Blue Jackets 2 (EN), Islanders 0: Lost in the sauce

3 weeks ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

Kinda sums it up. | Photo by Kirk Irwin/NHLI via Getty Images


The Islanders didn’t have much of a response after last night’s loss to Anaheim, putting up another lifeless game in Columbus. After a lifeless performance against the Anaheim Ducks, Patrick Roy switched up the top 6, putting Mat Barzal with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, and Bo Horvat with Max Tsyplakov and Simon Holmstrom. There would be more lineup swapping, all in an attempt to find—as Roy himself put it—the sauce, but the Islanders remain bone dry and flavorless, completely unable to find the back of the net for the fourth time this season.
[Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick | HockeyViz]
First Period
Semyon Varlamov made some big stops on Kevin Labanc to keep things scoreless early. Max Tsyplakov had a partial breakaway that was saved by Elvis Merzlikins.
Then, Bo Horvat had a clear breakaway stopped by the whistle because the puck hit a Blue Jacket coming off the bench, which was borderline between out of play and a possible too many men call, but obviously went the way of “out of play”.
Damon Severson took a shot that went in from the blue line, but the officials called goaltender interference after the play since James van Riemsdyk made contact with Varlamov, and near the end of the period, Justin Danforth put a shot off the post.
Second Period
Roy switched up the lines again, putting Tsyplakov with Barzal and Horvat, and Holmstrom with Nelson and Palmieri.
The second period was better from the Islanders, but there were still some close calls - with a Sean Monahan shot saved by Varlamov and Cole Sillinger putting a rebound behind Varlamov but not into the net.
The most dangerous the Islanders looked the whole game was on a shift with Holmstrom/Nelson/Palmieri/Pelech/Pulock on the ice,
Then the Islanders got the only power play of the game, when Justin Danforth was sent to the box for interference. Columbus nearly scored shorthanded when Mikael Pyyhtia put a shot wide, and they killed the penalty, putting the Islanders at an impressively bad 4 for 31 on the season, a whopping 12%.
Third Period
Damon Severson got redemption in the third, when he took a shot that went in off Pulock’s skate to make it 1-0 Blue Jackets.
There were a couple of good chances for the Islanders after, but after they pulled Varlamov with two and a half minutes left, Danforth scored into the empty net to seal the game for Columbus.
Up Next
Next, the New York Islanders head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Friday night. Hopefully November will bring some scoring!
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