The New York Islanders win their second consecutive game as they beat their state rivals, the New York Rangers by a score of 2-0. Incredible performance from goaltender Semyon Varlamov who saved 30 out of 30 shots for his 3rd shutout of the season, which is the most in the NHL. He's the first Islanders goaltender in history to record two shutouts in one season against the New York Rangers. This game was scoreless for over 50 minutes but thanks to the Islanders fourth line they were able to put one home with nine minutes remaining in the third period. Casey Cizikas gets the game-winning goal in tonight's contest assisted by Matt Martin who had a two-point game and Adam Pelech who also had an incredible performance tonight.
“We had to go out there and win one period to win a game. I think we liked our resiliency over the last four games now, starting in Philly and coming back there and getting points, then getting wins in the last two.” -Matt Martin
Noah Dobson has been another bright spot for the Islanders especially on five-on-five play. He had 10:39 five-on-five time tonight which is good for the young Islanders defenseman, but us Islanders fans would still love to see him playing a lot more. Dobson recorded three shots on goal tonight and is definitely going with HC Barry Trotz’s “shoot first mentality” which is what we are left wanting after the lack of offensive recent games. Tonight's fourth line saved tonight's game after not performing up to par in their first 10 games of the season. The Islanders were able to play a good game against top Rangers winger Artemi Panarin as he was limited to 3 shots tonight, all of which were swallowed by Varlamov.
“You get back to your identity through adversity and hardship more than you do if things just keep rolling along for you. There’s a blessing in everything. Nothing is easy in this league, so hopefully, it makes us better.” -Barry Trotz
Another bright spot for the Islanders was the young forward Oliver Wahlstrom who had four shots on goal tonight after having just three shots on goal in his first two games of the season. Jordan Eberle also had five shots on goal after having two goals in Saturday's game against Pittsburgh. After a much-needed two points the Islanders are now fourth in the MassMutual East Division with 12 points in 11 games. The Islanders have a day off tomorrow and will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at Nassau Coliseum.
