New York Islanders
Utah 5, Islanders 4 in OT: Special Teams Fail the Isles
ELMONT, NY — The Utah Hockey Club picked up their first-ever overtime victory in a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night in UBS Arena. Dylan Guenther, including the OT Winner, scored a pair to steal the show from debuting Islanders Maxim Tsyplakov and Anthony Duclair.
For the Islanders, it was a familiar yet different story. They started out tentative and a bit sloppy with the puck, while Utah clearly looked sharper, thanks to their game on Tuesday.
First Period:
Regardless, on their first powerplay of the game, the Islanders scored when Duclair’s skate deflected home a Noah Dobson shot from the point, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead. Utah challenged the goal for goalie interference, but the review found nothing.
The ensuing powerplay saw Kyle Palmieri have the chance of the game. Connor Ingram went behind the net to play the puck off a dump-in. Instead, the puck caromed to the slot where Palmieri gathered and fired… only Ingram somehow dove back in time and made the mid-air save. Had that gone in and made the game 2-0, this game would likely end differently.
The Islanders squandered the rest of that powerplay and another one in the first period, leaving chances on the board. Utah got its first powerplay after Alexander Romanov took an interference penalty.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau attempted to break up a Logan Cooley-to-Matias Maccelli pass but missed, leading to Maccelli finding an open Lawson Crouse, who buried his one-timer to tie the game at 1 with under a minute to play in the period.
Second Period:
The second period was probably the worst of the three periods for the Islanders. There were turnovers aplenty, as the Islanders kept trying to be “too cute” with the puck, which Duclair said postgame. Duclair added, “We didn’t get off to a good enough start. We were finding our legs.”
Brock Nelson had multiple chances to clear the puck out while Utah buzzed but flubbed multiple times, leading to his line being stuck out there. Eventually, Barrett Hayton deflected home a Mikhail Sergachev shot, and Utah had a 2-1 lead, which lasted the rest of the frame.
Third Period:
After trailing 2-1 entering the third period, the Islanders roared back, fueled by goals from Bo Horvat and then Pageau on the penalty kill to take a 3-2 lead. Horvat’s goal was set up beautifully by Duclair, who sent a saucer pass over two defensemen to the tape of Horvat, who made no mistake. Pageau’s came off a rush with Simon Holmstrom. Pageau slid a pass to Holmstrom, whose shot popped in the air and landed perfectly for Pageau to sweep into the yawning cage.
45 seconds after Pageau’s shorty, Guenther struck a wide-open one-timer to tie the game at three. Ryan Pulock, who was out there when the goal went in, said: “You’re always going to have a man open somewhere, but we’ve got to go back and look and see when someone’s too high or too low and go from there.”
The rest of the third period saw chances at both ends, leading to a rush chance for Nelson. He carried in and made a nice pass to Tsyplakov. Tsyplakov then electrified the crowd with a blazing wrister to give the Islanders a 4-3 lead with just 2:07 left in the period.
13 seconds later, Josh Doan silenced the arena with an equalizer that never should’ve happened. Alex Kerfoot bullied Romanov away from the puck, then made a centering pass to Josh Doan, who was all alone on Varlamov. Doan only got so open because Dobson lost his man, leaving Doan all alone as he streaked in.
On the tying goal, Dobson said, “We have to do a better job assessing that situation. We can’t give up a breakaway there in a one-goal game late in the third period.”
Overtime & Final Thoughts:
That sent the game to overtime, where Dobson’s woes continued. Carrying up ice, Dobson fumbled and turned the puck over to Utah, who had a 3-on-1 with Pageau being the lone Islander back. Sean Durzi found Guenther, who wired the winner past Semyon Varlamov, sealing the loss for the Islanders.
Overall, it was not a pretty game for the Islanders. The positives speak for themselves, with new additions Duclair and Tsyplakov sparkling. Frankly, they were the two best forwards on the ice for the Islanders tonight. They also got a point, which helps, even if it is the loser’s point.
Negatives included special teams. Despite the early goal, the powerplay went 1/6, including failing to score during a four-minute double minor while the game was tied at three in the third period. Head Coach Patrick Roy said postgame, “It’s nice to move the puck around. But there has to be shots on net.”
Meanwhile, the penalty kill woes continued, as they went 0/2 and allowed two Utah game-tying powerplay goals. Pageau postgame blamed himself for the first one, while Pulock and Roy pointed to a clear systemic failure on the Guenther powerplay marker.
That failure continued the Islanders’ 2023-24 theme of being far too passive on the kill. They let Utah pass and do what they wanted, leading to Guenther having his own area code to set up shop in.
Elsewhere, Nelson struggled tonight. He won just 3 of 15 face-offs, and his powerplay unit failed to establish any structure. It’s a slow start, but the Islanders need him to improve.
Oliver Wahlstrom fit in just fine with the fourth line. He engaged the game really well physically but made some sloppy mistakes with the puck, particularly in the neutral zone. Overall, he blocked a pair of shots and did well enough to get another game in my eyes.
The Islanders head out on a road trip that kicks off Saturday night in Dallas.