The New York Islanders improved to 4-1 in the preseason with an overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings last night. Here’s a quick summary with a few thoughts.
To start, Jimmy Howard was outstanding in overtime and if not for him, the game likely would have been over much sooner. On an Islanders note, Jordan Eberle needs to carry this play into the regular season. He looked excellent and was really clicking with Mathew Barzal, as the two combined for 10 shots. He had two goals to open the scoring and it’s shocking that he didn’t complete the hat trick. Eberle is at his best when he’s hovering around the net looking for rebounds or tap-ins and digging for garbage goals and he was doing just that last night. Speaking of Barzal, he’s been on fire in the preseason. He’s totalled five points in his three games and his ability to control the puck and get around opposing players seems even more effortless than before.
We like it. 😠@jeberle_7 pic.twitter.com/B2cWjEpW93
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) September 23, 2019
At this point, I’d be shocked if Noah Dobson didn’t get a trial run in the NHL. He played in overtime with Barzal and Eberle and we know Barry Trotz thinks more time in junior could hurt his development.
The key here is that if he’s staying, he’s playing– they’re not going to have a star-calibre 19-year-old rookie in the press box. We don’t know whether he’ll stick for the season or not but it would be pretty surprising (at least to me) if he was sent down before the start of the season.
Semyon Varlamov had an easy first period but was solid when he needed to be. It’s just the preseason obviously, but Varlamov’s play has been good enough to head into the season with a pretty optimistic view on the goaltending front.
We got to see a good chunk of the Islanders’ roster tonight and while it’s hard to get many takeaways, everything looks good with the group thus far. Plus, that overtime was excellent entertainment value.
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