Islanders Practice: Injuries, Line Combos, & Why All Smiles

Despite a strong performance on Friday night against the Nashville Predators, the New York Islanders came away with no points and their second straight loss, a 4-1 loss, after recording a season-high 49 shots on goal.

Despite a Season-High 49 Shots, Islanders Lose 4-1 to Predators

With a game on the horizon against the Chicago Blackhawks, the New York Islanders were on the ice for practice Saturday afternoon. Everyone was on the ice besides Cal Clutterbuck (day-to-day, upper-body) and Kyle Palmieri (IR, upper-body). The two call-ups, Hudson Fasching and Cole Bardreau, were on the ice, but before practice came to a close, the Islanders announced Bardreau was headed back to Bridgeport.

Ilya Sorokin was the first netminder off the ice at practice, so take that as you may.

Here were the lines:

Josh Bailey-Mat Barzal-Oliver Wahlstrom
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Ross Johnston

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

One would not have been able to tell that the Islanders had lost a challenging game as the laughs and smiles seemed contagious.

How can a team be so happy after a loss?

“At the day of the day, you look at the process after a poor game against Philly…we played a pretty good one last night,” New York Islanders forward Matt Martin said. “Obviously didn’t get the results. At the end of the day, you want two points every night, but [you’re]not always going to get it either. So, you come in, you’re positive, and you get ready for the next one. I think if we play like we did last night, we’re gonna win.”

“We felt like we should have a different result, so I feel pretty good about our game last n. We worked hard, we competed, and there’s a lot of positives, so it’s good to have some good energy and good vibes in practice today,” forward Anthony Beauvillier said.

Even the coaches had smiles on their faces, with Lane Lambert grinning for the majority of practice.

“It’s a new day you have to move on,” Lambert said. “There’s no question that every loss stinks. But you have to move on and have that next-game mentality.