Thank you to all that have already converted to a paid subscription.
Your appreciation and support of the product mean a great deal to us! As a reminder, the newsletter will remain completely free until the end of the year. Paid subscribers will also qualify for monthly giveaways, virtual events, and more.
If you’d like to upgrade now, you can below:
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
We’ve been without hockey the last three nights, and for that reason, we’re without answers regarding the status of the Isles’ roster. There’s a chance the three days off was enough for some reinforcements to return, but it feels more likely than not that a number of regulars will remain out.
To recap …
Adam Pelech hasn’t played since vs. St. Louis on Dec. 6 and has not resumed skating with the team. Forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri are both on injured reserved (upper-body), as is goaltender Semyon Varlamov (lower-body). There is also the newer injury to Casey Cizikas suffered in the 5-3 loss to the Rangers at MSG. All of that was before Friday’s game against the Panthers, where the hits kept/injuries coming.
Most concerning is the long-term availability of Simon Holmstrom. The rookie has been steady since his call-up and appeared to be on the verge of finding his offensive game at this level before the injury to his left leg.
Meanwhile, the team would be in dire straits if they lost their most consistent player, Brock Nelson, for any period of time. Nelson left Friday’s game after getting hit with ‘friendly fire’ in the back of the head by Alexander Romanov.
After sputtering in recent weeks, the Isles need to start putting together wins in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. That’s harder to do when your lineup is in a constant state of flux, but they’ll have to overcome that tonight against the Penguins if they want to win consecutive games for the first time since late Nov.
Coming up, the Isles and Pens start their season series, and the World Juniors are underway. Plus, we ‘brace’ for news about Holmstrom, Isles gear under the tree, Heals & Flats let loose on a podcast, and Paul Cartier is going back to college.
📰 NEWS: The Isles host the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in the first meeting between the two teams this season. After an uneven start to the season that included a seven-game winless streak, The Pens are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, which included a seven-game winning streak.
◾️Pittsburgh is coming off a 4-3 OT loss to Carolina in their last game. The Canes are the only team to beat the Pens (2-0-1 in three contests) in the last month.
◾️ Pittsburgh is 5-1-2 against the Metropolitan Division and 19-9-5 overall. The Penguins have scored 113 total goals (3.4 per game) to rank 10th in the league.
◾️ For the New York Post, Ethan Sears takes a look at 12 moments from the first 35 games that stand out, from the best goal and best quotes to coaching decisions that worked and the ones that flopped.
◾️ In Newsday, Andrew Gross writes about the need for the team to string some wins together coming out of the break and coming off one of their better performances of the year. Per Gross, the Isles outshot the Panthers 43-24 and out-chanced them 80-46. Down two forwards in the third, the Isles maintained the momentum they gained in the second, scoring three unanswered goals.
A WINNING TEMPLATE: “It’s just a good example of a good hockey game from us,” said captain Anders Lee after the 5-1 win vs. Florida. “Really solid throughout from [goalie Ilya] Sorokin on out. Definitely a template for how we want to play and create opportunities, shots, and limit as much as we can. It definitely is a good example of what we’re trying to do here.”
🏒 JUNIORS HIGH: It’s not the same as tuning in to watch Aatu Räty and William Dufour over the summer, but the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships are underway, and two Islanders prospects are in action - both defensemen. Calle Odelius, the team’s first pick of last year’s draft, in the second round (65th overall), skates for Sweden, while Aleksi Malinen, the Islanders' 2021 sixth-round pick (189th overall), plays for Finland.
Odelius scored in his World Juniors debut, scoring Sweden's eighth goal in an 11-0 rout over Austria. The 18-year-old finished the game with a goal in 14:55 TOI.
Malinen and Finland suffered a 3-2 OT loss to Switzerland in their tournament opener. Malinen finished the game with 17:44 TOI and was a -1. The 19-year-old is currently playing in Finland's top professional league, and not surprisingly, his offensive game has been slow to take shape. He started the season playing for JyP HT Jyvaskyla and recorded just two assists in 23 games.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders’ next game will be on Thurs, Dec. 29, against the Columbus Blue Jackets at UBS Arnea. CBJ’s game tonight vs. the Sabres was postponed by the NHL on Monday because Buffalo International Airport remains closed due to a severe winter storm. The Blue Jackets have lost six straight.
📊 STANDINGS:
🕵️♂️ BRACE FOR IMPACT: Because of the Holiday break, we’ve gone without an update on the status of Simon Holmstrom following the scary knee-to-knee collision with Sean Bennett during the second period on Friday night. However, the online sleuths that follow this team saw this photo posted on defenseman Grant Hutton’s Instagram page.
There are conflicting opinions in the comments as to whether or not Holmstrom is wearing a brace on his left leg underneath his black pants. This is what happens when you give us three days without hockey.
🎄 UNDER THE TREE: On Christmas day, the Islanders asked fans to show them what blue and orange gear they were gifted during the holidays. One that caught my eye was these 1976 Islanders 7-11 collective glasses. The collection includes players that never won a Stanley Cup with the team, including Billy Harris, Gerry Hart, and captain Ed Westfall.
If interested, you can find them individually on eBay.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles out-scored Florida 4-0 at 5-on-5; they are +16 (76-60) at 5-on-5 this season. There were nine power plays (six for the Isles) with no goals—the Isles are 0-22 in their last seven games on the power play and are only 7-47 at home (14.9%) on the season; however, their NHL-best home penalty kill is now 38-43 (88.4%).
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On Dec. 27, 2016, Andrew Ladd had two goals, and Anders Lee added another as the Islanders defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
After Ladd’s second of the game gave the Isles a 3-2 lead, Lee followed with a breakaway 41 seconds later when he snapped a wrist shot that beat Caps goalie Braden Holtby cleanly. “A move that's beaten me a few times this year," Holtby said. "I can deal with different goals here and there, but when it's a pattern like that and I haven't fixed it, that's frustrating.”
🎧 The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast: ‘Ringing the Bell’ w/ Glenn Healy & Patrick Flatley + NHL Outlook at Christmas Break “‘Heals & Flats’ teamed back up with Ray Ferraro and the banter was legendary! The trio of former New York Islanders told hilarious stories of their narcoleptic trainer, Ray navigating a broken leg… in a broken taxi, and the diabolical prank that had Glenn Healy ringing one EXPENSIVE bell!”
🔗 Islanders looking to string wins together in return from holiday break by Andrew Gross, Newsday “The Islanders (19-14-2) resume their season against the Penguins on Tuesday night in the middle match of a three-game homestand. They snapped a two-game losing streak with Friday’s 5-1 win over the Panthers and are looking to win consecutive games for the first time since a four-game winning streak from Nov. 21-26.”
And we leave you with this…we’re lucky to have Paul Cartier behind the organ for home games, but that luck will be with the Irish on December 31st and January 1st as Cartier is the guest organist in Southbend for the team’s games vs.Alaska Fairbanks.
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.