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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Playing without five regulars, the Isles need players to step up every night, but who and how they step up will be anyone’s guess. Sometimes, that means Bo Horvat and Kylie Palmieri scoring big goals. Other times, Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson are logging nearly 30 minutes of TOI is needed. The goaltending is expected to be solid, and usually is that, or better more games than not.
Last night, it was a 20-year-old rookie Isaiah George, playing in only his second NHL game, logging 23:59 TOI on the team’s depleted blueline. Last night, it was Oliver Wahlstrom and the fourth line scoring a third-period goal. Last night, it was Scott Mayfield finishing +4, and having one of his best games overall (you know, he leads the team with a +5 rating now?)
The Islanders went out on the road and beat an Ottawa Senators team that had won five of six at home this season, not a small feat. It’s the exactly the type of win they’ll need to stay afloat, tread water, hold the line while they wait for their reinforcements to come back before the end of 2024.
They’ll next return home to face the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night and it’ll likely have to be someone new in some new way to step up to earn them a three-game winning streak ahead of their Western Canada (and Seattle) road trip.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Anders Lee and JG Pageau scored second-period goals as the New York Islanders defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Thursday Night. Bo Horvat scored an empty-netter and added two assists, and Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for the Isles (6-6-2), who have won two straight. Nic Jensen and Drake Baretheson had third-period goals for the Sens (6-7-0). Anton Forsberg finished with 21 saves for Ottawa, who had won five of their first six home games.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 Lee gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 15:49 of the second period, scoring with a one-timer between the circles off a no-look, backhanded pass from Horvat from below the goal line.
🔶 Pageau made it 2-0 at 18:22 when he beat Forsberg with a wrist shot under the right arm on a breakaway
🔷 Wahlstrom pushed it to 3-0 at 2:41 of the third. He scored with a backhanded shot from the slot shortly after Forsberg turned the puck over behind the ne
3 REACTIONS
❶ PLAYED THE RIGHT WAY: "It was outstanding tonight," Patrick Roy said of his team's effort. "We played with patience, and I thought we played the right way. That's the reason we won that game. They made a push towards the second half of the third period, but I thought our guys did a really nice job. I was pleased with the focus that we have. It was a four-point game, so it was an important one."
❷ GETTING REWARDED: "Honestly, I think we're just starting to kind of get rewarded for things we've been doing. We've been doing a lot of good stuff through throughout the course of the year,” said Bo Horvat. “We're finally starting to get rewarded for playing well defensively, and we're starting to bury our chances. We just got to keep that going."
❸ WE DID IT!: "We were all telling each other and hugging each other, 'We did it,’ said Oliver Wahlstrom of the fourth line’s first goal. “A couple bounces didn't go our way the first couple of games. You've just got to stick with it."
GAME IMPACT SCORE
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are back home at UBS Arena on Saturday night to battle the New Jersey Devils. Face-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Matt Martin skated in first game since Oct. 30th on the fourth line with Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom. The trio would each earn their first points of the season on Wahlstrom’s third period goal.As expected, Patrick Roy is picking his spots as to when Martin should draw back in the lineup and he felt Thursday was a good time, and it paid off. "
Martin knows his role, I think he'll be a great help for MacLean and Wahlstrom," Roy said. "He can use his experience and direct them on the ice, I think it'll be a good situation for them."
Defensemen Alexander Romanov and Mike Reilly each missed their third consecutive games are still considered day to day with upper-body injuries.
Steve-Webb! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Islanders alum Steve Webb appeared on Sports Bash with Peter Schwartz on Thursday and discussed his fight with Mick Vukota in practice, Darcy Tucker during the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, his youth sports organization, and more.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Isaiah George played 23:59 in his second NHL game after four games in Bridgeport. George is the 20th-youngest player in the NHL; he will not turn 21 until February 15th. His ice-time was the most by any Islander in his first two NHL games (ice-time official since 1997-98). MTL’s Lane Hutson is the only rookie to play more in a game than George. George is only the 3rd Isles rookie to play at least 23:59 in a game-ending in regulation; Travis Hamonic did so four times, and Eric Brewer did so twice.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On November 8, 1971, clothing manufacturer Roy Boe was awarded an expansion franchise by the National Hockey League. The deal became official when the NHL Board of Governors approved the purchase of the Long Island-based hockey franchise on December 30, 1971. Boe had previously owned the Julius Erving-led New York Nets of the ABA prior to purchasing the Islanders. Boe later owned AHL franchises in Bridgeport, Conn., and Worcester.
🎧 The Red Line: Injuries and Insults In the latest episode of “The Red Line,” Phil Farber (@PhilzFacts) and David Tuchman (@TuckOnSports) are back to discuss how, despite their struggles, the Isles are suddenly an easy-to-cheer for an injury-riddled team of underdogs.
🔗 Islanders’ path forward, Oliver Wahlstrom’s role and Alex Jefferies call-up? Mailbag, part 1 by Arthur Staple, The Athletic “The New York Islanders are trying to tread water while Barzal, Pelech, Romanov, Mike Reilly and Anthony Duclair are out. That may change the vibe around the team but it doesn’t fundamentally change the vibe of these questions, which are decidedly unhappy in tone. No surprise there given the Isles weren’t exactly tearing up the league before the injuries hit”
🔗 Isaiah George making immediate NHL impact for Islanders: ‘Just fantastic’ by Ethan Sears, New York Post “When Patrick Roy put George on the nominal top pair with Noah Dobson ahead of Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Senators in Ottawa, the belief was that “nominal” would be the operative word and Roy would likely spend the game rotating his defense pairs and leaning heavily on Dobson, Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock.”
And we leave you with this ….the George family in attendance to see Isaiah.
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