New York Islanders Weekly Recap: Week 14

The New York Islanders went 1-2-1 in their four games played this week. They lost three consecutive games against the Wild, Jets and in overtime against the Blackhawks. Their only win of the week came at home against the Stars in overtime. The Islanders have a record of 20-15-11 with 51 total points. 

Lifeless Effort in Loss to Wild

The Islanders started this week of road games by visiting the Minnesota Wild. In a season with several ugly losses, this ranks as one of the ugliest. The team was simply lost in almost every facet of this game. They didn’t register a goal in a game with several power play chances, only managed 21 shots, and allowed 40 shots to the opposition. For the Wild, they opened scoring in the first period by way of a Mats Zuccarello power play goal early on. Then, in the second period, they really took control of this game. 

Connor Dewar capitalized on an Islanders turnover and put the Wild up by two. This was followed by a power play marker by Joel Eriksson Ek that made it 3-0 at the 13:36 mark. After Ilya Sorokin was bombarded with shots in the second, Lane Lambert pulled his starting netminder. Ken Appleby proceeded to make his first appearance as an Islander for the third period. An Eriksson Ek short-handed marker followed by a Marcus Foligno goal finalized a 5-0 Wild win in what was a terrible outing for the Islanders. Also of note was Marc-Andre Fleury moving up to second all-time in goaltender wins with the shutout performance. 

Tough Second Period Spoils Game Against the Jets

In the second game of a back-to-back, the Islanders took on the Jets in Winnipeg. The Islanders’ effort was much improved, but they still struggled on offense. This was mainly due to the stellar play of Connor Hellebuyck, who was on his game. Gabe Vilardi opened the scoring in the first period with a tip-in goal past Sorokin. Anders Lee tied the game up at the 15:53 mark of the period, deflecting a shot from Mike Reilly. 

Things were very evenly matched between the two clubs in the second period. However, a Jets power play chance late into the period changed the flow of this game. A shot detached Sorokin’s skate and made him incapable of sliding from left to right. Neal Pionk took advantage and scored the go-ahead goal as Sorokin struggled to get in position. Two minutes later, Mason Appleton scored from a tough angle to take a 3-1 lead into the third. Lee scored his second goal of the game from an odd angle to get the Islanders to within one early in the period. The team could not find another goal and struggled to get anything going with their net empty in the final minutes. Kyle Connor buried an empty netter to give the Jets a 4-2 win over the Islanders. 

Bested By the Blackhawks in Overtime

In the final game of the road trip, the Islanders faced the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are one of the league’s worst teams that were playing this game without several of their usual starters. With that, this felt like a must-win game for the Islanders, given their recent struggles. Things looked like they were going on the right track when Brock Nelson netted the game’s first goal past Petr Mrazek. But late in the second period, the Islanders started to let another game get away from them. Boris Katchouk and Joey Anderson closed out the second period with the game-tying and go-ahead goals. Jason Dickinson then broke through the defense scored the third straight unanswered goal at the 5:10 mark of the third. 

The only positive of this game is the resilience the Islanders showed while facing a 3-1 deficit. A big goal from Bo Horvat, followed by a Kyle Palmieri wraparound goal sent the game to overtime and got the team a free point. In overtime, Seth Jones snapped his first goal of the season past Sorokin to win the game. The 4-3 overtime loss was the Islanders’ fourth straight and proved to be quite consequential. 

Lane Lambert Out, Patrick Roy In

The overtime loss to the Blackhawks seemed to be the final straw for Lou Lamoriello. Lane Lambert was fired as head coach of the Islanders the next day. Patrick Roy was announced as his replacement as head coach of the team. This is Roy’s first coaching job in the NHL since the 2015-16 season with the Colorado Avalanche. He compiled a record of 139-92-24 as a coach and won the Jack Adams Award for the 2013-14 season. His most recent job was with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, in which he had tremendous success. He won multiple Memorial Cups and the QMJHL championship with the team while compiling a 524-255-66 record in his tenure. 

Roy’s First Win As Islanders Head Coach in Overtime Against the Stars

Patrick Roy’s first game as head coach of the Islanders came at UBS Arena against the Dallas Stars. It didn’t take long for the team to get going, with Alex Romanov beating Scott Wedgewood early in the first for a 1-0 lead. But in a similar fashion to the previous game, the Stars took over the second period. Jason Robertson tied the game back up on a great look against Sorokin. Then, Nils Lundkvist one-timed a shot for the go-ahead goal. Even though things were beginning to look ugly, the Islanders did not falter this time. 

They kept the Stars off the board after the Lundkvist goal, with Sorokin making 41 total saves in the game. Hudson Fasching scored the tying goal in the third period by deflecting a shot from Noah Dobson. That brought the game to overtime and secured points in back-to-back games for the Islanders. In overtime, Horvat got a breakaway and scored the game-winner on his backhand. Roy got his first win as a coach in a 3-2 overtime win over the Stars.

3 Stars of the Week

1. Noah Dobson (4 assists)

2. Bo Horvat (2 goals including GWG against Stars, assist)

3. Mat Barzal (3 assists)

Featured image courtesy of NHL.com

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