Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It doesn’t get much tougher than opening up the new year on the road against the best home team in the NHL. So, from that perspective, it was good to start 2024 by earning a point against one of the most formidable teams in the league.
Yet, flipping the calendar didn’t flip the script of the Islanders’ season, as last night’s 5-4 OT loss had all the trimmings of what has been the story of the Isles’ season, including blowing a multi-goal lead (this time in the second period), a third period lead and then losing, rather quickly, in overtime.
Nathan MacKinnon won the game 32 seconds into O.T., but this game was lost when Cal Clutterbuck made an ill-advised decision at the red line, turning the puck over to Valeri Nichushkin, who split two defenders and drew a penalty as the Avs came an Ilya Sorokin stretch away from winning in regulation.
This will go down as a hard-earned point against a tough opponent, but despite not trailing until the end of the game, the Isles were thoroughly out-chanced, with the Avs attempting 91 shots (31 blocked) and outshooting the Isles 39 to 22.
The Isles scored four goals in each of their two games versus the Avs this season but earned just one point. Once again, Lane Lambert emphasized how his team needs to manage the puck better and make better decisions in key spots. Hearing the team say they need to “clean things up” has become commonplace this season, but each game continues to have moments that are a mess.
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