The Islanders arguably outplayed the Blues but came up short.
Getting shutout twice in the first four games is disappointing, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Credit to Joel Hofer: The young St. Louis Blues goalie—whom I believe the Blues view as their goalie of the future—earned an assist on the lone goal in overtime and, with the help of some fortunate bounces in his favor, kept the New York Islanders off the board.
The Islanders wrap up the first road trip of the season with a 1-1-1, standing at 1-1-2 overall. If you’re going to lose, at least get a point.
But it would be nice to string some wins together here, starting tomorrow night back at home against the Montreal Canadiens. They talked all throughout training camp about getting off to a fast start. There’s still time to do that, but continuing along at NHL .500 isn’t going to do that; it’s just going to create the same dogfight to the finish that they’ve battled the last two years.
The underlying numbers thus far, as well as Ilya Sorokin in his first two games looking like he’s back to his old self, suggest that fast start is still possible and more likely than it was the last two seasons under Lane Lambert. It’s good that they have only one regulation loss through four games, but it’s time to start collecting two points a night.
In the meantime, the fourth season of Weird Islanders! begins today, and Mike and Dan kick it off by, for the first time in the show’s history, talking to a real live Weird Islander!
Islanders News
About last night:
- Result is lame, but Sorokin and Hofer were both really good. [LHH]
Through first two starts of season, #Isles G Ilya Sorokin has made 61 saves on 64 shots (.953 SV%).
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 18, 2024
- Jake Neighbours finished a pretty play by Philip Broberg for the winner. [NHL]
- Patrick Roy believes that if the Islanders continue to play like that, they will be successful. [Islanders]
- To wit: “According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Islanders had 10 high-danger chances skating five-on-five to the Blues’ six and had an expected goals for of 2.32 to the Blues’ 1.74.” [Newsday]
- They played a solid road game. [THN]
- But certainly a frustrating night. Side note: The Post’s headline writer is really stretching the last few weeks, even more than the Post usually does. [NY Post]
- First four games of the season were against the Central Division. Tomorrow night will be the Islanders’ first game against an Eastern Conference opponent. [NYI Skinny]
Not necessarily about last night:
- Now the Islanders play four of their next five at UBS Arena. [THN]
- Max Tsyplakov and Anthony Duclair enjoyed their first road trip with the Islanders. [Islanders]
- The Islanders organization is expanding its commitment to girls youth hockey. [Islanders]
- Scott Mayfield played pretty well in his homecoming. He looks and feels better now that his ankle is back to normal. [Newsday]
- Roy is going to be patient with his new fourth line. [NY Post]
Elsewhere
Last night’s NHL scores include the Sabres losing to the Blue Jackets, the Senators falling at home to the Devils, and the Red Wings getting smoked at home by the Rangers, led by an Artemi Panarin hat trick.
- Jake Oettinger, like Jeremy Swayman before him, signed the Ilya Sorokin extension: eight years, $8.25M AAV. [NHL]
- 32 Thoughts discusses that and the struggles of the Sabres, Sens, and Wings.
- The hot-starting Flames are looking for a center. [Sportsnet]
- The OHL is complying with an investigation into a woman’s allegations that she was sexually assaulted by eight OHL players in November 2014. [AP via ESPN]