This season has taken a turn thanks to two very hot parts.
The Islanders won again! They’ve now won eight of nine, 11 of last 14. This team is taking us on a most unexpected run, while missing key players in every position. Do you think some of those players are quietly, in the deep recesses of their heads, questioning their role and future…?
Anyway, if you had to sum up what’s going on, you’d not be wrong to utter “Sorokin and the penalty kill.” One was not in his all-world peak form earlier in the season, the other was absolutely abysmal until the calendar turned. It would be interesting to see how this season would feel to fans if they had even average special teams in the first half of the season.
But hockey’s not like that. Some levers go up, others go down, sometimes multiple levers are working at the same time for just the right amount of time (to minutes 60 or 65) or go wrong at the right time to send us on a win-loss narrative to put some sense into the chaos.
The Isles have two more games before the break, when we can reflect deeply on how we think we should feel about where they are then.
Islanders News
- About last night: It wasn’t pretty, but unlike just about every night in fall 2024, it was just enough. [LHH | Post | Newsday]
- Three takeaways: “It got a little hairy there” at the end, 5-on-6 and with Holmstrom’s stick broken. [Isles]
- The Skinny: The PK has now killed 25 of 27 over their last 12 games. That’s it, that’s the story. [NYI Skinny]
- For Bruce “New York Saints” Cassidy, the linesemen were part of the blame: “Listen, I thought the linesmen tonight…there were a lot of calls that did not go our way against a good face-off team.” (To be fair, that is a mild quote about a specific play amid much longer descriptions of his team’s failings, so not really HEADLINE material but still funny.) [THN]
- Six weeks and counting: Simon Holmstrom is finally hitting his stride. [Post]
- Ilya Sorokin EXCLUSIVE on how he’s peaking right now: “I’m doing the same things I always do.” No changes? “No, I think I just play the same game. Small detail changes, but overall, same game.” [THN]
- Here’s some info on Isles prospect — sorry, here is the HI ENERGY PROSPECT REPORT PRESENTED BY NATIONAL GRID, a series of words I will never utter again (unless I can’t resist mocking the unique effects capitalism has on our vocabulary). [Isles]
- Kind of a formality, but yes, Mat Barzal is on IR, and it’s gonna be a while. [Isles]
Elsewhere
Tuesday saw 14 games, including Detroit (staying four points above the Isles) winning their seventh in a row. Will either team be above the line when the season ends?
- How will the rising cap affect star contracts? [Sportsnet]
- Who’s excited for the trade deadline? More moves in store for the Canucks? And also, there is no official roster freeze, but maybe trades won’t be officially consummated until after the 4 Nations. [TSN]
- Brutal. The Stars will miss Miro Heiskanen “month to month” due to knee surgery. [NHL]
- 17 more goals until Alex Ovechkin stops being the main story every single day on NHL-dot-com. [NHL]