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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
You can’t always tell what’s real and what’s AI-generated these days. I recently saw former Isles columnist/writer Andy Graziano share this coffee mug on X that read “We Almost Always Almost Win.”
It sums up the feeling of watching the Islanders over the last two seasons. They are almost always in games, almost always in a position to win in the third period, and almost always shaky with a third-period lead. They are almost always good enough to beat anybody and inconsistent enough to lose to anybody.
Patrick Roy’s team is 6-6-4 through 16 games this season, a modest one-point improvement over the 5-6-5 start the team had under Lane Lambert last year.
The Islanders have already played 7 OT games this season (1-4 in OT, 2-0 in shootout). That means it would be 100% accurate to say that the Islanders have only been beaten in regulation just six times in 16 games. Pretty good, right? You would also be correct in saying that the Islanders have lost 10 of 16 games.
The theoretical Islander mug is almost always half full or half empty. This team almost always gives you reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic simultaneously, and it’s been that way for three years.
It’s the most consistent thing about their play. It’s the most infuriating thing about their play. It’s perpetually, incessantly, and continuously why we keep loving and watching this team and almost always question why we do.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: According to Stefen Rosner in The Hockey News, the Islanders moved defender Mike Reilly to injured reserve (IR) and recalled defender Travis Mitchell from Bridgeport. Reilly was hurt on Nov. 1 when he hit his head on the ice following a hit from Jordan Greenway of the Buffalo Sabres.
Reilly remained motionless on the ice for several minutes before being helped off by his teammates and training staff. He was initially listed as day-to-day before the team changed his designation to “out indefinitely,” and now IR or LTIR is likely with what is assumed to be concussion symptoms.
◾️ Who is Travis Mitchell? If you are unfamiliar with Mitchell, you are not alone. The defenseman signed a two-year, two-way entry-level contract in March of 2023 as an NCAA free agent. He played four collegiate seasons at Cornell, where he finished as the team captain. Across his 95-game NCAA career, the 6'3", 200-lb defenseman scored 11 goals and 36 assists for 47 points and helped Cornell win the 2019-20 ECAC regular-season championship as a freshman.
He played in 34 games for Bridgeport last season and has a goal and two assists in eight games thus far this year. The AHL affiliate’s blueline is depleted with Grant Hutton and Isaiah George already up, and now Marshall Warren is injured.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are in Vancouver tonight to take on Bo Horvat’s former team, the Canucks. Face-off is scheduled for 10:00 PM EST. The Canucks have won four of their last five games, with their only loss coming from a 7-3 loss to the Oilers on Saturday.
📊 STANDINGS:
Hockey Fights Cancer
Islanders Hockey Fights Cancer Autographed jersey auction is now live. Winners will receive two (2) complimentary lower bowl tickets to the Islanders home game on December 23, 2024 or January 14, 2025 at UBS Arena.
Fans can bid from Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 9 a.m. through Sunday, December 1. Auction will close at 10 p.m. on December 1. Proceeds will benefit the Islanders Children’s Foundation and the Northwell Cancer Institute.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Ilya Sorokin has faced at least forty shots once this season and 30 times in his career. Only Billy Smith, who played more than three times the number of games as an Islander, faced 40 more often (46 times). Sorokin has made at least 40 saves 18 times in his career, a franchise record. He finished with 38 saves vs. Edmonton on Tuesday.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On November 14, 2009, Tim Jackman celebrated his 28th birthday and set an NHL record by scoring 16 seconds into the game against the Flordia Panthers, the fastest goal ever by a player on his birthday. Jackman, Trent Hunter, John Tavares, and Kyle Okposo all scored, and Dwayne Roloson stopped 38 shots for the Islanders in a 5-4 shootout loss after rallying from down 4-2.
🔗 Behind Islanders rookie Isaiah George’s unexpected rise: Big OHL minutes and ‘lunch pail’ work ethic by Arthur Staple, The Athletic “Dylan Hunter remembers a game during Isaiah George’s first season with the OHL’s London Knights.George was a promising 17-year-old just starting to get his game together. The Knights, with Dale Hunter as head coach and son Dylan as the assistant coach running the defense, had a top-pair defenseman injured.”
🔗 Little-used Matt Martin embracing Islanders ‘leadership’ role by Ethan Sears, New York Post “The confluence of events required for Matt Martin to be back with the Islanders this season was something no one saw coming, and the list does not just include Martin taking a tryout contract and the Islanders suffering a number of injuries.”
And we leave you with this…the latest Sport Science episode focused on skating!
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