Despite some exciting performances, this was another losing week of Islanders hockey. The team went 1-2 in their three games, losing twice at home and getting their only win on the road. They slipped a bit in the standings, but the Islanders still find themselves in a playoff position with their 34 points.
In other news this week, the Islanders were finally able to give Nick Leddy his proper tribute. He played his first game at UBS Arena since being traded from the team a few summers ago. Leddy was an instrumental piece to the Islanders’ recent success in his seven seasons with the team. He was honored with a highlight video and a standing ovation from the Islanders faithful. Also, to the excitement of some and dread of others, the fisherman made its return to the ice. The Isles debuted their reverse retro jerseys on Saturday against the Hurricanes, which feature the infamous logo on the crest. They’ll wear the jerseys on five other dates this season.
Comeback Bid Falls Short Against the Blues
The week started with a home contest against the visiting Saint Louis Blues. Josh Leivo got the Blues on the board first, beating Sorokin with a wrister on a 2-on-1 chance. Noah Dobson tied things up less than a minute later, taking a great feed from Mat Barzal and snapping it by Greiss. However, this would be the last positive moment for the Islanders for a significant portion of the game. They were outscored 2-0 in the second, with Ivan Barbashev and Ryan O’Reilly scoring to give the Blues a 3-1 lead. The third got off to a terrible start for the Isles as well, with Noel Acciari tipping in a Justin Faulk shot to increase the lead. Colton Parayko surprised Sorokin with a shot just seconds later to give the Blues a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead.
But as many fans fled towards the exits at UBS Arena, the Islanders started to stage a comeback. A Robert Bortuzzo roughing penalty set the stage for Zach Parise to score a power play goal to cut into the Blues lead. With just around five minutes left to go in the game, Hudson Fasching scored his first Islanders goal with a tip-in to bring them a little bit closer. J.G. Pageau scored a backhander shortly afterwards to suddenly make this a one goal game. The Islanders emptied their net for the man advantage, but couldn’t get anything going before turning over the puck and allowing a Robert Thomas goal to officially put the game out of reach. Noel Acciari scored an additional empty netter to give the Blues a 7-4 victory.
Energizing Win in New Jersey
After the disappointing home loss, the Islanders had a road date with the league best New Jersey Devils. They got off to a rough start, with Ryan Pulock taking a holding penalty that led to a Nico Hischier power play goal. Later in the period, the Islanders began to take control. Brock Nelson scored a wrap-around goal at 15:37 to tie things up. Then, with nine seconds left in the period, a nice passing sequence set up Anders Lee to rip a turning shot past Vanecek to take a 2-1 lead. The Islanders stayed hot early in the second period, with Casey Cizikas and Oliver Wahlstrom scoring goals within the first five minutes to take a three goal lead. Dawson Mercer got a goal of his own to answer back, but a Brock Nelson power play goal scored later in the period sent the Islanders into the third up by three.
A turnover in the offensive zone early in the third gave Cal Clutterbuck a prime scoring chance, which gave the Islanders a game high 6-2 lead. The Devils then began to chip away, with Tomas Tatar getting a goal about a minute after Clutterbuck’s. They then made the bold decision to empty their net with seven minutes to go. This led to a Jack Hughes goal to bring the Devils to within two, still with six minutes left to play. Despite being pinned in their own zone and missing a couple of chances to score on the empty net, the Islanders held it together to take a big 6-4 victory in this Metropolitan division showdown.
Blanked By the Hurricanes
After facing the top team in the Metro, the Islanders played host to the second best team in the Metro in the Carolina Hurricanes. One would think Friday’s electrifying victory would give the team some momentum in a big home matchup. Instead, the Islanders fell completely flat. They played a scoreless tie until the second period, with Paul Stastny breaking the stalemate. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Staal both scored within the first 10 minutes of the third to guide the Hurricanes to a 3-0 win.
For the Islanders, this might’ve been their worst game of the season thus far. They spent a large portion of the game in their own zone and could not generate any kind of offense. This included a few power play chances, which all came with the game tied or within one. The Isles had a lot of trouble connecting on their passes and maintaining zone time, which resulted in their meager 16 shots on net. It was a very big letdown after a really impressive performance against the Devils 24 hours earlier.
Takeaway
This week was another demonstration of how wildly inconsistent this year’s Islanders team is. You never know whether they’ll have a high energy performance or look like they’re sleepwalking on the ice, as seen from the back to back games Friday and Saturday. That even expands to the individual periods of a game. The Isles came up lame in the first two and a half periods and suddenly erupted to nearly tie the game against the Blues.
So far the Islanders have managed to stay atop of the standings despite their inconsistency. However, these last two weeks have begun to show some cracks in the foundation. A few key mistakes and missed opportunities are causing winnable games to become losses. If they can’t find some level of consistency in their play, losing weeks like this will become more frequent. And with that will come a quick fall in the standings amidst a competitive Eastern Conference playoff field. This team has proven their talent, now they just have to try and display it on a more consistent basis.
3 Stars of the Week
1. Brock Nelson (Two goals (one PPG) against the Devils and an assist against the Blues)
2. Mat Barzal (Three assists, two against the Devils)
3. J.G. Pageau (Goal to bring game within one against Blues, power play assist against Devils)
Credits
Featured image courtesy of NHL
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