The New York Islanders went 2-1-1 in their four games played this week. They picked up an overtime win over the Maple Leafs and a regulation win over the Ducks. Their two losses of the week came in a shootout against the Bruins and in regulation against the Canadiens. The Islanders have a 14-8-8 record with 36 total points.
Blown Lead, Tavares’ 1,000th Point and an Overtime Victory
The Islanders opened this week of action with a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The big storyline in this one was former Islanders captain John Tavares being two points shy of hitting 1,000 for his career. Things got off to a tough start when Auston Matthews buried a power play goal to give the Maple Leafs a lead. However, the Islanders got the game tied back up with a big shot from Brock Nelson. Casey Cizikas then gave the team their first lead of the game on a backhanded shot. Taking a 2-1 lead into the second period, Kyle Palmieri got a prime opportunity to score and go up by two goals.
At the 7:43 mark of the second, Tavares deflected a shot from Conor Timmins to come within one of tying. Up until the final seconds of the third, Ilya Sorokin and the Islanders did a tremendous job of keeping the Maple Leafs from tying the game. But this game was not over yet, as the Maple Leafs would come to tie it. Tavares set up Morgan Reilly to score the game-tying goal and thus score his 1,000th point against his former team. After some profuse booing towards the former captain at UBS Arena, the game went to overtime. In relatively short order, Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat got a two-on-one opportunity in that overtime period. Horvat took the feed from Barzal and beat Ilya Samsonov with a shot to give the Islanders a 4-3 overtime win over the Maple Leafs.
Special Teams Help Secure a Win Over the Ducks
The next game saw the Islanders host the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. After an overturned Islanders goal in the first period, the first goal of this game wouldn’t come until the second period. That goal came courtesy of Palmieri after a great setup from Nelson. Cizikas then doubled the Islanders’ advantage at the 6:32 mark of the period. However, a Ducks power play just over a minute later resulted in a goal from Troy Terry. Adam Henrique then scored to tie the game on a rebounded puck.
Sam Carrick opened the third period with a goal that bounced off of Robert Bortuzzo’s stick and past Semyon Varlamov, giving the Ducks their first lead of the game. With an important power play opportunity shortly afterwards, Barzal went top shelf to tie the game back up. As regulation was nearing an end, a tripping penalty against the Islanders had them set to go on the penalty kill. But that came to an abrupt halt as the Ducks took a penalty of their own right after the faceoff. On the delayed penalty, Simon Holmstrom buried the go-ahead goal past John Gibson. That would prove to be the game-winner, as the Islanders would pick up a 4-3 win.
Three Blown Leads Results in a Shootout Loss to Bruins
On Friday night, the Islanders had a big test in front of them in the form of the visiting Boston Bruins. Alex Romanov got the team going in the second period with a perfectly placed shot to beat Linus Ullmark. At the 13:26 mark, Holmstrom got the team up 2-0 with some slick work with his stick. A minute later, the Islanders found themselves on the penalty kill. Holmstrom very nearly got his second of the game while shorthanded but Ullmark got a piece of the puck to keep it out. Morgan Geekie then delivered the power play marker to get the Bruins on the board. The Bruins power play struck again near the end of the period, this time with David Pastrnak scoring to tie the game.
The Islanders got back ahead early in the third period, courtesy of a Horvat power play goal. But the lead would not last as James van Riemsdyk scored the Bruins’ third power play goal of the game. With another power play chance, Nelson got a great look to give the Islanders the lead for the third time in the game. But just like the others, the lead wouldn’t last as Mason Lohrei tied the game on a strange goal that bounced past Sorokin. This would bring the game to overtime and eventually a shootout. Holmstrom would net the only Islanders shootout goal as Charlie Coyle and Pastrnak scored for the Bruins. The Islanders would suffer a 5-4 shootout loss in this one.
Third Period Comeback Falls Short Against the Canadiens
In their final game of the week, the Islanders ended their homestand and traveled to Montreal to play the Canadiens. After the team’s third straight scoreless first period, things began to unravel in the second period. Joel Armia opened up scoring with a strong shot to beat Varlamov. Josh Anderson followed that up with a big turn-around shot of his own to go up by two. In the final minute of the period, Anderson and Cole Caufield scored just 15 seconds apart to put the Islanders in a four-goal deficit.
Things looked bleak heading into the third period until the Islanders offense started to heat up. Nelson scored a momentum-shifting, short-handed goal to finally get the team on the board. Nelson struck again just over a minute later after Noah Dobson set him up with a good look against Sam Montembault. Now only facing a two-goal deficit, Horvat buried a shot at the 14:06 mark to come within one goal of tying the game. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Islanders would get. They couldn’t get anything going with their net empty and allowed an empty net goal to Christian Dvorak. The Canadiens were the only team to hold the Islanders pointless this week, winning 5-3 in regulation.
3 Stars of the Week
1. Brock Nelson (PPG, SHG, 2 even-strength goals and 3 assists)
2. Bo Horvat (PPG, 2-even-strength goals and 3 assists)
3. Noah Dobson (7 assists)
Featured image courtesy of X/@NYIslanders
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- Source: https://thegamehaus.com/nhl/new-york-islanders-weekly-recap-week-9/2023/12/18/
