Good Morning, Islanders Country.
That performance happened in Vegas but hopefully doesn’t stay in Vegas.
Naturally, the Islanders went on the road against the team with the most points in the NHL and came out with a 4-0 statement win. They were so dominant in the second period and under control in the third that you could have gone to bed confident that they would hold a 3-0 lead on the road. Imagine that.
Hours before the game, GM Lou Lamoriello spoke to the media and expressed “full confidence” in his team and coaching staff. Did we think anything otherwise? Of course not. He also shot down the thought of considering selling while the team was still in contention. When he spoke of the team's playoff chances, he said, “It's not something that's out of reach."
That might not be saying much in the Eastern Conference, but Lamoriello firmly believes the roster is good enough to come out of this malaise and find themselves in a playoff spot. What the team has been missing is an identity and consistency, and you can’t have one without the other. They found both last night.
“Everything is in reach, and it's up to us,” Lamoriello said. “You want it in your own hands. You don't want it in anybody's hands. We’ve got 42 (41) games left now. We have to play one at a time and allow the end result to take care of itself.”
Everything is within reach, and everything feels a little closer after their marquee win of the season. We’ve been waiting for things to fall into place all season, and last night, they did. No matter how much belief Lamoriello, Patrick Roy, and the players have in this team and each other, you need results to validate it. Last night, it happened, and in all places but in Vegas.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves for the New York Islanders in a 4-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday night. It was Sorokin's second shutout this season and 20th in the NHL. Brock Nelson scored a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee, Bo Horvat, and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders (16-18-7), who won two straight. Alexander Romanov had two assists. Adin Hill made 17 saves for the Golden Knights (28-10-3), who had won three in a row [NHL.com]
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 Nelson broke his 17-game goal drought and made it 2-0 at 5:30 of the second period, taking a drop pass from Mathew Barzal on a rush and roofing a wrist shot glove side from the high slot.
🔶 Horvat pushed the lead to 3-0 at 10:41 with a one-timer from the low slot off a pass from behind the net by Kyle Palmieri.
3 REACTIONS
❶ PLAY WITH ANYBODY: “We believe that we can win on any given night against anybody,” Nelson said. “... Everybody has to believe. So, it’s definitely a statement win for us, given the spot we're in. Now we're trying to get on a streak. So, to go out there, back it up, do it, get two, obviously we want to follow it up now on Saturday (at the Utah Hockey Club).”
❷ CHARACTER WIN: "Two big wins, Boston and Vegas. Those are two tough buildings to come into and win, said Barzal. “And yeah, tonight was just a character win. Everybody did their job and it seemed like we just played the right way the whole night.”
❸ START TO FEEL GOOD: “We mean it when we say that we have the confidence in the group to go out there and win on any given night,” said Nelson. Obviously, we'd like to do it more than we have to this point, halfway [through the season], but now you get a couple in a row and start to feel good a little bit.”
GAME HEAT MAP
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders next travel to Salt Lake City for the first time to take on Utah Hockey Club. Face-off is set for 9:00 PM EST.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello is a man of conviction. He doesn't use extra words, he doesn't sound wishy-washy, and he doesn't waver. For those reasons, it was no surprise when he told the media that he still had "full confidence" in his team before Thursday night’s game in Vegas, despite the team entering Thursday’s game last in the Metropolitan Division.
Lamoriello has always believed that if you have time, you should use it, and this season is no different “First of all, it’s not even a thought in my mind right now,” Lamoriello said on making trades at this point, in Newsday. “Where we are in the season and where we are in the standings, where everything is in reach, that’s the focus. The focus is on who we are here right now and not hypothetically, if this if that. I’m just not from that school.”
The GM discussed how the team has had difficulty finding its identity, which comes with playing consistently. "I think what Lou wants is consistency from our group, and he does believe in this group," head coach Patrick Roy said. I agree with him. We're lucky to have him around, and I'm learning a lot from Lou. I think he's been very helpful in what we're trying to do."
Injury Updates
Besides addressing the status of the team and his approach heading toward the trade deadline, Lamoriello provided injury updates for several players:
Semyon Varlamov (lower body, IR) has resumed skating, is taking shots, and “should be” practicing with the team next week.
Simon Holmstrom (IR, upper body) and rookie defenseman Isaiah George (day-to-day, upper body) could return to practice in about a week.
Hudson Fasching (day-to-day, upper body) is expected to be out for “a couple of weeks." Fasching suffered his injury on Sunday in Boston.
Lamoriello said there was no definitive timetable for Mike Reilly’s return, but he’s still expected to return this season since his heart procedure on Nov. 19th.
Milestone Man
Captain Anders Lee became the 10th player in team history to play in 800 games and the first to score a goal in the game in which they hit the milestone. His second-period goal to open the scoring was his 42nd career game-winning goal, passing Clark Gillies and tying John Tavares for the fifth-most in Islanders history. Lee extended his club lead in goals with goal 19. Lee is 6-0-6 in six games since Christmas. At 19-14-33, Lee is on pace to set career highs in assists (23 - twice) and points (62 in 2017-18).
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Ilya Sorokin recorded his 20th career shutout. Since he debuted in January 2021, only Connor Hellebuyck (22) has more shutouts – and he has started 50 more games. It was Sorokin's 2nd shutout at T-Mobile Arena and his 2nd shutout of the season; he is the sixth goal to have multiple shutouts in each of the last five seasons.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On Jan 10. 1997, Jaromir Jagr scored twice, and Mario Lemieux had four assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins stretched their unbeaten streak to 10 games with a 5-2 victory over the Islanders in Pittsburgh. The game is best remembered for an altercation between defenseman Rich Pilon and Lemieux at 5:31 of the third period.
“I kind of gave (Lemieux) a little tap, and he slashed me in the face, said Pilon after the game. After that, I just lost it and started slashing … We were losing, and I was frustrated.” The Islanders defenseman was suspended two games and fined $1,000 for the stick-swinging incident."
🎧 Weird Islanders: The Podcast! Brett Lindors (with guest Colin Stephenson) “Dan chats with current Rangers and former Islanders beat writer Colin Stephenson about Brett Lindros, who was expected to be a star but was forced to retire far too soon due to concussions. Following in the footsteps of his brother Eric, who was already a force in the NHL”
🔗 Islanders’ Brock Nelson snaps 17-game scoring drought: ‘Nice to see one go in’ by Ethan Sears, New York Post “Nelson, whose scoring pace has dropped off this season — the goal he potted Thursday was just his 11th of the year at the halfway point — figures to be a big part of the renaissance, should it occur.”
🔗 Islanders Prospect Quinn Finley Overtakes NCAA Lead In Points & Goals by Brendan Yerkes, The Hockey News “Quinn Finley, drafted by the New York Islanders 78th overall in 2022, has just taken over the national lead in goals and points in his sophomore season for the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Finley is another Islanders prospect who has blossomed into a potential difference-maker. The 20-year-old winger has had quite the year.”
And we leave you with this … playing hockey without breathing through your nose.
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Best win of the season. To go into Vegas and basically run over the best team in hockey and make them look lost is very impressive. Now the Islanders have to beat Utah or this game means nothing.