The Islanders overcame a briefly determined opponent to get their road trip back on track.
The Islanders overcame a slow start to do what they needed to do, ultimately dispatching the turnover-addicted Canucks comfortably in Vancouver. An entertaining line shuffle — Casey Cizikas streaking down Mat Barzal’s wing to snipe one was the late-game icing on the cake — and a goal from the power play helped spark them, while local boys Barzal (three points) and Parker Wotherspoon (first NHL point) had memorable nights in front of family; more on those below.
Now the trip moves on to Alberta for a difficult back-to-back against the Oilers and Flames, tomorrow and Friday.
Islanders News
- Big night for J-G Pageau, Casey Cizikas and Ilya Sorokin, who was huge in the first, meanwhile Barzal’s goal streak continued with a perfectly placed shot. [Newsday]
- The Isles overcame a rough, Seattle-reminiscent start to take control. [LHH]
- Wotherspoon relished getting to visit Vancouver as an NHLer. [Newsday]
- More from Wotherspoon: “It’s been exciting. I mean, this is one of the best times of my life.” [Isles]
- Three Takeaways: A nice bounceback effort from the Isles, even if it took 20 extra minutes to ignite. [Isles]
- It’s a career-best four-game goal streak for Barzal. [NYI Skinny]
- The Islanders went into the game with Lane Lambert hoping to see specific issues corrected after the loss in Seattle. [Post]
- View from the other side: “For the first 20 minutes, the Canucks looked like a changed team.” [Pass it to Bulis] “Nucks are not a hockey team.” [Nucks Misconduct]
- Ilya Sorokin shook off his personal losing sleep to help right the ship with Semyon Varlamov’s injury. “Oh yes, I like playing. I don’t like (when) Semyon is hurt but I like (playing games). I have fun every game.” Lane Lambert says he’s shown he can handle a heavy workload. [Athletic]
- Prospect Report: Isaiah George and Matt Maggio finish off 2023 strong. [Isles]
Lane Lambert said he shuffled lines to start the second period mainly to get his team’s attention.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) January 4, 2023
Mathew Barzal had about 50 friends/family in the building. Has at least one point in each of his eight games at Rogers Arena.
“Definitely,” Barzal when asked if it’s still special to play here. “It always is. You ask anybody when they go back to their hometown, it’s special.”
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) January 4, 2023
Elsewhere
Last night’s other NHL scores included Tage Thompson scoring a hat trick to beat the Capitals in OT, the Smurfs beating the Hurricanes in regulation, and the Leafs losing in a shootout (teehee).
- The Oilers should be good and motivated to face the Isles after they “took the night off” with their fifth home loss in a row, due to familiar issues. Went up 2-0, then chilled. “There is a general malaise around this team that sets in as soon as they find a modicum of success.” [Sportsnet]
- Wayne Gretzky is wowed by Alex Ovechkin’s chase of his goal record. [NHL]
- Jakub Vrana came out of the NHL/NHLPA rehabilitation program only to be put on waivers by the Red Wings, who need to make room for Robbie Fabbri returning from injury. He’s a bigger cap hit and hasn’t played in a while, so maybe he’ll clear? [Athletic]
- Forty minutes with Phil Bourque, who had quite the AHL career. [32 Thoughts podcast]
- Well, at least Canucks fans can start dreaming about Bedard? [Sportsnet]