News of Mat Barzal’s uncertain injury timeline put a shadow over this week of play before it began. Despite the unfortunate news, the Islanders had a great week of play. The team went 3-1 in their four games played this past week. They beat the Penguins on the road and beat the Jets on Long Island and in Winnipeg. Their only fault this week was a home loss to the Kings. The six points gained puts the Islanders at 69 points on the season. They currently sit at the wild card one spot, but still have several teams with games in hand on their heels.
After Friday’s thrilling home win over the Penguins, the Islanders traveled to Pittsburgh to play another critical game against their rivals. Much like the previous contest, the Penguins controlled play in the early going. They opened scoring when Sidney Crosby set up a wide open Jake Guentzel in front of Sorokin in the first period.
Brock Nelson answered back in the second period, firing a wrist shot on the rush to tie the game. However Jason Zucker was able to net a power play goal for Pittsburgh later in the period to take the lead back. After a chaotic fight that saw all 10 players on the ice get penalized, it was off to the third period.
Much like Friday, the Islanders came to life in this period. At the 8:34 mark, Bo Horvat scored the game-tying marker from a tough angle. Just two minutes later, Tristan Jarry misplayed a puck behind the net which ultimately gave Matt Martin the chance to set up Anders Lee for a go-ahead goal. Up 3-2, the Islanders had some nervous moments in the dying minutes of the game. But with the net empty, Parise managed to block a shot and score an empty netter to secure a 4-2 comeback victory for the Isles. The first star of this game clearly belonged to Sorokin, who had to make a number of huge saves to help make this win possible.
The Islanders returned home after Monday’s big win for another tough contest against the Winnipeg Jets. With the Sorokin-Hellebuyck goaltending matchup, goals were scarce in this game. Sebastian Aho got the Islanders on the board in the first period, cleaning up a rebounded shot from Nelson. They would lose their slim 1-0 lead in the second period when Nikolaj Ehlers ripped a power play goal past Sorokin in his 500th game to tie it up.
The teams exchanged some power play chances, but a prolonged scoring drought ensued after Ehlers’ goal. That was until midway through the third period. A scramble for a loose puck in the Islanders offensive zone resulted in Horvat setting up Simon Holmstrom to break the tie. With the one goal lead, the Isles again worked hard to keep the opposition off the board. Aided by a late power play chance, the Islanders secured a 2-1 win over the Jets.
Friday’s home contest saw the Islanders take on the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Sorokin and Jonathan Quick got off to a great start behind the crease up until the second period. It was then that the Kings quickly grabbed control of the game. Phillip Danault was credited with the first goal of the game. It appeared to go in off of Alex Romanov’s stick while the puck was batted up in the air. Less than two minutes later, Rasmus Kupari found Arthur Kaliyev on a two-on-one chance to double the advantage. Then at the 12:14 mark, Gabriel Vilardi unleashed a cannon of a slap shot to give the Kings a 3-0 lead.
The Isles were able to get one back towards the end of the period when Noah Dobson one-timed a shot for a power play goal. Having held the Kings off the board in the third, the Isles made things interesting in the final minutes. An attempted pass from Adam Pelech went off the skate of a Kings’ defender and over the shoulder of Quick to suddenly turn this into a one goal game in its final minutes. However that would be as close the Islanders would get, failing to find the tying marker and losing at a 3-2 final.
For the second time this week the Islanders took on the Jets, this time in Winnipeg. This game also featured a different goaltending matchup, with Semyon Varlamov and David Rittich defending the crease for their respective teams. The Islanders absolutely dominated play in the first period. While on the PK, Horvat surprised Rittich with a snap shot for the game’s first goal. On top of taking the lead, the Islanders held the Jets to just one shot which was taken well outside of the zone.
The Jets started to pick up steam in the second period, but the Isles still maintained control. At 4:22, Romanov took a feed from Casey Cizikas and powered a slap shot into the back of the net. Then after a long period of Jets control, Nelson took the puck out of the offensive zone, made a couple of nifty moves and scored with a wrister to give the Islanders a 3-0 lead. They maintained their strong play throughout the third period, killing a Jets power play chance to keep things from getting interesting. With the net empty in the dying minutes, Pelech cleared the puck out of the zone and found the empty net. Pelech’s empty netter secured a 4-0 road victory over the Jets and a sweep of the season series. Varlamov made 23 saves in the win, picking up his second shutout of the season.
There was a lot of doom and gloom surrounding this team when Barzal was declared out indefinitely. But the Islanders showed up in a big way to win six points and remain firmly in the playoff race. And with the Penguins and Capitals starting to slip up, the Islanders seem to have a fighting chance down the stretch. They just need to continue to be on their A game as the other wild card contenders have those games in hand that will start to become a factor.
As for this upcoming week, the big story is going to be surrounding the trade deadline. Having already burned several assets to land Horvat, it’s a mystery as to what the Islanders will do. With Lou Lamoriello’s repeated faith in this core, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him make another move. But no one will know the Islanders’ direction for sure until 3 PM Friday when the trade deadline passes.
1. Brock Nelson (3 goals, 2 assists)
2. Bo Horvat (2 goals, 2 assists)
3. Matt Martin (3 assists, +6 throughout the week)
Featured image courtesy of Twitter/@NYIslanders
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