Good Morning, Islanders Country.
So about that momentum…? The Islanders couldn’t build off the win over the Flyers and couldn’t avoid falling back to .500, falling 3-2 to a stingy Los Angeles Kings team on Thursday night at UBS Arena.
"You look at the two chances, we hit a crossbar and we hit a post," Barry Trotz said after the game. "Both [from] our defensemen. If those go in, it's a totally different game."
That may be true, it may have been different, but it’s been the same story for an Islanders team unable to find a way to generate offense against better competition.
Yes, Adam Pelech and Robin Salo hit posts. Yes, the Islanders were the better team in the second half of the game. Yes, they showed fight scoring twice in the final minutes. But none of that especially matters when you are now 2-11-3 against teams in playoff position and continually take two steps forward just to take one step back when a sustained run of really good hockey is what’s needed.
Coming up, Palmieri is back in the lineup and Pulock was back at practice. Plus, the rare empty-net game-winner and Super Mario posts a touching tribute to honor the life of his friend, Clark Gillies. But first, let’s recap last night’s disappointing loss.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Mathew Barzal and Casey Cizikas each scored in the final 2:04, but it wasn’t enough as Los Angeles Kings (22-16-6) held off the Islanders (15-15-6), 3-2 at UBS Arena on Thursday night. Andreas Athanasiou scored with less than six seconds left in the second period and assisted on the first NHL goal for Quinton Byfield who opened the scoring. Adrian Kempe scored an empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining and Cal Peterson made 23 saves for the Kings. Seymon Varlamov made 27 saves in loss. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty played his 1,000th game.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 2020 2nd overall pick Quinton Byfield became the latest teenager to score their first NHL goal against the Islanders. Byfield entered the zone and as Andy Greene backed up, he took advantage of the space and ripped a wrist shot past Varlamov.
🔻This was the backbreaker. A few nights back, the Isles allowed a goal to the Leafs with 0.4 seconds to play in the first period. On Thursday, it was Andreas Athanasiou surprising Varlamov with a wicked shot from the right circle with six seconds to play in the second period that gave the Kings a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
🔷 With the extra attacker, the Islanders regained life with 2:04 left to play as Mat Barzal’s shot from that left circle beat Peterson with Anders Lee providing a screen. Barzal now has four goals and six assists over the last 10 games.
🔶 After Adrian Kempe scored an empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining to make it a two-goal deficit, Casey Cizikas scored 16 seconds later off a pretty feed from Matt Martin for one final gasp before the buzzer.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ CLOGGED IT UP: "LA had nothing tonight, they really didn't have much," Barry Trotz said. "I thought we generated a little bit more. They defended well. They clogged it up, I thought they really defended well. It was hard to generate, they were looking for a low-scoring game. We generally do, we're not going to trade chances with some of the teams… Tonight, it was an even game, but I always felt like we were a little bit uphill chasing the game because they scored first."
❷ BACK TO .500: “When we were in the hole, I think .500 was a benchmark that we looked at and we were able to get there,” said Scott Mayfield. “But yeah, it’s been tough. It’s been just back and forth. Get one game ahead and then right back to it. We got to put some together here.”
❸ HOW YOU END UP LOSING: "I'm sure [Varlamov] would like to have one back tonight at the end of the period," Trotz said. "Those are a little bit deflating because you go into the period down one puck and now, you're down two pucks with a few seconds to go. That's not how you win. That's how you end up losing, the late goals in the period, giving up a shorthanded goal, those type of things aren't winning hockey."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Isles play back-to-back games this weekend against Jordan Eberle and the Seattle Kraken on Saturday afternoon and the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Forward Kyle Pamlieri returned to the lineup for the first time since December 16th. The 30-year-old who the Islanders acquired from the Devils last season and was signed to a long-term deal this summer has just one goal in 26 games this season after a strong post-season that included seven goals. “Wasn’t getting a lot of production at the start of the year, he wasn’t the only one,” Barry Trotz said. “We had a number of guys that weren’t. But I think with the position I think we have him in, and the impact that he can make, there’s another level in his game.”
Per Ethan Sears in the New York Post:
The numbers suggest Palmeiri should improve. His 1.8 shooting percentage is a career low, and by a lot. Over his career, his next-worst mark is 8.7 percent. He has produced 0.91 individual expected goals per 60 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick, a respectable mark that further suggests a turnaround.
To make room for Palmieri, Autsin Czarnik was placed on IR with an upper-body injury (retroactive to Jan. 22). Kieffer Bellows was the odd man out (at least for a night) with Palmieri back in the lineup.
⛸ MORE GOOD NEWS: Defenseman Ryan Pulock was on the ice for morning skate, a promising sign that the blueliner could make his return from a lower-body injury before the All-Star break. Pulock hasn’t played since injuring himself in Tampa Bay on Nov. 15.
“Just to see him skating with us today after all the hard work that he’s put in day in and day out to come back, it’s big,” said Jean-Gabriel Pageau. “Everyone was happy to see him, everyone had a smile on their face.”
As for when he will return, Barry Trotz says it’s just as much Pulock’s call as it is in the hands of the coaches. “It’s really the player’s decision,” said Trotz. “He’ll know how comfortable he feels, where his conditioning is. I’ll have an observation, but really it’s going to end up being a player’s decision; him saying ‘I feel like I’m ready to go' then, it’s in my court and I’m not there yet.”
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Quinton Byfield is the 194th player to score his first NHL goal against the Isles and the second this season (Cole Sillinger). By comparison, 183 players have scored their first NHL goal as an Islander. Adrian Kempe’s empty-net goal marked only the 2nd time in Isles history that they allowed an EN goal that became the game-winner. The other one was by Toronto's Jonas Hoglund on Dec. 29, 1999.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On January 27, 2015, Mikhail Grabovski — pressed into action on the Islanders’ top line in place of the injured Kyle Okposo — scored the opening goal, and Jaroslav Halak made 40 saves for his 26th win of the season as the Islanders dominated the Rangers, 4-1, at a boisterous Nassau Coliseum.
“Winning games like this is what good teams do,” Islanders Coach Jack Capuano said. “They played hard, and we managed the game well. That’s the system we have to play.”
🔗 Islanders waiting for Ryan Pulock to give green light for return by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “Ryan Pulock hit the ice with his New York Islanders teammates for morning skate on Thursday — usually, a mundane practice suddenly providing hope that the defenseman will finally be making his way back from a lower-body injury that has kept him out since Nov. 15.
🔗 Kyle Palmieri returns to Islanders looking to recapture scoring prowess by Ethan Sears, New York Post “On Thursday, however, Palmieri participated in the morning skate and Bellows stayed on with the extras. Later in the day, Palmieri was activated from injured reserve in time for the Islanders’ game against the Kings at UBS Arena. Now that Palmieri is back, the Islanders can’t afford for him to take much time to find his scoring touch.”
And we leave you with this …. I never knew how close Clark Gillies was to Mario Lemieux, but evident by his statement after his passing, Super Mario had built a special friendship with Jethro through their charity work. The Mario Lemieux Foundation released a video of some memorable moments he shared with Clark through the years.
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