NYHN Daily: Islanders Dominate Senators, Sorokin’s Save, Pulock Returns

After defeating the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, the New York Islanders are back in action today against the Seattle Kraken. It was a 4-1 victory over Ottawa on Tuesday, a dominating performance for a team that desperately needed it. New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin made his best save of the night in the second period on an Alex Formenton breakaway, which served as the turning point of the contest. Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock returned to the Islanders lineup for the first time since Nov. 15.

These stories and more in today’s daily links!

Keeping it on the Island

The New York Islanders defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in their second to last game before the All-Star break.  The Islanders are now 16-16-6, with a 9-9-3 record at UBS Arena. Here’s how it happened. (NYI Hockey Now)

After allowing the first goal just over a minute into the 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, netminder Ilya Sorokin locked down the fort while his team did the rest. Ilya Sorokin stopped 25 shots straight shots after allowing the second shot he faced to trickle into the back of his net. His best save of the night, the most important save of the night, came with 12:25 to play in the second period. (NYI Hockey Now)

Prior to Thursday’s contest against the Ottawa Senators, the New York Islanders have activated defenseman Ryan Pulock (LTIR). Pulock has not played since Nov. 15, when he suffered a lower-body injury in Tampa against the Lightning. (NYI Hockey Now)

Around the National Hockey Now Boards

The Boston Bruins defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-2 on Tuesday night at TD Garden. David Pastrnak scored twice and Taylor Hall recorded a goal and two assists in the win. Urho Vaakanainen was hit from behind by Yanni Gourde, which was originally ruled a major but was downgraded to a minor, for some reason. Vaakanainen did not return to th game after the nasty hit. (Boston Hockey Now)

The Pittsburgh Penguins (27-11-8) were left with a few questions to answer about their trajectory and standing after being winless in three games, including some clunkers against bad teams. A good rivalry game was the wake-up call the team needed as their effort and intensity increased significantly. The Penguins dominated the Washington Capitals (25-12-9) everywhere but the scoreboard. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

Both teams are playing below expectations, both teams have interim coaches trying to turn things around, both teams are probably extremely happy to have some time off because of the All-Star break. Meet the Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets, teams that played before a predictably sparse crowd Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Flyers 3, Winnipeg 1. (Philly Hockey Now)

Although the Washington Capitals still managed to escape PPG Paints Arena with a major win on Tuesday, Nic Dowd said postgame that he believes that his disallowed goal in the second period should have counted. The 31-year-old center discussed the controversial call, which saw Dowd’s deflection goal waved off and the Capitals back down by one following Mike Sullivan’s coach’s challenge and a lengthy conversation between officials and the NHL situation room in Toronto. (Washington Hockey Now)

After an eight-game showing on Monday, the Florida Panthers flamed out in their last game before their two-week All-Star break, falling 5-2 to the New York Rangers. They have no reason to be discouraged, however. Florida heads into the break with the most standings points in the NHL with 69. (Florida Hockey Now)

The Detroit Red Wings won’t have defenseman Nick Leddy in the lineup Wednesday when they play a home game against the Los Angeles Kings. Danny Dekeyser, recently out of the lineup because his wife had a baby, will replace Leddy. Coach Jeff Blashill said Leddy wouldn’t be available for the next game. But he didn’t provide specifics about his injury or a timeline for his return to action. Nick Leddy didn’t play in the third period of Monday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after suffering an undisclosed injury. (Detroit Hockey Now)

The Vegas Golden Knights (27-16-3) curb-stomped the Buffalo Sabres (14-24-7) Tuesday night at home in their last game before the 2022 NHL All-Star break. Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and Cody Eakin all returned to T-Mobile Arena for the first time in a visiting uniform and were all honored during the first TV timeout. (Vegas Hockey Now)

The Colorado Avalanche are winless in February. All right, that’s a ridiculous way to put it about a team that was 15-0-1 in January. Consider it withdrawn. But as the expected heavy and extended snowstorm was in its early stages Tuesday night, the Avalanche’s home-ice winning streak came to an end at 18 in unlikely fashion. (Colorado Hockey Now)

On Saturday night, Mario Ferraro deflected Owen Tippett’s shot straight off his jaw. “I lost one tooth and then my other two bent backwards a little bit,” Ferraro reported today. “So they just tried to fix the top of my mouth here, like upper jaw. But it was a tough 12 hours until I was able to really get treated in the proper way.” That’s right — Ferraro had to fly with the San Jose Sharks from Florida to North Carolina, in immense pain, to get to the right specialist. (San Jose Hockey Now)

In recent days here at Vancouver Hockey Now we’ve often brought up the word ‘patience’ with this Vancouver Canucks hockey club. The NHL trade deadline remains 48 days away and the team has a sincere interest in making the playoffs. Of course, there are no guarantees, but there’s also no reason to do anything rash. “I’ve learned that these guys want to win,” Canucks Head Coach Bruce Boudreau said Tuesday morning. “When you want to win you do things the right way and you pay the price, and we’ve certainly paid the price on numerous occasions.” (Vancouver Hockey Now)

Halfway through their season, the Calgary Flames found another ‘first.’ With a three-goal third period, they got their first victory of the season when trailing after 40 minutes. “That’s our first time getting a comeback victory,” Flames winger Andrew Mangiapane said after a 4-3 win over the Stars in Dallas. “It felt good.” (Calgary Hockey Now)