Good Morning Islanders Country,
Cover your ears.
It’s never good when the cannon goes off and it’s really not good when it goes off twice in 33 seconds. The Islanders looked like the Islanders for stretches of this game, but careless penalties and an effort lapse late in the 2nd period put them in a 2-1 deficit heading into the 3rd period. Mat Barzal got them even, but in the end, it was Patrick Laine setting off the cannon once more for the win.
We’ll catch you up on all of the day’s news, including another upset stomach and unhappy Aatu Räty in a bit, but first, let’s recap last night’s game.
🏒 IN SHORT: A wrist shot from a tumbling Laine 1:49 into overtime beat Ilya Sorokin to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets win over the Islanders 3-2 at Nationwide Arena. Scott Mayfield opened up the scoring to give the Isles a 1-0 lead, but two goals in 33 seconds late in the 2nd period by Boone Jenner and 18-year-old Cole Sillinger put the Blue Jackets in front. Barzal tied things up (with a figurative assist from Andy Greene) at 5:03 of the 3rd for his second goal of the season. Sorokin had 24 stops in the loss for the Isles, who dropped to 1-3-0 four games into their thirteen-game road trip.
🗣 QUOTEBOOK:
ANALYTICS: “Their line hasn't been good the last couple of games... Their analytics were terrible... we're going to have to do something with that. I'm going to have to move people around for sure.” - Barry Trotz on the disappointing play of the Bailey-Nelson-Beauvillier line
TOUGH ROAD: “I don't think we were at our best, but for 18 minutes of the second, we played good hockey and then played well in the third. You want to get two points every night, but it's tough on the road and we have to find a way to get it done.” - Scott Mayfield on the disappointing result after stretches of solid play
UNACCEPTABLE: “In some ways, unacceptable. Careless.” - Trotz on the team’s lapse at the end of the second period
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: “Unfortunately, we weren't able to take advantage of the 3-on-3 when the guy broke his stick. We wanted to attack the guy with the stick rather than the guy without the stick, which didn't make much sense to me.” - Trotz on the missed opportunity in overtime.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻Laine rocketed this shot past Ilya Sorokin to set off the cannon and give Columbus the win. The goal was his second O.T. winner of the early season.
🔻During the 3-on-3 overtime, and with Barzal on the ice, the Blue Jackets Mike Sillinger broke his stick. The Isles were unable to take advantage when this Anders Lee pass failed to connect with Barzal. The Isles wouldn’t possess the puck again.
🔷 Trailing 2-1 heading into the 3rd period, Barzal showed great patience on the game-tying goal, his second of the season. Watch as Andy Greene comes off the bench, skates down the middle towards the net, and seals off multiple Blue Jackets, allowing Barzal to get a clean look.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ TOO MANY PENALTIES: The Islanders spent way too much time shorthanded in their loss. They took four penalties, including two from Casey Cizikas, one of their best penalty killers. Cizikas’ second minor, which came late towards the end of the second period led to the Blue Jackets tying the game.
❷ BUSY BARZAL: The Islanders star had his best game of the season, the Palmieri-Barzal-Lee trio combined for 16 shots, with a game-high nine coming from Barzal and six coming from Lee.
❸ FOREVER YOUNG: The league’s youngest player, 18-year-old Cole Sillinger scored his first NHL goal with the league’s oldest player on the ice, Zdeno Chara, to give Columbus a 2-1 lead. Sillinger is the first 18-year-old to score against the Isles since Aaron Ekblad did so for Florida on November 14, 2014. He is also the son of former Islander (and eleven other teams), Mike Sillinger who finished his career on Long Island.
⏭ Next Up
📊Standings
📰 NEWS: I won’t have what Anders Lee and J-G Pageau are having. The Islanders’ third-line center missed the game with a non-COVID-related illness, just as the Islanders captain had two nights earlier. Zach Parise babysat the line, centering Oliver Wahlstom and Kieffer Bellows.
📉 WRONG FIT: Islanders prospect, Aatu Räty, admitted to a local Finnish newspaper that “it’s sometimes hard” that he plays in a ‘different’ role with Kärpät now and isn’t getting loads of ice time.” Räty went on to say he expects to join the Islanders organization in the spring.
📚 SOUND SMART: Last night was Casey Cizikas’ 594th game in an Islander uniform, tying him for 19th on the franchise’s all-time games played list with John Tonelli. Next on the list is, Gary Howatt with 596 games played.
📺 NETWORKING: The Islanders announced they are partnering with Heineken to present the Islanders Bar Network this season. The two organizations will provide a meeting place for fans to catch the game throughout the metro area.
🎟 HOT TICKET: The Islanders sent out a press release saying the team’s Season-Ticket Holder waitlist for UBS Arena has now hit 1,000 members since they were eligible on October 13th.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: Thursday marked three years since the passing of former team owner Charles Wang. Wang passed away at age 74 after a private battle with lung cancer. R.I.P. Charles, we wish you could be at Belmont next month.
🔗 Islanders Prospect Aatu Raty Admits to Some difficulties Since Returning to Karpat, by Christian Arnold, NYIHockeyNow: “He’s got all the tools and they must have a really good team for him to be a healthy scratch. He’s a terrific kid, so there’s no reason not to play him.”
🔗 Super 16: Panthers new No. 1, Sabres, Devils debut in power rankings, by Dan Rosen, NHL.com: “The Islanders stood in the top five teams on this list before the regular season began. After some early struggles, they took a mighty fall in NHL.com’s power rankings.”
🔗 Islanders Weekly: The Road Trip Begins, by Jon Zella, The Hockey Writers: “The New York Islanders entered the 2021-22 season as media darlings, earning praise for their back-to-back Eastern Conference Final appearances, how they got there, and the offseason moves made to bolster their offense. Expectations were also raised considerably, as many adopted a “cup or bust” mantra before the puck dropped on the season.”
🔗 ‘You never bet against the champion’ — The 1980s Islanders and 70s Canadiens believe the Lightning can three-peat, by Joe Smith, The Athletic, “What I saw from them last year was confidence,” said former Islanders center Bob Bourne. “And that’s what we had all those years. It reminded me of us in a lot of ways. When you look at the guys’ faces and see that confidence, that’s the way we were. They’ve been through it all, and whether they got down a goal, they don’t get wiped out. They’re a hell of a team.”
🔗 Schwartz: Is Islanders Country about to head to Wally World? by Peter Schwartz, WFAN.com: “Wahlstrom now has three goals in his last two games, and will look to add to that total Thursday night in Columbus. Well aware that Trotz and the coaching staff like to lean on veteran players and have zero tolerance for a lack of attention to focus and structure, Wahlstrom is starting to look like the player that the Islanders envisioned when they took him in the first round (11th overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.”
And we leave you with this … Lou Lamoriello doesn’t strike us as someone who tells people it is his birthday - or anything else for that matter.
The Islanders general manager turned 79-years young on Thursday. Happy birthday, Lou!
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