Follow me on Twitter:
@Hockey_Comps
Follow HockeyBuzz Islanders on Twitter:
@HB_Islanders
The New York Islanders suffered their first loss of the season last night, falling 5-4 in overtime to the New Jersey Devils.
Early in the first period, the Islanders had a power play but couldn’t capitalize, and we saw a pretty dull first half of the opening period, before New York successfully killed a penalty of their own (the only one they'd successfully kill in the contest).
But with about seven minutes to go in the frame, Brock Nelson took a nice pass on a rush from Pierre Engvall to beat Akira Schmid, giving the Islanders a lead. Jack Hughes did have a great chance to tie it shortly after, but Ilya Sorokin made a massive glove save to preserve the Islanders’ lead. Then only about a minute after that, Jesper Bratt had an excellent chance in front as well, but Sorokin got a pad on the shot to keep the Islanders ahead.
But just as it looked like New York would escape the frame with the lead, Timo Meier entered the zone with speed and set up Dougie Hamilton for a one-timer, who put a shot past Sorokin to tie the game. So while the period ended 1-1, it wasn’t New York’s best frame, being outshot 15-8 and giving up a number of Grade-A opportunities.
With the Devils starting the second period on a power play, only 21 seconds into the frame, Tyler Toffoli managed to beat Sorokin with a great shot, putting the Devils ahead. But just a minute later, Brock Nelson got himself alone in the slot in the Devils end and took a pass from Kyle Palmieri to beat Schmid five-hole, tying the game.
However, the eventful beginning to the second frame continued, as the Islanders took yet another penalty and New Jersey capitalized again, as Luke Hughes teed up a shot at the blue line and got it through traffic to beat a screened Sorokin, and the Devils went right back ahead. However, only about four minutes after that, Noah Dobson made a good pass to set up Bo Horvat, who beat Schmid from along the goal line to tie things up yet again, with the fourth goal of the period.
While the volume of chances may have slowed down a little from there, the Devils had another great opportunity to go back ahead with about three minutes remaining in the period, but were stopped on a huge pad save from Sorokin, as the game remained tied through 40 minutes.
However, the story remained the same early in the third period: the Islanders took a penalty, and the Devils capitalized, with Jack Hughes burying a cross-crease pass to put New Jersey back ahead. The Islanders had chances after that, including a couple good opportunities for Brock Nelson, but just couldn’t capitalize. Then in the last five minutes of the period, New York ended up on a power play with a great chance to tie it, but really couldn’t get anything going.
But with just over a minute to play, the Islanders came in on a rush and with a scramble in front and Schmid on the ice, Bo Horvat managed to score, tying the game and sending the teams to overtime.
In the extra frame, Jack Hughes had a good early chance on a rush, before Mathew Barzal went down the other way for a good opportunity of his own, with quality saves being made at both ends.
But about midway through overtime, Jack Hughes was able to walk in for an entry and weave his way to the slot, before beating Sorokin with a good shot to hand the Islanders their first loss of the season.
Obviously, special teams was the difference-maker here. The Devils ended up going 4-for-5 on the power play, scoring each one of their goals throughout regulation on the man advantage. It seemed like every time the Islanders found their footing, they’d take a penalty, and New Jersey would capitalize. Meanwhile, New York went 0-for-2 on the power play, including a pretty disappointing man advantage late in the third period where they really didn’t get much going at a pretty crucial time.
It was also a less-than-stellar start for New York, and Ilya Sorokin had to be great at times, especially in the first period. But the Islanders did start to bounce back and build momentum as the game went on, just couldn’t overcome their own penalty trouble.
Brock Nelson (and the second line as a whole), continues to drive the bulk of the Islanders’ offense. Nelson has three of the Islanders’ eight goals this season and it seems like every time the second line is on the ice together, they’re creating chances.
It was also good to see Bo Horvat score twice, and hopefully he’ll be able to build a bit of momentum from this. Horvat and Mathew Barzal haven’t necessarily been able to generate as much together as the Islanders probably would’ve hoped, and New York is going to need the rest of their top-nine to be contributing, not just relying on the second line for most of their offense at even strength.
It wasn’t a poor performance from New York at even strength, they just got into penalty trouble and it ended up costing them. I think it’s also somewhat promising just to see them actually being able to keep up in a scoring battle like that and finding ways to tie the game back up at every turn. They also get the point for the overtime loss, and a 2-0-1 record to start the season is a really decent way to open the season.
The Islanders will be right back in action tonight, as they face the Buffalo Sabres.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Islanders announce 23-man roster
- Ross Johnston claimed off waivers by Ducks
- Islanders start the season strong with win over Sabres
- Islanders shut down Coyotes for 1-0 win 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»