Good Morning, Islanders Country.
There was no way the Isles were losing to the Rangers on "Potvin Socks” night!
Ilya Sorokin wouldn’t allow it. 41 saves. 11th career shutout. Spectacular.
“Every win I feel good. Doesn’t matter against who. When you lose, you feel like sh*t. When you win, you feel really good.” - Ilya Sorokin
This was a vintage New York Islanders win. Like 2019, 2020, 2021.
They received elite goaltending and opportunistic goal-scoring. It wasn’t a perfect game, far from it (although the penalty’s kill still is), but against a team going through its own adversity, the Isles had the best player on the ice.
Sorokin provided enough time for Kyle Palmieri to break through in the second, and later Josh Bailey beat old friend Jaro Halak on a deflection to extend the lead. Palmieri’s second of the game (this time, it counted after a review!) secured a much-needed 3-0 win to snap a three-game losing streak ahead of games against the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche.
Coming up, Bellows is put on waivers. Will he get claimed? Plus, the Maven’s most important day since his bar mitzvah, Trottier talks Trio Grande, Potvin scores his first of many, and Ilya is a shutout specialist.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: In the only Isles-Rangers game at UBS Arena this season, Ilya Sorokin made 41 saves as the Islanders (3-4-0) shut out the New York Rangers 3-0 on Wednesday night. Kyle Palmieri scored his first two goals of the season, and Josh Bailey found the net in his 999th NHL game as the Islanders snapped a three-game losing streak. Ex-Islander goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves for the Rangers (3-3-2), who have lost four straight (0-2-2).
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 The game was scoreless until 8:44 of the first period when Palmieri scored on a snap shot from the slot that beat Halak glove side for a 1-0 lead.
🔶 Bailey extended the Islanders' lead to 2-0 at 5:37 of the third period. Bailey cut diagonally from the left wing through the slot before tipping Adam Pelech's slap shot from the right circle past Halak.
3 REACTIONS
❶ ILYA SHUTOUT-KIN: “He was outstanding, obviously. He had some key saves early on that led to us getting out feet under us. I thought he was terrific. I can’t say enough about him.” - Lane Lambert on Sorokin
❷ PLAYED WITH SPEED: "It was just getting in on the forecheck. We were able to turn some pucks over and played a little faster and that resulted in a couple of more opportunities for us." - Kyle Palmieri
❸ A LITTLE SOMETHING: “I thought he played well. I thought he battled. He was on the forecheck, on pucks. To me, it looked like there was a little bit of something there." - Lane Lambert on Wahlstrom playing with Barzal
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders have back-to-back games against the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche on Friday and Saturday. The game in Carolina is set to be Josh Bailey’s 1,000th in his career. You can likely expect a ceremony to commemorate it ahead of the game vs. the Avs at UBS Arena.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Before the game, the Islanders waived former first-round pick Kieffer Bellows with the intent to reassign him to AHL Bridgeport. The former 19th overall pick in 2016 hasn’t been able to cement himself as an NHL regular and could be an enticing waiver wire pickup to some teams with nothing to lose, such as the Arizona Coyotes or Chicago Blackhawks. If he clears waivers, he will report to Bridgeport and still be paid his $1.2 million.
🔁 EARLY CHANGES? Just seven games into the season, head coach Lane Lambert has already sat veterans Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier.
After learning that the Islanders waived Bellows, suspicion arose that GM Lou Lamoriello had already attempted to shake things up, looking to trade Bellows and why he wasn’t in the lineup for either a Bailey or Beauvillier in recent games.
The Islanders have stumbled out of the gate, and it’s clear they’re missing something, particularly in the forward group. However, if a trade was the goal, that didn’t happen. Now, by 2 PM today, we’ll know if Bellows will remain in the Islanders organization or if he’ll be scooped up by another team. Stay tuned.
📝 MAVEN’S LEVEL: The Islanders formally named the press level at UBS Arenahe Stan Fischler Press Level after legendary hockey journalist and historian Stan Fischler. “In 1945, I was bar mitzvahed, and the first words were, ‘This is the most important day of my life,” said Fischler at a pre-game press conference. “Seventy-seven years later, this is the most important day of my life.”
On the press level is a display case containing some of Fischler’s 100-plus books on hockey, press clippings, hockey sticks, and other memorabilia surrounded by pictures of Fischler at various phases of his life and career.
Bryan Trottier was on CBC Radio and talked about how he and teammates Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies were known as the Trio Grande, one of the greatest lines in NHL history. Trots talked about what it was like playing with Bossy and Gillies — and how the line’s name was conjured up by ‘Jethro’ in front of the media.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per NHL Public Relations, Ilya Sorokin made 41 saves to blank the Rangers – the second-most stops in a shutout performance by ANY GOALTENDER in the “Battle of New York” behind only Jaroslav Halak (50 saves on Feb. 15, 2018, w/ NYI). His 11th shutout before his 80th game is T-4th all-time.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On. October 27, 1973, future Hall-of-Famer Denis Potvin scores his first NHL goal as the Islanders defeat the Rangers for the first time, 3-2. The win was huge for the Islanders, who were a second-year expansion team that had lost all six meetings to their crosstown opponent in the season prior.
🔗 NY Islanders waive former first-round pick Kieffer Bellows, Eyes on Isles “Earlier today, the NY Islanders waived former first-round pick, Kieffer Bellows with the purpose of assigning him to the AHL Bridgeport Islanders.”
🔗 Stan Fischler finally has his signature moment as UBS Arena press level is named in his honor by Andrew Gross, Newsday “It took nearly eight decades, but noted hockey author, historian and broadcaster Stan Fischler finally had a moment that superseded his bar mitzvah.”
And we leave you with this …. The NHL Twitter account posted a cool graphic of Anders Lee’s journey to the NHL in the latest Not One Path feature, highlighting unconventional paths – one that could have landed him in a different professional league entirely. The Isles captain received D-1 scholarships for football before ultimately choosing hockey.
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.....'not perfect', true - 'FAR from it'? NOT true, as I saw it - VERY close actually, at least where the backliners were concerned; Pelie & Pulie in PEAK form, Mayfie, Noah RIGHT there WITH 'em and Seabass playing what was INarguably, his BEST game to date, while forward corps stood JUST as tall MOST of last night - as Ilya COMPARABLY did.....