Islanders Ritchie Pivoting Into Power Play Specialist
Calum Ritchie’s two power-play points fueled the Islanders’ win over Toronto, but Brayden Schenn’s mentorship is playing a key role in his development.
TORONTO— New York Islanders forward and Oakville, Ontario native Cal Ritchie came through big time as the goal-line forward on what’s been a struggling power play.
He recorded a goal and an assist on the man advantage in the Islanders’ 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, two critical goals that got the team off to a fast start.
First, he set up Brayden Schenn with a nifty backhand feed at 4:15 of the first period:
Then, it was his turn, receiving a pass from Mathew Barzal down low before taking it to the house and burying his own rebound at 9:43 of the opening frame:
“It was really good,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said on Ritchie’s power-play performance. “I mean, that backhander to Schenner, that was a phenomenal play. And then the jam play around the net was another solid one. Sometimes on the road, you need the power play to [come through]. And Cal did a great job.”
If you watched these goals, you’d think Ritchie had been honing his craft in that power-play position down low for years.
That would be false.
“I haven’t really played [the half-wall], to be honest, even in junior,” Ritchie said. “You watch a lot of clips. You've got a lot of really good players on this team, players on this team that I can learn from. So yeah, trying to take it all in.”
That’s when I asked Schenn exactly what he saw — and what he told Ritchie.