Islanders News: The wins of March
We will take it. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
A win over the Ducks closes the homestand and gives the Isles three in a row. After a nice close to their homestand, the New York Islanders wake up in a funny position: still closer to the bottom of the league (16 points below) than the Eastern wild card slots (18 points above). It’s nice to see them scoring again, fun to see them win, but also sobering to see a three-game win streak is both rare and refreshing.
The Isles will try to keep this run going on the Ides of March in D.C. on Tuesday.
Islanders News
About last night: Two for Palmieri, two points for the Isles, 39 saves for Sorokin. [LHH | Newsday | NHL]
Captain Lee on the win streak and form overall: “It started with battling out of an unfortunate loss against Colorado, but not giving up and continuing to go off of it ... into the next few ones. We’ve just built on that.” [Isles Three Takeaways]
Lee now has 205 career goals – just one behind fellow #27 John Tonelli for 11th place on the club’s all-time list. [NYI Skinny]
Whether or destiny or coincidence, the first goal last night was a nice early sign from Barry Trotz finally pairing Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom. [Newsday]
Barry Trotz said they’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, so even though it wasn’t their best home effort it was a “hockey gods” kind of deserving win. He said don’t read anything into Wahlstrom’s lower minutes down the stretch, noting that was more due to the disruption of special teams and defending the sixth attacker:
"Sorokin was unbelievable. He probably saved 4 goals tonight."Trotz ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/nLicN7i1rt— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 14, 2022
"Our goaltending has been fantastic all year and tonight was no different. Some of those saves, you just shake your head at."Parise & Lee ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/V8niuGWhps— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 14, 2022
Elsewhere
Yesterday’s other NHL scores included the Penguins (and Crosby’s 9-game points streak) stopping the Hurricanes, and the Avalanche shutting out the Flames (46 saves for Kuemper).
Also: The Leafs lost to the Sabres in the outdoor Heritage Classic. [NHL]
Auston Matthews is looking at a suspension, a hearing is scheduled for his crosscheck of Rasmus Dahlin in that game. [NHL]
For the Leafs, goaltending remains a problem. [Sportsnet]
An important trade deadline looms for Kevin Cheveldayoff, whose Jets have two attractive rentals but don’t have what they need to be a playoff threat. [Sportsnet]
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