Happy Thanksgiving, Islanders Country 🦃
I mean that. We all have a lot to be thankful for, it’s just that the state of the New York Islanders isn’t one of them. The Isles lost their seventh straight game on Wednesday, falling 4-1 to the New York Rangers in the first game between the two rivals at UBS Arena. All seven losses have been by at least three goals (that hasn’t happened since 1972!) and there are no reinforcements or relief in sight for a team decimated by injuries and Covid-19 protocol.
Later in this edition, Aatu wears blue, a video-game-inspired goalie mask, a fresh new free tee, and more. But first, let’s recap last night’s game.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Chris Kreider and Kevin Rooney each scored two goals each, as the Rangers (12-4-3) beat the Islanders (5-9-2) 4-1 Wednesday night at UBS Arena. Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves as the Rangers won for the sixth time in seven games. Andy Andreoff scored and Semyon Varlamov stopped 17 of 21 shots for the short-handed Islanders who have lost seven straight, all in regulation, to fall four games under NHL-.500 for the first time since April 3, 2018 (33-37-10). The Isles are 0-3-0 at home for the first time in their history.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 With all lack of experience on the ice, it was one of the Islanders’ core players that took a bad penalty that led to the game’s first goal. Mat Barzal was called for hooking just six seconds after the 2nd-period face-off to put the Rangers on the Power-Play.
🔻 On the ensuing Power-Play, Chris Kreider continued his torrid start. The Rangers’ forward deflected a Ryan Strome pass over the left pad of Varlamov for his ninth Power-Play goal and gave the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead.
🔻 The play that summed up the Islanders’ futility, specifically on the power-play, came late in the 2nd period. Trailing 2-0, a turnover came straight to Oliver Wahlstrom who tried to make a move rather than unleash his shot. Overall, the Isles were 0 for 6 with the man advantage.
🔶 An Islander not named Brock Nelson finally scored at UBS Arena. Andy Andreoff deflected Otto Koivula’s wrist-shot to pull the Isles within one early in the third. It was Andreoff’s first NHL goal since February 19, 2018, as a member of the LA Kings.
🔻 The momentum was short-lived, very short-lived, as in 20 seconds. The Rangers’ fourth line was strong all night, Ryan Reaves, not known for his offensive prowess made a nice move to avoid an over-committed Thomas Hickey and delivered a perfect pass to Rooney for his second goal of the game.
3 REACTIONS
❶ EFFORT IS THERE: “We did lots of good things. I'm not going to look at the score, I'm just looking at how we played and scoring chances,” said Barry Trotz. “We were right there in terms of chances and all that. The effort is there. If the effort wasn't there I would be quite concerned, but the effort is there. We're not getting the results and it's not easy.”
❷ CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL: "The biggest thing is to just keep it simple and not try to do too much," said Scott Mayfield, the lone regular defenseman in the lineup. "You just have to dig deep. You can only control certain things, work ethic, attitude, stuff like that and that's what we have to focus on."
❸ NEED TO FIND A WAY: "I'd like to see us get a victory in this building," Trotz said. "Our fans deserve that, and we need it for ourselves; for the standings, for a little bit of confidence in this building... There's no quit in the team, that's for sure. They are giving it everything they have. We've just got to find a way to get a point, get two points, get our lineup together and dig ourselves out. It's been done before."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders’ inaugural homestand continues in search of a win when the Isles host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at 7:30 pm.
📊 STANDINGS: New York remains in last place in the Metro with 12 points in 16 games. The Isles are 15 points behind the Rangers for third place, the last guaranteed playoff spot coming out of the division.
📰 NEWS
The Islanders’ daily routine now consists of pushing back their schedule and media availability as they await test results. Earlier in the day, we learned that Koivula had been called up from Bridgeport when his name appeared on the team’s roster. Fortunately, the transaction was not in response to another positive Covid-19 test. On the injury front, Noah Dobson was kept out of the lineup and is day-to-day.
With each passing, day it is hard to reconcile that the league has determined the Islanders are neither enough of a health risk or at a competitive disadvantage to postpone games. To add to the craziness, the Islanders had to wait for another round of pre-game tests that wouldn’t be available until 6 pm to know for certain which players would be available to skate. "The league certainly knows the situation that we're in medically, said GM Lou Lamoriello. “What we do is get prepared as we always would."
📞 REQUEST LINE: Shortly after the media availability, Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the team had contacted the league and made requests to postpone upcoming games.
The decision and lack of overall direction from the league has drawn criticism from fans and pundits alike, as it is hard to understand what separates the Islanders’ situation from that of the Ottawa Senators this year or several other teams that had games postponed last season. It appears to be subjective, but without a strong rationale provided.
💸 CAP MOVES: To ensure the Islanders remained compliant with the salary cap, Ryan Pulock was moved from IR to LTIR to fit all the recent call-ups under the cap.
🔷 BLUE BUCKET: Aatu Räty is now wearing the blue helmet for Jukurit. Recognized as the team’s top U-20 player, the 19-year-old gets to wear the Red Bull-sponsored helmet on the ice (h/t to Michel Andersen)
🎮 RETROFIT: DaveArt ‘unleased’ his latest Islanders mask for Cory Schneider, a video-game-inspired design, painted in a retro pixel style.
“When he told me what kind of design he wanted I was so excited so I couldn’t wait to get started. He wanted a design to pay tribute to his favorite video game from the 90s when he grew up… NHL 94!
We don’t know if we’ll see Schneider play on the Island this season, but this mask is certainly NHL-ready.
📚 SOUND SMART: To put in perspective how inexperienced the Isles’ blueline was last night, defenseman Thomas Hickey, making his 2021-22 debut, has played in more NHL games (454) than the other five defensemen (402) the Islanders suited up last night. Of those 402, 301 belong to Scott Mayfield.
🎧 Islanders Anxiety - Episode 180 - Far From Fine Lighthouse Hockey, SB Nation “Mike and Dan look at the two losses to the Flames and Maple Leafs over the weekend and the shocking loss of players due to a rash of positive COVID tests right before game time. Already without Ryan Pulock, the Islanders have now lost Brock Nelson to injury, making the climb out of their early-season hole even harder. Some of the circumstances are due to rotten luck and poor timing, but issues within the team’s play are also hurting them on the ice.”
🔗 The Islanders-Rangers rivalry has a new home as teams meet at UBS Arena for first time by Andrew Gross, Newsday “The teams met for the first time at UBS Arena, the new, $1.1 billion facility which is hosting just its third NHL game after the COVID-19- and injury-depleted Islanders christened their long-awaited modern home with back-to-back losses to the Flames and Maple Leafs this weekend. Years from now, of course, the fact the Islanders have seven players in COVID-19 protocol, plus top-pair defenseman Ryan Pulock and second-line center Brock Nelson on injured reserve with lower-body issues, will be less remembered.”
And we leave you with this …. One of the t-shirts designed by artist Justin Lefkowitz was handed out as a promotional item on Wednesday. Courtesy of #NewCokeZero, the first 10,000 fans received these orange tees with an abstract art “NY” design.
Hopefully, Rangers fans in attendance were willing to part with these and did not find alternative uses for them.
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