The New York Islanders defeated Vancouver 5-2, in Vancouver. It was their best game of the year, bar none. The Islanders are now over .500 at 7-6-4 and have scored points in their last five games. All of those games have been played without injured stars Mat Barzal and Anthony DuClair and without three of their top six defensemen.
This was the middle game of a long five-game road trip for the team. They are playing with house money on this road trip as five points in three games is excellent. They next play a similar team in Seattle on November 16 at 4 p.m. Playing games so close together has been historically difficult for the hot Islanders, but maybe they have turned a corner. Better still for the team is that soon they will start getting injured players back. That will be like completing a costless trade. The Islanders must continue to tick games off the schedule until the injured players come back.
Anders Lee Gets Two More Points
Anders Lee, the captain of the Islanders, had a goal and an assist in this game. It seems like he has found the fountain of youth, which is great for the Islanders who need him to score to make up for the injury losses, particularly to Barzal and DuClair. Lee now has seven goals and six assists for 13 points. Lee is playing well. If the Islanders are to remain dominant they need Anders Lee to continue accruing points. He is the captain, and he must lead.
A Complete Victory
This was a dominant, complete victory for the Isles. Not only did Lee get two points, but three players scored their first goals for the Islanders. Scott Mayfield, Pierre Engvall, and Noah Dobson scored their first goals of the season. Mayfield and Dobson are defensemen and the Islanders previously only had two goals from defensemen, both by Dennis Cholowski. Now they have four goals from defensemen. They need to get scoring from them. Their performance in Vancouver is a good sign.
Semyon Varlamov Overcomes Shaky Start
The Isles started Semyon Varlamov in goal. Their backup allowed a goal on the first shot he faced. Varlomov ended up overcoming this shaky start to save 24-of-26 shots in the victory for a .923 save percentage. That is very good, not only do the Islanders need their remaining offensive weapons, like Lee to score, but the Islanders need great goaltending. The Islanders got that from Varlamov, especially in the third period when Varlamov saved 19 of 20 shots in that key period.
The Kids Are All Right, Part 2
New York placed Defenseman Mike Reilly on Injured Reserve and recalled Travis Mitchell, an undrafted free agent from Cornell University. He has played eight games for the Bridgeport Islanders this season. He is six-foot-four and two hundred and 236 pounds. Maybe he will be as good as Isaiah George. They are building depth they can use later in the season, especially on the blue line.
Scoring Summary
There were seven goals in this game as New York won 5-2. The game was 1-1 after the first period. Vancouver scored first as Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored his first goal of the season. The Islanders answered when Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored. That was all of the scoring in the first period.
In the second period, New York scored two goals. One by Pierre Engvall (who had six shots on the net in this game) and one by Scott Mayfield. The Islanders took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Islanders fans everywhere were fearing another third-period collapse. A collapse almost happened, but Varlamov stood on his head and would not allow it.
In the third period, the Isles scored two more goals to complete the dominant victory. Lee scored for his second point of the game, and Noah Dobson scored an empty net goal to seal the deal. The fact that Dobson’s goal was an empty net goal does not matter. He needed to score.
Conclusion
The dominant victory for the New York Islanders in Vancouver, on paper a superior team talent-wise, was a great team effort. They got scoring from three players who had yet to score this season and Lee for two points. The team needs him to continue scoring. The team got great goaltending from Varlamov. The Islanders have points in five games in a row and are ahead of the game in this long five-game road trip. The Islanders need to keep accruing points to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division until their injured stars return.
