In the latest episode of “The Red Line” with co-hosts Phil Farber (@PhilzFacts) and David Tuchman (@TuckOnSports), the boys talk about the Isles slump that hopefully doesn’t turn into a skid as they welcome the Ottawa Senators to UBS Arena later tonight. Plus, they talk about Simon Holmstrom showing off his shot, Ilya Sorokin’s great saves but not great results, concerns over Oliver Wahlstrom’s skating, the team’s penalty kill, and the impact Scott Mayfield’s injury has had on the rest of the defensive group.
Listen and Enjoy!
Good Afternoon, Islanders Country.
After the Isles lost to the Avs, I switched over to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks slowly and painfully stun the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 7 of the NLCS. The 84-win D-Backs, a team that lost nine straight during the summer, had earned a trip to the World Series, the latest proof that the expanded 12-team playoff format is a crapshoot. It’s not the best team, but the team playing the best that matters.
It serves as a reminder of the objective of this 2023-24 New York Islanders season. Just get in, baby. No playoff format, not baseball, and certainly not the NHL with its 16-team postseason tournament, will ever be completely fair after an 82-game regular season. That’s a good thing for the Islanders. As nice as it would be to have a 110-point season and win the Metropolitan Division, that's most likely not this team’s story, but it doesn’t have to be.
So settle in and get used to feeling frustrated some nights and irrationally optimistic others. The same team that will give you hope will also fill you with despair. It’s just the way it’s gonna be - an unpredictable regular season that will hopefully end with a chance to partake in the crapshoot.
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Coming up, the Isles welcome another high-scoring team as their defensemen keep logging heavy minutes. Plus, Hudson Fasching’s mindset after being scratched, the 01-02 team stays red hot on the road and an ice projection show.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders (2-2-1) were back on the practice ice on Wednesday ahead of their game against the Ottawa Senators (3-3-0) tonight at UBS Arena. According to Lane Lambert, defenseman Scott Mayfield skated on his own yesterday, but there remains no timetable for his return from a lower-body injury.
It’ll be another defensive test for the Isles versus a Sens team that is averaging 4.17 goals per game so far this season. Ottawa has struggled in net, with Anton Forsberg having a .873 save percentage and Joonas Korpisalo sporting one at .872.
“Former Future” New York Islanders trade target Vladimir Tarasenko is off to a great start with his new team, scoring three goals and eight points through six games. There are already six Senators with at least three goals this season. In addition to Tarasenko, Jake Sanderson, Josh Norris, Brady Tkachuk, Jakob Chychrun, and Mathieu Joseph all have three goals.
Brock Nelson is the only Islander with three goals.
◾️ For Newsday, Andrew Gross writes about the increased workload that the Islanders defenseman has been faced with Scott Mayfield remaining out of the lineup. Noah Dobson played 19:13 in the first game of the season, the only game Mayfield played in. Since then, he has topped 26 minutes twice.
“I’m never going to complain about playing a lot of minutes,” said Dobson, who is averaging 24:12 of ice time. “It’s still early in the year. If we had three, or four guys playing 25, 26 [minutes] in March, it could probably tax on you a little more.”
A big reason Dobson has played so much is that Lane Lambert does not fully trust Samuel Bolduc in most matchups, as he’s averaging just 8:49 TOI.
“It’s not easy,” Bolduc said of the limited ice time. “But you just have to be ready all the time so when he calls my name to go, I’ll be ready. “It could be better, for sure. There are always things you want to do better in every situation. Be more assertive and think less on the ice, and I’ll be fine.
◾️ In The Hockey News, Stefen Rosner caught up with Hudson Fasching, who has been a healthy scratch the last two games after starting the season on the third line. Fasching is very open about how
"Obviously, you want to be out there. You want to be helping your team, but you try to have a positive attitude about it," said Fasching. "There's no reason to get down on yourself. You want to try and maintain your confidence so when you get another opportunity, you feel good about yourself and feel good about your game.”
Rosner asked Lane Lambert what more he needed to see from Fasching, and although he conceded that he thinks the winger has more to give, it’s more about the internal competition amongst several players for opportunities.
"I don't feel any animosity from coaches or anything," Fasching said. "I mean, look, I'm so grateful that they gave me the opportunity to be here, and I think that's kind of my mindset is, just stay grateful and try to keep working hard.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders host Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators later tonight at UBS Arena. Face-off is set for 7:30 PM EDT.
📊 STANDINGS:
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Mathew Barzal passed Billy Harris by recording his 260th assist (15th in club history). The Isles have allowed 121 shots in their last three games after allowing only 42 in their first two games, and Casey Cizikas became the 10th player in club history to appear in 750 game
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On October 26, 2001, the Islanders became just the fourth team in NHL history to win each of their first six road games to start the season. Oleg Kvasha tied the game at 2-2 in the third period on the power-play (blurry GIF below), and Mariusz Czerkawski was the hero with the game-winning goal in overtime to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2.
🎧 Islanders Award Winners: Mike Bossy, Calder Trophy, 1978 (Part 1) “Mike Bossy’s rookie season in the NHL has been the stuff of legend since it happened. But breaking league records and bringing fans out of their seats as a young phenom hid what was really going on in Bossy’s mind.”
🔗 ‘Very receptive’ Simon Holmstrom adjusting game to shoot more on Islanders’ 3rd line by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “The 22-year-old winger possesses a plus shot. He showed flashes of it last season but was trigger-shy or inaccurate in a rookie campaign that featured just three goals in 50 games. Winning a roster spot from rookie camp, he was given a chance to start the season on the right wing of the first line alongside center Bo Horvat and winger Mathew Barzal.”
And we leave you with this…a snippet of the Islanders’ ice projection, one of the perks of being in a fourth-generation arena. Watch the whole presentation, with music HERE
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The Red Line Podcast: Don't Panic!