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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
A late morning newsletter on this day after Christmas. I hope everyone got what they wanted, and for parents with young kids, hope everything was assembled to the satisfaction of their customers - batteries included.
We’ll return to our regular schedule tomorrow.
I always chuckle when this time of the year is talked about as a time to rest up and get recharged - I’m exhausted! If you’re like me, you probably ate too much (maybe drank too much) and have boxes and wrapping paper everywhere. But for the Islanders, it is a rare three consecutive days off before they return to action on Tuesday night vs. the Pens. We’ll find out if the extra rest allows for some reinforcements to return as the team’s depth has been seriously tested.
Coming up, we await an update on the Isles lengthy injury list as Aatu Räty becomes the first Islander since 2016 to score in his debut. Plus, assessing the Isles at the holiday break, a listen back at the 1979 alum, Ziggy beats Brodeur and Katie Ledecky now has worn gold and the Reverse Retro.
📰 NEWS: Earlier this morning, the Islanders returned Aatu Räty, Hudson Fasching, and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon were all returned to Bridgeport (AHL) in what could be paper transactions. We’re awaiting a number of injury updates from the team. Ahead of Friday’ game over the Florida Panthers, the Islanders were already down Kyle Palmieri, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Semyon Varlamov and Adam Pelech.
◾️ The feel-good 5-1 win over the Panthers came at a cost. Brock Nelson also left the game after being hit in the back of the head/ear by a puck off the stock of teammate Alexander Romanov.
◾️ Simon Holmstrom needed help off the ice after this knee-to-knee collision with Sam Bennett. The replay simply just didn’t look good. Holmstrom was playing another strong all-around game on Friday and showing more confidence offensively. It would be a surprise if he didn’t miss significant time.
◾️ The highlight of the game was Aatu Räty. In his NHL debut, the top prospect scored a key goal in the third period to give the suddenly undermanned Isles team a 3-1 lead. He’s the first Islander to score in his debut since 2016 (Alan Quine). There’s just something about the No. 16 and the Fisherman logo, isn’t there?
"Just this whole day felt surreal," the 20-year-old Raty said. "This is something that I've wanted to do since I can remember. This was so special, especially having a game like this with such a great crowd and getting a win."
◾️ In Newsday, beat writer Andrew Gross assesses the Isles during the holiday break, pointing out that the team hasn’t won consecutive games since winning four in a row since late November. Following a 5-2 win at home over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Isles have been an inconsistent 4-6-2.
SOME GOOD THINGS: “I think we’ve done a lot of good things,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, who has 23 points (10G, 11A) this season. “We’ve played some good hockey. The main thing is just bringing that on a consistent basis. Early in the year, we played really good third periods but not the game as a whole. So that’s just the emphasis, to play our game for a consistent 60 minutes.”
Their disappointing 11-9-0 record against teams not currently holding a playoff spot has them on the outside looking in, as they sit now ninth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Washinton Capitals with one game in hand.
◾️ In the New York Post, columnist Mike Vaccaro wrote about the most memorable moment for each New York metro area franchise in 2022. For the lifelong Islanders fan, the most memorable moments were also two of the saddest that rocked the fanbase, especially those of that generation, to their core.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are back on home-icet tomorrow night against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. This is the first of four meetings between the teams this season.
📊 STANDINGS:
For NewYorkIslanders.com, Gabriella Carroll takes a look and listen back to the 1979 Christmas Album the team recorded for the holidays. The concept was developed by former Islanders anthem singer Joe Duerr and picked up support amongst the team led by an always enthusiastic to behind the mic Clark Gillies.
"When it was brought up to the players, there weren't any players that didn't want to do it," Duerr said. "Everybody that was in town, which was a large majority of the of the team, was very willing. I'd say it was like a game. It was something that nobody had done before, and they wanted to get involved."
Thankfully (or not), you can listen to the entire 30 minute album online.
As the article notes, one of the notable vocal absences was Bryan Trottier, who plays the guitar and can hold the tune. Trots was out of the lyricaly lineup because he was battling bronchitis.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Ilya Sorokin won for the first time in eight starts; his last win was on Black Friday in Columbus. It was Sorokin's 50th career win – he is the 13th goalie in club history to record 50 wins. Anthony Beauvillier is the 32nd player in club history to score 100 goals; his empty-netter tied Anders Kallur for 31st place with 101 goals. Beauvillier also assisted on Raty's goal for his first three-point game of the season.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On Dec. 26, 1996, the Islanders scored four third-period goals against the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. After current Isles assistant coach Doug Houda tied the game at 1-1, Ziggy Palffy scored short-handed against Martin Brodeur at 6:03 of the period to give the Isles the lead. Derek King would later score his 200th career goal and Bryan Smolinski was awarded an empty-netter when he was pulled down with the cage open with just 10 seconds left.
🔗 Assessing the Islanders at the NHL holiday break by Andrew Gross, Newsday “The Islanders will exit the NHL’s three-day holiday break two points out of a playoff position and with only the Capitals, currently holding the second wild-card spot, having played more games among Eastern Conference teams.”
🔗 Aatu Raty scores in NHL debut, first Islander to do so since 2016 by Lou DiPietro, Audacity.com “Aatu Raty’s “surreal” Friday started with what he thought was a prank while sitting in the sauna before the Bridgeport Islanders’ scheduled game in Hartford…and it ended with him addressing his NHL debut and first NHL goal on Long Island.”
And we leave you with this…seven-time Olympic gold medalist, and niece of Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky, swimmer Katie Ledecky with her own reverse retro for Xmas.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
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.....should I even BOTHER to make a(NOTHER) comparison between what fate CASEY suffered for being DRIVEN by Blackhawks players into THEIR goaltender - and BENNETT's skating away with NO infraction (DESPITE the CLARITY of his DELIBERATE turn INTO Simon)? Just INFURIATING (yet AGAIN - as Pelie CONTINUES to LANGUISH, nearly TWO months LATER.....)