Can Islanders build on positives ahead of rematch against the Red Wings?
St. Louis Blues left wing Jake Neighbours scores a goal against Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin during the third period of an NHL game on Saturday at UBS Arena. Credit: AP/Noah K. Murray
Can the Islanders do it again?
They face a rematch against the Red Wings, who are dealing with speculation about coach Derek Lalonde’s job security, on Monday night at UBS Arena in the middle of a three-game homestand. This after snapping an 0-2-1 streak with 3-1 win over the Blues on Saturday night. That defeat ultimately cost Drew Bannister his job, with the Blues announcing on Sunday they were hiring Jim Montgomery — five days after the Bruins fired him as their coach.
So, how costly could a loss to the Islanders be?
Honestly, and obviously, that’s not any sort of focus for the Islanders (8-8-5) for Monday's game. They just want to build upon the positives from Saturday’s win — only their fifth in regulation — and continue to earn points during this potentially advantageous stretch of eight of 11 at home.
The Islanders were able to hold a third-period lead against the Blues after failing to do so in each of their previous three games. That included Thursday night’s brutal 2-1 loss in Detroit to conclude a 1-2-2 road trip as the Red Wings scored twice in the final 4:46 of regulation.
“It’s nice to close one out,” said defenseman Scott Mayfield, who blocked a career-high nine shots on Saturday. “That’s been kind of a sore spot for us. It’s a confidence thing that we know we can do it and just go out there with that attitude that it’s a normal 20 minutes, a normal game and play our game. Keep pushing, keep doing what we need to do. Keep making the smart plays.”
The Islanders have lost two frustrating games to the Red Wings this season, including a 1-0 loss on Oct. 22 at UBS Arena despite Detroit managing just 11 shots on Ilya Sorokin.
Sorokin made 24 saves against the Blues to finally earn his 100th career victory after failing to do so in his four previous starts.
“It’s a stressful situation, they got a goal early in the period,” Sorokin said of stopping nine of the 10 shots he faced in the third period, yielding a power-play goal to Jake Neighbours just 45 seconds into the period. “We should be working just to do our job and we did [on Saturday] and that’s the reason we won. We played smart.”
Sorokin has started two straight games. The Islanders did not practice on Sunday so it was unclear whether coach Patrick Roy would stick with Sorokin or turn back to Semyon Varlmaov, who is 2-0-1 in his last three starts. That included making 24 saves in a 5-2 win in Vancouver on Nov. 14 that represented the Islanders’ best 60-minute effort of the season.
One of the main reasons the Islanders struggled through the third periods in their road losses was their inability to expand a one-goal lead. Finally, against the Blues, they took a 2-0 lead.
“If we keep playing the same way, we’ll score goals,” Roy said. “I know the game will be fair at some point.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
