NOW AVAILABLE! New York Islanders: A to Z will introduce a new generation of fans to the legendary players, magical moments, and colorful 50-year history of the Islanders.
Contributions from Brendan Burke, Stan Fischler, Chris King, and Jiggs McDonald.
You can purchase it HERE
A portion of the proceeds goes to the Islanders Children’s Foundation.
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Penguins were on their game, and the Islanders were off their game.
There haven’t been many off nights recently, but it felt like one through two periods, and that’s how it continued to feel after the Isles failed to capitalize on multiple power-play chances in the third with a chance to draw closer and gain momentum. It just wasn’t going to be their night…until it was.
Hudson Fasching yet again provided a spark (and had the team’s highest game score), and captain Anders Lee scored a typical Anders Lee goal to tie the tie game with 1:15 left with Ilya Sorokin pulled. The Isles had two breakaway attempts in overtime. Kyle Palmieri was stopped on the first, but Brock Nelson converted the second off Sorokin’s first career assist, one that would’ve made Billy Smith proud, to cap off a thrilling come-from-behind win.
And how about this stat? The Isles have now won four games this season when trailing by at least two goals after 40 minutes. That matches the team’s total for the previous seasons. These are rare events that seem more possible and, perhaps as a result, are becoming more frequent. They believe they can come back.
Remarkably, for the third time in 21 days, the Islanders came from behind to defeat their division rival, continuing their third-period dominance during this recent stretch. Over the last 10 games, the Isles have outscored their opponents 17-1 in the third period. For the season, outscored Pitt 8-0 in the final period.
It was a huge character win for the Islanders - and the latest best win of the season. It was a resilient effort. Playing far from their best game, they were able to identify and correct their mistakes and just keep going. They found their game in the final 20 minutes; then they found an improbable win and another reason to start believing that this playoff push is just getting started.
Coming up, Cal Clutterbuck joins the team on the ice and joins JG Pageau as a player that is getting closer to returning. Plus, Pierre Engvall has some things to learn, Bill Torrey acquires the final piece of the puzzle, and Alan Fuehring fills in for Shannon and breaks out the “Brendan cam” for the game-winner.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: The Islanders completed their first regular season sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins with a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night. Brock Nelson scored the game-winner 2:31 into overtime after Anders Lee scored the tying goal with 1:15 left to play. Lee had two goals for the Islanders (34-25-8), who also received a third-period goal from Hudson Fasching for the second straight game. Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves. Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker scored, and Jeff Petry had two assists for the Penguins (32-22-10), who now are two points behind the Islanders with three games in hand in the Wild Card race. Tristan Jarry made 24 saves in defeat.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔸 After the Isles failed to convert their power-play chances, Casey Cizikas and Hudson Fasching executed this give-in-go at 14:31 of the third period and give the team a jolt of energy as they searched for the equalizer.
🔹 The Isles pulled Ilya Sorokin early to get the extra attacker on, and with 1:15 remaining, Anders Lee deflected Noah Dobson’s shot past Tristan Jarry for his second goal of the game and tied the game at 3-3. Lee is the first NHL player to score seven goals against Pittsburgh in a season since Alex Ovechkin in 2009-10.
🔸 Kyle Palmieri was stopped on a breakaway early into OT, but Brock Nelson wasn’t going to be denied. Ilya Sorokin’s poke check sent Nelson on the way 1-on-1 with Jarry and his wrist shot to beat him blocker side for the game-winner.
3 REACTIONS
❶ WASN’T PRETTY: "It wasn't our prettiest game of late by any means, but we battled," Anders Lee said. "We fought for that one quite a bit. The last 20 minutes we did everything we could to right the ship and get back in that game."
❷ BIG TIME PLAYER: "I don't know what it is, but I mean, Anders is a big time player," Brock Nelson said of the team’s captain. "He can score goals at crucial times and in crucial games and he's a guy that goes out there and gets it done."
❸ FULL MARKS: "Give him full marks for keeping us in it when he had to," Lane Lambert said of Ilya Sorokin. "They go to the net hard, they tip a lot of pucks, they have really good skill level and hand eye and things like that. So it was not going to be easy night for him and I thought he battled through right until the bitter end."
GameScore Impact Card
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders continue their stretch against teams in the Wild Card mix on Saturday night when they host the Washington Capitals. Face-off from UBS Arena is scheduled for 7:30 PM ET.
📊 STANDINGS: The Ottawa Senators defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-4 to jump into ninth place in the Eastern Conference, six points behind the Islanders with three games in hand. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals fell in a shootout to the New Jersey Devils, and the Buffalo Sabres allowed 10 goals in a loss to Dallas.
📰 NEWS: At the morning skate, Jean-Gabriel Pageau was back on the ice, and so was Cal Clutterbuck, participating in practice for the first time since being placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. “They’re getting closer,” head coach Lane Lambert said. “They’re still day to day.”
Clutterbuck has now missed 20 games, and it’s now been 11 straight for Pageau, but things are trending in the right direction for both. “It’s definitely big,” Casey Cizikas said. “When you’re skating by yourself, and you’re away from the group, it can be hard at times. When you’re back with the team on the ice, you get that itch, ‘All right, I’m getting close.’ It definitely gives a morale boost to the team.”
◾️ PATIENCE PIERRE: After looking comfortable in his first game with the Islanders, Pierre Engvall sat the final 15:01 of the third period in a tight hockey game versus the Buffalo Sabres as Lane Lambert felt the newcomer was struggling a bit with the team’s system.
“There were some certain things that he’s still getting used to,” Lambert said. “He’s new into the fold, and it’s always going to take a little bit of time for a guy coming in like that after having played on another team for quite a while.”
“It was a little bit with the structure here,” Engvall said about his conversation with Lambert regarding his benching. “It’s different but I think I learned a bit more about it. I’m ready to go… Just try to take in as much as you can but at the same time, you just got to play your game and don’t worry too much about it. Just go out there and have fun.”
📺 Shannon Hogan was listed as day-to-day (under the weather), which meant that Bridgeport play-by-play man, Alan Fuehring, was back on the broadcast, but this time only talking before and after the game, working with Thomas Hickey.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles have won three straight games and are a season-high nine games over NHL-.500; it's the first time since the end of the 2021 Covid-shortened season (32-17-7) that the Isles are nine games over NHL-.500. The Isles have won 16 games when trailing at some point – including each of the last three games against teams that chasing them.
This was the 50th third-period, multi-goal comeback win in the NHL this season, breaking the record of 49 set in 2009-10.
🗓 ISLES REWIND: It’s the gold standard for trade deadline deals. On March 10, 1980, General Manager Bill Torrey acquired the “final piece of the puzzle” by acquiring 29-year-old center Butch Goring from the Los Angeles Kings for forward Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis.
"My initial reaction was one of anger and disappointment," said Goring decades later. "I got here, and I realized I was going to an awfully good hockey club. That made it a lot easier to handle. This was a team that had a chance to win a Stanley Cup. Once I was able to get the emotions out of it, I realized it was a tremendous opportunity." With Goring (wearing No. 21) filling the role of No. 2 center, the Islanders are 8-0 with four ties in their final 12 regular-season games, then went on first of their four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. Goring had 19 points in the post-season.
🔗 Islanders use another third-period comeback to top Penguins in OT by Ethan Sears, New York Post “The Islanders completed a season sweep of the Penguins on Thursday with a 4-3 overtime victory following two third-period goals that seemingly would have come from nowhere, if it were not the third act of the same movie we saw on Feb. 17 at UBS Arena and Feb. 20 here in PPG Paints Arena.”
🔗 Islanders’ Pierre Engvall on 3rd-period benching vs. Sabres: ‘It was a little bit with the structure’ by Joe Pantorno, amNewYork “After the Islanders battled back to take a 2-1 lead, Engvall chased Peyton Krebbs behind the Islanders’ goal, leaving Anders Lee and Bo Horvat to try and guard the point on their own. Kyle Okposo managed to find some space and snuck a shot through to tie it up. It was the last time that Engvall saw the ice in the Islanders’ win, but on Thursday he was back skating with the first line of Horvat and Lee — understanding that there are bound to be growing pains as he adapts to life with the Islanders.”
And we leave you with this …. as soon as I heard go Brendan say “HE SCOOOOOOOOOOREEEESSS” I wished the MSG “Brendan Cam” was back, and luckily, a variation of it, thanks to Alan Fuehring was rolling!
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Not surprising anymore, but Brendan continues to produce excellent work.
Lee has had a very good season; that stat re goals v Pittsburgh in a season is pretty nuts since there used to be far more division games.
.....AS to TUESDAY night's outcome, MY headline would've read, 'Win After A FASCHING [Goal]'.....