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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The best defense is a good offense.
Last night, the Islanders discovered that extending a lead in the third was the best way to protect it. For the 15th time, the Islanders carried a lead into the third period, and for the 10th time, they came away with two points (10-1-4).
The Isles allowed a quick goal in the third period, but even with anxiety spreading throughout UBS Arena, they didn’t let their mindset to turn into ‘here we go again’ and instead showed a willingness to push the play and not sit back.
The Islanders remained aggressive, created turnovers, and kept the pressure on. For the second consecutive game, they outshot their opponent. Even better, their top line clicked in the way fans imagined and dreamed during the off-season.
“Our guys did a great job of responding and doing what they needed to do by staying aggressive. “I don't know if we would call it relief, but it's what we talked about and what we expect.” - Lane Lambert
It was all smiles coming off the ice.
The game ended in a way that allowed them and the fanbase to feel good about the positive strides in their game. They’ve scored at least four goals in the last five games, the power play has been the best in the league over nearly a month, and the penalty kill hasn’t been a liability. All of it gives them momentum heading into a step up in competition on Saturday night versus the LA Kings.
The Isles now have points in 10 of their last 11 games and pulled into a tie with the Carolina Hurricanes for third place in the Metro, and are just one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers with a game in hand.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Bo Horvat scored twice in 20 seconds in the third period as the Islanders pulled away from the Columbus Blue Jackets on their way to a 7-3 win at UBS Arena on Thursday night. Mathew Barzal had a four-point night with two goals and two assists for the Islanders (11-7-7), who got 32 saves from Semyon Varlamov. Pierre Engvall, Cal Clutterbuck, and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders. Adam Fantilli had two goals and an assist for Columbus (8-15-5), and Emil Bemstrom had a goal and an assist. Spencer Martin made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost their third straight (0-2-1).
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 After Barzal put the Isles back in front 3-2 with a shot from the left circle at 18:51, Kyle Palmieri one-timed Brock Nelson’s feed on a power play at 19:19 to make it 4-2.
The Isles power play has gone 6-for-14 (42.8%) over the last five games. Since Nov. 15, the Islanders 38.7% conversion rate (12-of-31) leads the NHL.
🔶 After Adam Fantilli cut it to 4-3 at 1:28 of the third, Barzal made it 5-3 at 5:33 when he one-timed Horvat’s feed in the slot as the Isles executed a play off the face-off to regain a two-goal lead.
🔷 Bo Horvat gave the Isles a 6-3 lead, smoothly backhanding his rebound at 11:31, and then scored again just 20 seconds later at 11:51 on a pass from Barzal for his second goal to extend the lead to 7-3.
3 REACTIONS
❶ UNSUNG HERO: “Lee was the unsung hero tonight,” Mathew Barzal said. “I don't know if he got on the scoresheet, but he did a lot of good things out there that allowed us to score. He made good wall, sent picks and what not. He had a great night.”
❷ NOT SITTING BACK: "It just gave us some belief we can go out there and do it,” said Bo Horvat on the third period. “Not sitting back on our heels and waiting for them to come at us and feel sorry for ourselves saying 'here we go again'. I thought we did a great job of that"
❸ NOT WHO WE ARE: "We know exactly what's being said about us, about blowing leads and whatnot,” added Barzal/ “We're just trying to prove people wrong. That’s not who we are.”
GAME IMPACT SCORE
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders welcome the Los Angeles Kings to UBS Arena on Saturday night. Face-off is set for 7:30 PM EST.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: It was a massive night for the Islanders’ top line of Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Anders Lee. There have been those wondering whether Barzal and Horvat would start to show a special type of chemistry at some point this season at even strength, and we’re finally starting to see it. Lee, who began the year on the third line, has cemented his spot alongside the duo, doing things that create space and possession for Barzal and Horvat to operate.
Bo Horvat had his third straight multi-point game (4-5-9) andnow has seven multi-point games this season. Horvat and Anders Lee matched their career best with a +4 rating. Mathew Barzal recorded his second four-point night in a week and now has six in his career. The NHL’s second star of the week has 11 points (4G, 7A) in his last four games. Nikita Kucherov is the only player with three four-point nights this season.
Anders Lee
“We would love to have third periods like that all the time. It was more execution, too. We kept our foot on the gas and just kept going after them.”
Mathew Barzal
“Our forward group can play with anybody and outscore anybody. “Somebody has to let the doors open and let us go a little bit. We did that tonight.”
Bo Horvat
"If you want to be considered a top guy and make a difference on this team, we got to go and do that job. Tonight, me and him went and did that."
MORE MINUTES, MORE CONFIDENCE
In Newsday, beat writer Andrew Gross caught up with 26-year-old former first-round pick Julian Gauthier and asked if he thought he had even started to scratch the surface of his potential.
“No, I literally just started having a couple of games in a row where I get some decent ice time,” said Gauthier. “It’s not even close to it. I can get hot and get on a good streak when I have confidence.”
The boost of confidence has also been evident to his linemmates. “I think he’s gained a bit of confidence just by playing some minutes,” said JG Pageau. “He’s been put in certain positions, being in the defensive zone for draws. Those are big tasks. He’s been doing the job getting on the scoresheet.”
Gauthier had an assist and played 12:01 on Thursday night.
Pond Hockey
The team announced the opening of The Park at UBS Arena, a 155,800-square-foot season-long outdoor experience that will introduce the first two public pond hockey rinks to the community. Grand Opening is Dec. 27
The rinks are the product of a partnership of Northwell Health, the New York Racing Association, and USA Hockey.
So many of us players got our start playing pond hockey,” said former Islander Pat LaFontaine. “This is the purest form of the sport and it’s great that this experience is coming to The Park at UBS Arena.”
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Bo Horvat is the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (0:12 on March 25, 2003, in Chicago) to score two goals in 20 seconds or less. It is the 8th fastest two goals ever by one Islander and the 84th time the team has done so (one player or multiple players).
Yashin’s two goals in 12 seconds came in his first career four-goal game in a 9-2 blowout win in Chicago on March 25, 2003, as the Islanders were fighting to hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On Dec. 8th, 2018, Matt Martin scored a tiebreaking goal with 16:36 remaining in the third period, capping an impressive comeback for the Islanders in a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings.
The Isles trailed 2-0, but the game turned following this hit by Niklas Kronwall on Anders Lee. Soon after, Josh Bailey took Kronwall down in the corner, and the play galvanized his teammates. Casey Cizikas and Ryan Pulock scored to tie the game in the second period before Martin’s game-winner in the third.
"I thought when that hit happened, with Bailey going over there and answering the bell, I thought from that standpoint, he pulled the rest of the group in," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "Our leadership, the guys were really good."
🔗 When Pat LaFontaine Represented the New York Islanders Future by Stan Fischler, The Hockey News“We met after the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Lou Vairo coached the team. When we met later, Lou said, "I had a lot of super kids on that team," but you got the best of them all. There's only one Patty LaFontaine."
🔗 A current state assessment of the sometimes good and sometimes bad NY Islanders via Eyes on Isles “If you (somehow) remove the emotion of what’s transpired recently, as far as where they lie in the standings, they currently sit approximately where most fans thought they would be. Lingering around that wild card area. If they were 13-10-1, would you feel better or worse?”
And we leave you with this ….this beauty of a 1998 Zigmund Palffy All-Star Sweater worn by Tom LoFaso when the game was North America vs. The World.
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