New York Islanders

Rapid Reaction: Islanders Fall 3-2 in OT on Bossy Tribute Night

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2022

ELMONT– On the night the New York Islanders remembered the life and legacy of Mike Bossy, they fell 3-2 in overtime to the Florida Panthers. The Islanders are now 19-13-5 on home ice and 35-31-10 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

New York Islanders took a 1-0 lead at 4:56 of the second period as Sebastian Aho sniped Florida Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky blocker side for his second goal of the season. Andy Greene and Kieffer Bellows were credited with the assists.

Aleksandar Barkov tied the contest at 1-1 on the power play with 14:12 to go in the second period as he beat Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin over the glove through a screen for his 35th goal of the season. Claude Giroux and Jonathan Huberdeau were credited with the assists.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s power-play goal just over a minute into the third period gave the New York Islanders a 2-1 lead. Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson were credited with the assists on Pageau’s 16th goal of the season.

Aleksander Barkov scored his second of the contest at 16:03 of the third period as he found a loose puck and buried it for his 36th of the season. Radko Gudas and Jonathan Huberdeau were credited with the assists.

Aleksander Barkov netted the hat trick 20 seconds into overtime to give the Panthers a 3-2 win. His 37th of the season was assisted by Huberdeau and Forsling.

Islanders Honor Bossy

In the first game back at UBS Arena since the passing of Mike Bossy, the New York Islanders and fans honored his legacy. On hand for the special night was one of his daughters Tanya and granddaughters Alexe and Gabrielle.

In the main concourse, fans placed flowers under Mike Bossy’s Islanders Hall of Fame plaque as they entered the arena. Prior to puck drop, the New York Islanders shared a tribute video for no. 22, followed by a Bossy chant by the New York Islander faithful.

#Isles crowd chants “BOSSY!” after video tribute. pic.twitter.com/Wz5TdTWguH

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) April 19, 2022

It was an emotional night for everyone involved as our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike Bossy’s family, friends and anyone whose life he ever touched.

“It was pretty special,” Mat Barzal said. “I looked back into the crowd after the video was done seen some tears coming down couple of faces and you know, obviously, there’s probably a lot of people in the building tonight that saw him play live and you know, saw him win in Long Island and yeah, it’s just he obviously by the sounds of it, was a pretty special human and a special player. So, you know, amazing tribute by the organization.”

First Time, Long Time, For a Short Time

When the New York Islanders did line rushes at warmups, there were changes from the previous games.

Bailey-Nelson-Beauvillier

Bellows–Pageau–Palmieri

Lee–Barzal–Parise

Martin–Cizikas–Johnston

Chara–Dobson

Pelech–Pulock

Aho–Greene

Sorokin

Varlamov

But early on, head coach Barry Trotz went back to the lines we have become accustomed to. Bailey was back with Pageau and Palmieri, while Kieffer Bellows was back alongside Mathew Barzal and Zach Parise.

Trotz gave a reason for the quick line changes following the loss.

“I wasn’t expecting the Giroux-Huberdeau line,” Trotz said. “They’ve been split up the last number of games so they stacked them all on one line and I was gonna go with the more experience, then I went back with Bailey. After warmups, I think I had Bellows there in that spot and I just want to give him a chance where, you know, I don’t know if he’s there yet to play full time, 20 minutes against drew Barkov and Huberdeau, so we went back to the old faithful if you will and worked off that.”

Workload Not an Issue for Sorokin

Even though New York Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov was available for Barry Trotz after missing a few days with the stomach bug, Trotz elected to go back to Ilya Sorokin for a fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night.

And the workload was not an issue, as Sorokin continued his strong play turning aside 39 of 41 in regulation. Had no chance on any of the goals against. In overtime, Barkov made a strong d

In the second period, Sorokin robbed Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe towards the back post, his best save of the night.