The New York Islanders are currently the worst third period team in the NHL, dropping several leads to lose games in spectacular fashion this season.
Whether or not they come out flying to start the first or second, they typically end up sluggish and unmotivated by the end, failing to even get shots on goal. Tonight, they played almost a whole game like that in Raleigh, NC, and in poetic fashion got scored on with 2.5 seconds left to force overtime (fuckin’ Jordan Staal…). It wasn’t ideal to cede any points to who are essentially our biggest competition in the division, but the Islanders did manage to close it out in overtime for a huge 5-4 W.
I know every one of us was sweating at the thought of another overtime or shootout loss, but thanks to some beautiful goaltending from Varlamov and a Dobson to Barzy one-timer, the Islanders were victorious at PNC Arena. Varly finished the night with 39 saves, and was easily the Isles top guy despite letting up 4 goals. Barzal is a close second. He is looking much more confident this year and Horvat is playing well alongside him (scoring the first goal of the night for the Islanders).
Another redeeming quality has been our power play (who would have thought?). Kyle Palmieri tallied a PPG, and Simon Holmstrom went backhand bar-down on the PK earlier in the night, as well. The Isles blocked 30 shots in total with only three players not registering at least one (2nd in blocked shots in the NHL coming into the game).
Despite winning, the Islanders got outworked and lost a lot of the puck battles, making it difficult to ever possess the puck long enough to gain any momentum or create high-danger chances. They go outshot 43-16 as Carolina’s offense (and defense) peppered Semyon Varlamov at any given chance. Carolina wasn’t as lucky between the pipes with a sketchy performance from backup Pyotr Kochetkov, playing a big role in the Islanders being able to capitalize on such little pressure.
There is still a lot of work to do with this squad to get them in competitive shape (I’d prescribe an increase in 3-on-3’s at practice for speed and chemistry!). However, the Islanders have a lot more to work with than they are given credit for by the hockey community at large. They are still in the race.
At 4-1-4 against teams in the Metro, the Islanders have a chance to prove a lot of people wrong if they can string together a few winning streaks coming up. Time will tell how this team reacts as the season progresses. Stay faithful out there, Islander fans.
Cover Photo: https://www.nhl.com/islanders/
The Morning Skate 