Morning After: A Winning Flight Home After Three Tough Islanders Road Games

Islanders games toughen your nervous system; at least last night's 4-3 melodramatic win over the Panthers did it for The Maven.

New York Islanders games toughen your nervous system; at least last night's 4-3 melodramatic win over the Panthers did it for The Maven. (And all this minus Mat Barzal.)

If Hollywood had scripted the last two games, it would have been two-for-two in the Oscar Department; and especially last night's performance in Sunrise under the sheltering palms of Amerant Bank Arena.

Of course, Ilya Sorokin -- the leading man -- would get the lead Oscar thanks to a 42-save performance. 

Oscars for Best Supporting Actors go to The Grit Guys.

* Anders Lee -- Scored the big opening goal on the power play at 12:36 of the first period. (Thank You, Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson, for assisting.)

* Pierre Engvall -- His third red light of the season made it 2-1 at 4:37 of the middle frame. (Thank You, Alex Romanov and Brocktober-December, for helping out.) 

Now 2-1 Isles. 

* Simon Holmstrom --The rookie now has seven goals (9:12 of the second. Now 3-1 Isles. (Thank You, Julien Gauthier and Bo. That makes it 10 assists for Horvat. No. 11 coming up.)

* Julien Gauthier -- He got his first goal as an Islander, plus it was the game-winner.

So, here we are 3-2 for the Visitors into the third frame. 

At 3:43, Gauthier takes the most beautiful face-off win from Bo and blasts it past Anthony Stolarz. 4-2 for Us.

BUT: Not to let us breathe easy, the Panthers' Carter Verhaeghe scores to really make this one a  major league thriller. The Orange and Blue now have 10:24 remaining to kill and do so much to the delight of coach Lane Lambert.

"There was a lot of commitment out there for us," enthused the Skipper. "Our guys did a lot of things right. And with Barzy out, people stepped up, especially Gauthier going up to the first line. He's a big guy who really can move."

Julien’s winning score was a product of a Horvat face-off done with surgical perfection.

Gauthier: "Bo told me exactly where to go. He won it cleanly, and then 'Leezy' (also known as Anders Lee) picked the guy, and that gave me a clean shot." 

Then a pause: "It felt good!"

Having jetted home, the Elmonters now can exhale prior to their return to UBS Arena on Tuesday for a visit from the San Jose Sharks. (Don't take them lightly, lads!)

"All things considered, it was a long month on the road," added Lambert. "The guys did a great job."

But none better than Sorokin, who again reinforced the wisdom of boss Lou Lamoriello ensuring that Lambert has two A-1 goalies with which to employ. Semyon Varlamov was equally aces in beating Carolina in the previous encounter.

Lambert & Company could exit their charter with grins, having obtained four out of their last six possible road games against a trio of the NHL's top teams. It also puts them three wins over .500 with a 10-7-6 mark for 26 points.

The 26 points tie them for first place -- in the Met Division -- with Washington, which has three games in hand. Philly also has 26 points, but New York has a game in hand.

Pittsburgh is tied with the Isles in games but trails by two points. Finally, New Jersey  -- having played one less game than the Isles -- lags three points behind.

What matters now is Barzal's status soon to be determined. In the interim, Gauthier did a splendid job as the stand-in. (Why do you think The Maven gave him an Oscar!) 

By the way, Captain Lee got his prize for leadership as well as quotability. Here's what I mean.

"This was an important win for us because we had a tough week of games in tough buildings," Anders averred. "Now we're home for some rest and to move forward. It was good to end the trip on a good note." (This guy must have studied English Lit at Notre Dame.)

Or, as The Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare, would have put it: "All's well that ends well."