The Islanders did not correspond exactly to the tutorial they had shown the night before. However, they did not give up on a goal, largely thanks to Ilya Sorokin. He offered a donut for his first NHL victory and a well-deserved one.
Anthony Beauvillier returned to the Islanders lineup for the first time in more than two weeks, entering the third row with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom. Leo Komarov was assigned to the taxi squad.
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First period: It’s Déjà Vu again
If you watched tonight’s first period and thought you were watching last night’s first period, I wouldn’t blame you. The Islanders played much better than last night’s opening game. But the scoresheet looked the same, even the gunners.
With almost five minutes to play, Noah Dobson and Anders Lee went side by side in a two against two, armed after Dobson punched Josh Bailey. Dobson skated thinking about the pass all the way, meeting Lee almost along the goal line as he fired from the opposite wing. For the second night in a row, the Islanders led 1–0, courtesy of Lee.
More than half the period, Pageau converted a chance by entering on his own. Ryan Pulock carried the disc to its blue line and saw Pageau floating around Buffalo’s blue line. Pageau took the pass and once again hit Hutton’s top shelf. For the second consecutive night, the Islanders ended the first period with 2-0 – their advantage was boosted by Pageau.
Keeping the theme of déjà vu, I am almost sure that Adam Pelech was penalized in the first period on both nights.
Second period: somehow, yielding only three shots on goal
The Islanders ran out of gas during the second period, but still managed to make more shots on goal than the Sabers. Buffalo controlled the game for most of the period, but none of their attempts managed to reach the net in the last 13 minutes.
The final shot came from Henri Jokiharju outside the race. Upon entering the zone, he loaded and fired. Sorokin skated to the top of his fold and showed the leather by falling into a crack.
Third period: not exactly ending, but ending
Sorokin, playing with a lead for the first time in his NHL career, continued to look like the superstar we had hoped for. He made an early save on a chance for a tic-tac-toe pass. He also totally stole the opportunity from Sam Reinhart.
Pelech suffered another minor penalty in the third period and it looked like Victor Olofsson ruined the shutout after a few power play passes. But the flags took the tablets to check for offsides after Barry Trotz challenged the move, and Jack Eichel was a mile away. Closure intact.
The Sabers pulled Hutton with two minutes to go and created some chances, but Lee ended the game with an empty ball with 0.3 minutes left on the clock.
Notes and Thoughts
- How good is it that Sorokin’s first NHL victory also ended up being his first NHL victory? And even though the Sabers didn’t register many shots, many of them were dangerous. They have a potent offense that the Islanders closed almost completely for two nights and certainly gave Sorokin some confidence.
- Lee scored a goal in his second straight game. But perhaps even more impressive, Pageau scored his fifth goal in the last four games. And in each of those four games, he scored a goal in the first period, equaling the Islanders’ all-time record.
- Mathew Barzal broke his streak in nine games, but he played a role in the first goal, holding the puck and jumping Dobson.
- The Islanders’ sequence of points is up to eight games (5-0-3).
Next
The islanders have one more stop on this trip, but they don’t have to fly long to get there. They will go to Pittsburgh for two games with the Penguins: Thursday and Saturday, both at 7 pm and both on local television (although Thursday’s game is also broadcast on the NHL Network).