was one of those nights where the chances were coming," Lee said. "We felt that all we needed was one more opportunity, one more puck and we were going to pop one. We didn't get that, but it's a game we can build off."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders will travel to Detroit to face Nick Leddy and the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. Then return home for a Sunday night match-up with the Chicago Blackhawks at UBS Arena.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS Before the game, defenseman Thomas Hickey and Paul LaDue along with F Richard Panik were re-assigned to Bridgeport (AHL). Kieffer Bellows cleared Covid-19 protocol and skated with the team, but was not in the lineup.
Anders Lee, Josh Bailey, Adam Pelech, and Andy Greene all returned to game action and played their first game at UBS Arena.
🏒 HUTTON OVER SALO: Some fans were surprised that Grant Hutton received the start over Robin Salo. In the post-game, Trotz provided his rationale. We’ll see if Salo gets an opportunity over the weekend in place of Sutton or replaces Sebastian Aho who the Isles like on the power play. Also, Zdeno Chara’s availability will play a factor in how the blue-line shapes up.
📺 BOOTH CHANGE: The Islanders got four players back but lost their color analyst as Butch Goring is rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Joe Micheletti, the Islanders’ lead TV analyst from 1998 to 2006, stepped in on Thursday night while AJ Mleczko is set to join Burke as the game analyst for the Islanders’ games on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.
😫 NOVEMBER PAIN: How bad was the Islanders’ offense in November? They scored a total of 15 goals in 10 games and seven of them were scored by Brock Nelson who had a four-goal game in Montreal. Nelson, of course, is out with a lower-body injury.
📚 SOUND SMART: Via Eric Hornick’s The Skinny, the Isles have sold out all five home games but have now tied the NHL record for consecutive games without a win to open a new venue (most recently by Columbus in 2000). The Isles were held without a power play for the first time since March 6, 2021, vs. New Jersey.
🔗 Islanders’ Best Hockey Yet to Come by Glenn Brewer, The Hockey Writers “The objective is not for this team to earn the President’s Trophy but to simply make the playoffs and finish what they started. The team is built for playoff hockey and not a wide-open style, trading goals with the opposition. It was not going to be a breeze getting to the playoffs this season, but to give up this quickly is highly premature.”
📺 Islanders prospect William Dufour and his competition for a spot with Team Canada with Michel Anderson “William Dufour (Islanders 202 5th round pick) was named to Team Canada's camp squad for the 2022 World Junior Championships. He's not a lock to make the team, so who is he up against for a spot on the roster?”
To see all of Michel’s prospect videos, you can subscribe to his Islanders prospect channel “Deckhands.”
🎧 Top Shelf Hockey Cast: Way Down In The Hole - Battle Royale with BD Gallof, Phil Farber, and David Tuchman “COVID plunges the NY Islanders even deeper into a hole. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Worse, they can't seem to score goals, with a -20 goal differential. Things are not looking good. The gloves are off! David Tuchman, Phil Farber, and B.D. Gallof battle it out on how the Isles got to this point and if they can dig their way out.”
And we leave you with this …. we know that you love reading Isles Fix with your morning coffee. Unfortunately, Mrs. Burke wasn’t afforded the opportunity as Brendan’s stacking maneuver coupled with a doomed wreath resulted in a spilled Venti Chai, but it did give us this priceless video.
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.