Good Morning, Islanders Country.
“I thought it was exactly the type of game we can play,” head coach Barry Trotz said after Saturday's 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues at UBS Arena.
It’s reassuring to know the Isles can still put together a complete 60-minute effort consisting of all the characteristics that have made them successful the previous three seasons - a structured defense, solid goaltending, a strong penalty kill, and just enough offense (even when two goals are disallowed).
The way the season has gone, it felt a bit unfamiliar to watch the Isles defend a one-goal lead late in the third period and come away with the victory. They just haven’t been winning these types of games. The final minutes weren’t without tense moments as the Blues pushed 6-on-5, but Ilya Sorokin made clutch saves and Cal Clutterbuck blocked a last-second shot to preserve one of the better wins of the year.
Coming up, the Isles claim back a player they lost on waivers and Big Z has his big ceremony. Plus, what McDonald’s has to do with Oliver Wahlstrom, an Isles prospect hits the 40-goal mark, Ilya is the best vs. the west and it’s been one year since Barzy’s between-the-legs goal.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: Mathew Barzal is getting closer, but missed his fourth consecutive game as he works his way back from the lower-body injury suffered in Los Angeles last week. Anders Lee also missed Saturday’s game for personal reasons. We’ll learn their availability for tonight’s game by this afternoon.
On the blue line, Barry Trotz reunited Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock as a pair for the first time since the season’s third game. “It was just time," Trotz said. "[Pulock] has had some time. He missed a lot of time. His game was just off and we wanted to give him the opportunity. We just felt let's put them together.”
Before the game, the Islanders recalled Otto Koivula and D Parker Wotherspoon from their AHL affiliate and moved Zdeno Chara (upper body) to injured reserve retroactive Feb. 26. When asked why Wotherspoon was brought up over Robin Salo, Trotz gave a blunt response, “He [Salo] hasn’t played as well as he’s needed to play. He should have an impact and be the best defenseman down there. And he hasn’t been."
WELCOME BACK: The Seattle Kraken put Austin Czarnik on waivers Saturday afternoon and the Islanders promptly reclaimed the 29-year old center on Sunday.
In six games with the Kraken, Czarnik recorded two assists. Czarnik has been assigned to the Bridgeport Islanders to boost their lineup in their quest for the playoffs.
1️⃣6️⃣5️⃣2️⃣: Before puck drop on Saturday, the Islanders honored Zdeno Chara for recently breaking the record for most games played as a defenseman. It was a bit strange to commemorate that type of a record with Chara out of the lineup due to injury, but his family had arranged to be in attendance so the ceremony went on as planned. The video tribute included ex-teammates including Johnny Boyhcuk.
“They have so much respect for Chara, I think they wanted to play a Chara style of game today,” head coach Barry Trotz said after the 2-1 win over St. Louis.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders continue their homestand as they host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at UBS Arena. Face-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
📊 STANDINGS:
🚦PREACHING PATIENCE: “He’s gonna be good,” Barry Trotz said when asked about Oliver Wahlstrom in the post-game. “He’s gonna be fine. You guys are like McDonald’s. You guys want everything right now.”
If my recollection of fast-food slogan history is correct, my guess is that Barry was likely thinking of “Your way right away” which belongs to Burger King, but nevertheless, the point was understood.
Wahlstrom scored his first goal since February 1st on Saturday to open up the scoring, but in a game that featured special teams and some 4-on-4 hockey, he only had 8:52 of ice-time.
Later, Trotz went into more detail on the handling of his young wingers. “It’s a process with Wally and it’s a process with [23-year old Kieffer] Bellows where it’s easy, everybody analytically and everybody who says, ‘Oh just put the kid in, he’ll be fine.’ It doesn’t work that way.”
“You get confidence by earning it a little bit. If it comes easy for you and you run into a dry spell or a hard spell, you don’t know where to go. But if you make it a little bit hard and understand that everything is critical, then you understand that you start building your game and the momentum and all that comes.”
🚨 DU-FORTY: Isles’ prospect William Dufour scored a hat-trick as his Saint John Sea Dogs pounded the Halifax Mooseheads 10-2 Sunday. . Dufour is the first player in the QMJHL to hit the 40-goal plateau this season. He's also second in the league in scoring with 76 points.
🏒 BEST RELEASE: Eyes on Isles ‘Michel Anderson was able to speak to Saint John Sea Dogs General Manager Trevor Georgie who praised Dufour’s unique skill set.
📚 SOUND SMART: Ilya Sorokin is 9-3-3 at home and 10-4-4 against the West this season after narrowly missing his sixth shutout against the Blues. The previous five have all come against Western Conference teams.
Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, since going 0-2-1 in his first three starts at UBS Arena as his team battled COVID, Sorokin is 9-1-2 at home, with a 1.81 GAA and a .929 save percentage, highest in NHL among goalies with at least 10 home starts in that span.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On March 6th, 2021, Mathew Barzal scored the goal of the year when he went between his legs and past Carter Hutton.
“Once I knew I had body position, I took it to the net,” Barzal said. ”I felt like Hutton was down. It was a lot of instinct, just being in the moment and reacting. I’d probably put it in my top two or three.”
🔗 Islanders face daunting task of rebuilding aging, underperforming roster by Larry Brooks, New York Post “There is a lot of age on the Island and not enough speed. More skill has to be added to the club’s impressive will, which has featured either a lot of won’t or can’t through this inaugural season to forget at Belmont. And it is not likely to be easy.”
🔗 Barry Trotz explains his puzzling handling of Islanders’ Oliver Wahlstrom, Ethan Sears, New York Post “Barry Trotz has been around long enough to know how this looks from the outside, the 21-year old Oliver Wahlstrom failing to consistently get ice time requisite with his talent, staying on the third line when a spot seems to be open on the first, taking consistent public criticism from his coach.”
And we leave you with this… Kyle Okposo content will always be welcomed in Islander country. Here’s Okposo’s son, Odin, giving the Buffalo Sabres a pregame speech that ended with “try to get a W and play with your heart.”
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.