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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
This game didn’t have the same energy or excitement compared to the previous two wins, but the Islanders did what they had to do and took care of business against a team near the very bottom of the NHL standings.
After they grabbed the lead in the second period, the game never felt in jeopardy. They played strong defensively, built pressure, and generated chances throughout. It was only 2-0, but the lead felt bigger because of the way limited chances and controlled play. It was a solid defensive effort for 60 minutes, one head coach Lane Lambert emphasized in his post-game comments.
The only blemish was Ilya Sorokin losing his 14th career shutout (in only his 101st game) with just 22 seconds left. Other than that, this three-game winning homestand has the Isles feeling like a renewed group heading into the New Year.
And the beat goes on …
Coming up, we learn who’s going and who’s grounded for the upcoming road trip. Plus, Zeeker hits a milestone, Hickey breaks down plays in the truck, the purchase of the Isles is made official, and an MLB Insider visits UBS Arena.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: JG Pageau had a goal and an assist, and Mathew Barzal scored a power-play goal as the Islanders sent the Columbus Blue Jackets to their seventh straight loss with a 2-1 win at UBS Arena on Thursday night. Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves for the Isles (21-14-2), who have won three straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for the Blue Jackets (10-22-2), who have been outscored 26-10 during their losing streak. Emil Bemstrom scored for Columbus with just 22 seconds to spoil Sorokin’s shutout bid.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 Pageau started this play by causing a turnover at the Islanders’ blue line; he then chased the puck down before dropping it off to Hudson Fasching, who made a strong move to get off a shot that squirted through Korpisalo. Pageau was there to bang it in across the redline for a 1-0 lead at 7:12 of the second period.
Fasching continues to make plays and is now a +6 in 10 games with the Isles. He has assists in consecutive games after not having one in 29 previous games dating back to March 21, 2017.
🔶 The Islanders were 0 for their last 27 on the power play before Barzal finally ended the drought. It was a bit of a broken play, but when the puck came to Brock Nelson, he quickly moved it to Barzal for the one-timer.
3 REACTIONS
❶ THE WAY WE WANT: "It's been a couple of games now. I think we're playing the way we want," JG Pageau said. "We're all playing a role and we're competing a lot and for a full 60 and I thought we did that tonight."
❷ DEFENSE IMPROVES: "We've done a good job of kind of slowing the puck down in our defensive zone, pinning guys to the wall, and being able to double a little bit more frequently," Anders Lee said.
❸ A LOT OF LITTLE THINGS: "He's just responsible all the time," Lane Lambert said on Pageau. "There are a lot of little things that he does that maybe don't get noticed, they sure do by his teammates and the coaching staff. "Just a responsible guy that is taking the challenge of playing against the other teams top lines every night, relishes that and does a really good job with it."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders start the New Year with a game against Jordan Eberle and at the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Face-off on Sunday night is set for 8:00 PM ET.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: None of the injured Islanders returned on Tuesday, but there was a glimmer of good news for three of the six currently out. As the Isles head northwest for a four-game road trip (Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary), we learned that forwards Kyle Palmieri and Cal Clutterbuck, who have been skating with the team, would make the trip. Palmieri has missed 16 of the last 17 games, and Clutterbuck has been out for six straight.
◾️ Goaltender Semyon Varlamov would also make the trip. Lane Lambert stated it hadn’t yet been decided if Cory Schneider would travel.
◾️ D Adam Pelech, who missed his 10th straight last night, won’t accompany the team and hasn’t resumed skating, meaning he will have missed at least a month since leaving the game vs. the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 6.
◾️ Simon Holmstrom (left leg) and Oliver Wahlstrom also won’t be making the trip, indicating that they, too, will have lengthy absences. Ross Johnston was inserted into the lineup; Robin Salo remained a healthy scratch.
Casey Cizikas skated in his 700th NHL game on Thursday night. The first 698 were as a center, the last two at wing. He is the 11th player in team history to play in 700 games - and one of four current Islanders to hit that NHL games milestone. For his career, the 31-year-old Cizikas has 208 career points (93G, 115A), including a career-best 20 goals during the 2018-19 season.
After the game, on the radio post-game show, Cizikas reflected on his time with the team, saying, “We love the Island. We love our fans. Once you come to the Island, you don’t want to leave.”
Here’s to many more games that end in “Zeeker Hugs.”
🏒 BREAK IT DOWN: During the pre-game, MSG Networks’ Thomas Hickey went into the truck to dissect the Noah Dobson pass to Josh Bailey on Tuesday night. First, he talks about how ‘activating’ defensemen have become a trend in the NHL. On this play, Alexander Romanov draws the attention of three Penguins by going low and around the net. Then Hickey points out that the hesitation from Dobson was likely because the puck was on edge, but that momentary pause allowed him to find Bailey for the goal.
Out of the truck and back on the set, Hickey also picked up on the unique way Aatu Räty takes face-offs. When on his ‘off’ side taking the draw, the 20-year-old, as a left-handed player, flips his stick completely and changes his lower hand position to act like he’s on his forehand. It was also noted that he gets extremely low when taking face-offs on his draw side. Something to check out next game.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles set an NHL record by playing their 92nd regular season game of the calendar year. Prior to 2022, the Isles had never played more than 89 games in a calendar year. The NHL record will last until Saturday, when the Bruins will also play Buffalo in their 92nd game of 2022.
🗓 ISLES REWIND: On Dec. 30, 1971, Roy Boe's purchase of Long Island franchise was made official by the NHL Board of Governors. Boe previously owned the Julius Erving-led New York Nets of the ABA prior to purchasing the Islanders. He was awarded the franchise the previous month on Nov. 8th. Boe later owned AHL franchises in Bridgeport, CT., and Worcester.
🔗 Isles veteran goalie Cory Schneider is satisfied with the role he plays by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Goalie Cory Schneider skated off the ice first after Wednesday’s practice, a hockey tradition typically indicating the next game’s starter. But the Islanders, under president and general manager Lou Lamoriello, are loathe to disclose any lineup news before the puck actually drops.”
🔗 NY Islanders Ilya Sorokin keeps making history, via Eyes on Isles “Sorokin reached his 100th NHL game on Tuesday in a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sorkin made 20 saves on 21 shots and didn't have much of a workload thanks to a refreshed Islanders squad coming off their holiday break. Sorokin doesn't always have an easy night, however, and when the Islanders need him most, he's proven to show up time and time again.”
And we leave you with this …. he wasn’t wearing his trademark bow tie, but MLB on FOX field reporter and senior writer for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal, was at UBS Arena wearing an Islanders sweater.
No, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen with Carlos Correa.
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