To Be The Best, You Got To Beat The Best
The Islanders ended their seven-game homestand by defeating the Colorado Avalanche who were riding a 17-game point streak. Here's how they did it.
“I said to them before the game, I believe that if there’s a team that could surprise them, it’s us.”
ELMONT, NY — There’s no such thing as moral victory, but that’s all the New York Islanders had going for them when they began their seven-game homestand with a 1-3-1 record.
They were doing all the right things that allowed them to go 6-1-0 on their road trip, except for scoring goals. So, after every loss — they beat the Seattle Kraken 1-0 on Sunday in a shootout — all the players and head coach Patrick Roy could say was, essentially, trust the process.
And that’s what they did to close out the homestand. Knocking off the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had won seven straight, by a score of 2-1 on Tuesday was a big one.
But, like in Mario, the final boss was going to be the toughest of them all. To conclude the homestand, the Islanders welcomed Brock Nelson and the Colorado Avalanche to town, the best team in hockey. They were on a 17-game point streak (14-0-3) with just one regulation loss on the season — a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Oct. 18.
Narrator voice: Not anymore, as the Islanders won 6-3, being up 4-0 at one point.
It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but the Islanders got the offense early, played as strongly defensively and on the penalty kill as one could play against that offense, and in the big moments, Ilya Sorokin was clutch between the pipes.
“As I said to them before the game, I believe that if there’s a team that could surprise them, it’s us,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “And the way we’ve been playing — we’re playing really good hockey lately, and I think in that homestand, we finished 3-3-1 — I felt like we could have been easily above .500. Our guys deserve a lot of credit.”
Let’s dive deeper into the win over the Avalanche and highlight a few areas that not only allowed the Islanders to do the unthinkable, things that they’ll hope to carry into their weekend back-to-back in Florida.
Happy Free Friday!
Confidence In Shabanov: With Kyle Palmieri out of the lineup, Maxim Shabanov has been given a chance alongside Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman. Since training camp, Roy has raved about Shabanov’s defensive game. And Roy had that line out there against Colorado’s top line and the Makar-Toews defense pairing. While the line was outshot 13-9 and allowed one goal, they scored one of their own.
Special Teams Playing Savior: The Islanders' penalty kill was elite, going a perfect 3-for-3 on the night — that’s without Palmieri and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who are out injured, along with Alexander Romanov. They allowed three total shots against, ending the night with a 6-on-4 kill. That was before scoring the ENG. The power play went 1-for-3, with Barzal’s PPG changing the course of the game. The Avalanche had scored two goals in 1:25 earlier in the frame to make it 4-2, so Barzal's goal was gigantic in the W.
“I mean the 4-on-6 six against a power play like this. Are you kidding me? I mean, that was outstanding, the job the guys did. They sacrificed their bodies for the team and found a way to win. It was impressive.” — Roy
Sorokin Stellar Yet Again: After turning aside 30 of 31 on Tuesday, Sorokin shone yet again. He stopped 35 of 38 and was just locked in from the get-go. He was tracking pucks through the screen, not allowing any rebounds like the guy on the other end. When there were rebounds, his tracking allowed him to push off and recover to make that next save. When the Islanders needed that big save, he was there, and when the defense is playing as well as they have, Sorokin is able to focus more on what he can control, and that’s paying off.
“And I can’t say it enough, when we needed a save, we got it. Sorokin was unbelievable tonight. He won us that game.” — Casey Cizikas
Top Dawgs Came To Play: Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists. Bo Horvat and Anders Lee had a goal and an assist. Matthew Schaefer recorded an assist as he reached the 20-point plateau. Adam Pelech, albeit not a goal scorer, has been one of the best shutdown defenders in hockey this season, per the eye test. You know things are going well when he gets on the board.
“[Barzal] had a strong game. I will say this, you don’t beat the best team in any job if you don’t play, if everybody’s not playing a hard game and a strong game.” — Roy
Fourth-Line Forechecking Focus: The Islanders are always at their best when their fourth line can establish a forecheck early. Not only did they do that early and often, but it was Kyle MacLean’s goal at the 5:56 mark of the first period that got the party started. The best way to slow these elite teams is to get pucks behind their D, and that’s what that line did all night — it was contagious. The Islanders crashed the net so much tonight, too, and that line was the poster child for the positive things that can happen when you play that way.
“I mean, not to take anything away from Bo or Barzal or even Richie, but [the fourth line] played so hard and they spent so much time in the offensive zone. It was fun. They were fun to watch.” — Roy
Holmstrom In The Neutral Zone: Anytime the Avalanche skated through the neutral zone, it seemed that Holmstrom was there and able to disrupt the flow of the rush.
Schaefer’s Skill: Schaefer is playing brilliant defense and making decisions well past his age. The way he curls away from the play with the puck to buy more time to allow others to find space has been instrumental for the team’s success. Not to mention 48’s ability to either jump into the play or find the right forward to outlet to helped the Isles be on the offensive instead of on their heels like past seasons.
