The New York Islanders earned their first victory of the season last night, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 on the road.
The game also marked Ilya Sorokin’s first start of the season.
It couldn’t have been much of a worse start from New York, with Josh Manson finding Calum Ritchie at the side of the net for a tap-in only a minute into the game, immediately putting the Islanders behind. The Avalanche had the momentum early, and were outplaying New York through the first five minutes – however, just four minutes after the Ritchie goal, Anders Lee was able to take the puck to the Colorado net on a wraparound and whack it past Alexandar Georgiev, quickly tying the game.
New York came alive from there, and really started to generate more as the frame went on, outshooting 16-12, though Sorokin still had to be sharp on a few rush chances. Then with only two minutes to go in the period, Kyle Palmieri ended up with a partial breakaway, and Georgiev went for an unsuccessful pokecheck, for Palmieri to tuck the puck around him, giving the Islanders a lead.
A scrum ensued at the end of the period following a Nathan MacKinnon hit on Alexander Romanov, but the Islanders took the lead to intermission after getting better as the period went on.
The teams started the second period at 4-on-4, and while the Avalanche did have some opportunities in the early part of the period, New York actually managed to hold Colorado without a shot on goal for well past the midway mark of the frame. Then about nine minutes in, Brock Nelson got by a defender with a great deke and made a move to beat Georgiev, extending the Islanders’ lead.
New York did give up a power play shortly after that, but on that man advantage, Cale Makar ended up committing a terrible turnover, and Nelson came in to beat Georgiev once again, increasing it to a 4-1 lead for New York.
Ilya Sorokin’s first save of the period did come shortly after on a chance though, extending himself to make a huge save on John Ludvig at point-blank range. But after a great period where New York outshot Colorado by an 11-5 margin, the Islanders took a sizable lead into the third period.
The Avalanche did begin the final frame on a power play, after a late second period from Maxim Tsyplakov, and Colorado converted with another early goal, as Casey Mittelstadt buried a nice pass from Nathan MacKinnon just as the man advantage expired. Given the Islanders’ track record of blowing leads, it was a bit of a concerning way to start the period. Colorado had some momentum from there as well, with a couple great chances to nearly cut the lead to one, but couldn’t beat Sorokin.
But about six minutes after the Mittelstadt goal, Anthony Duclair took a pass in the slot and went right around Georgiev, reinstating the Islanders’ three-goal lead – and you could feel the sigh of relief.
Colorado did outplay the Islanders in the frame and registered 17 shots on goal, but with a little over a minute to go, Mathew Barzal iced the game with an empty net goal, securing a 6-2 win for the Islanders.
It’s a huge game for New York, picking up their first win of the season after a really strong first 40 minutes.
Once again, the team’s offense looked an awful lot more dangerous, getting five of the six goals from members of the top-six. They finished the game with 37 shots, and other than maybe the first few minutes of the game, New York was able to carry the play through much of the first two periods.
Again, it’s far too early to be sure, but this is the first time in a while New York looks like they can count on their top-six to produce consistently. Through the first three games, each member of the top-six has at least a goal and two points.
Even on the penalty kill, the Islanders looked more dangerous in terms of pressing for a break the other way. Jean-Gabriel Pageau has seemed to get a good shorthanded chance about once a game, and Brock Nelson was able to bury the shorthanded goal in the second period as well.
Ilya Sorokin also looked to be back in top form, in his first start of the season. I think there were probably at least some questions as to how he’d start the year, coming off a disappointing 2023-24 season and then offseason surgery. But he was excellent in the win, making 32 saves (with several of them being of a pretty high difficulty).
It’s the Islanders’ best game of the season so far, and it was pretty crucial that they get that first win to avoid falling behind early in the East. Even at just a 1-1-1 record, the signs are there that this is a more capable group than last season.
New York will wrap up their road trip on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Can the Islanders take a step forward this season?
- Islanders announce roster, Pierre Engvall clears waivers
- Islanders lose back-and-forth season opener, fall 5-4 to Utah in overtime
- Islanders begin road trip with shutout loss to Stars
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