With a slew of players on the mend, an inability to finish, and struggling special teams, it looked like the Islanders were headed toward a rough November. But suddenly, the Isles have strung some wins together on the backs of Bo Horvat, Ilya Sorokin, and Kyle Palmieri. And do they have an unexpected gem on the backend in Isaiah George? Arthur Staple of The Athletic joins Sean & Stefen to talk it all over and look ahead to a challenging road swing out West!
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Happy Veterans Day 🇺🇸
The Isles were neither outplayed nor outclassed by the New Jersey Devils.
Thankfully, despite the injuries, that wasn’t and hasn’t been the case despite their depleted lineup. For the fourth straight game without five of their regulars, Patrick Roy’s undermanned group has held their own and was in a position to win a game in the third period.
That’s the good news. That’s the positive. The bad news is that the sense of optimism you felt up 3-1 in the third became a false sense of security as this remains a skittish team late in games, regardless of who is on the ice. It could be Grant Hutton, it could be Adam Pelech. It’s the same result.
“It's a good team we played against,” Roy said after Saturday’s 4-3 OT loss. “We managed to take a 3-1, and unfortunately, we could not score an empty netter. We need to find a way to close those games.”
The Isles’ coaching staff have repeatedly emphasized the same things with the team, but things haven’t changed because it’s as much a mental block as it is positioning or managing the puck. “Well, first of all, it's a matter of confidence. That's the first thing, and secondly, we need to defend better around our net,” Roy said via The Hockey News. "They pick up rebounds, so we got to find a way to box them out and put our hands on those pucks and do a little bit better job.”
