Having disposed of the Flyers last night 4-0 at UBS Arena, coach Lane Lambert's gallant gang can sniff that Wild Card-winning aroma as if it's just around the corner.
Hallelujah!
Another biggest game for the Islanders is safely in the bag.
Having disposed of the Flyers last night 4-0 at UBS Arena, coach Lane Lambert's gallant gang can sniff that Wild Card-winning aroma as if it's just around the corner.
Actually, it's just around the calendar with the next challenge surfacing tomorrow in Washington with the finale two nights later at UBS when the Canadiens lower the curtain on the regular season.
It was a night of stars, this Saturday evening in Elmont as Ilya Sorokin posted his league-leading sixth shutout of the campaign and Big Gun Brock Nelson tallied his 34th red light while Bo Horvat had two helpers on the opening two goals.
"We knew the Flyers would come out hard," said Horvat, who played a strong physical game as well. "We weathered the storm and then our game took over from there."
In such a critical match the first goal has immense importance and defenseman Scott Mayfield came through for his sixth G of the year as all three backline units were united in strength.
Meanwhile, this "Wilder Than Wild Wild Card Race" has reached its dizziest level with Pittsburgh and Florida both winning yesterday; a fact that made the Isles de luxe performance a must.
Enhancing the effort were a pair of rookies, defenseman Sam Bolduc and forward Hudson Fasching. They rounded out the scoring with the game's third -- the key "cushion" -- and fourth scores, respectively. Bolduc's wrist shot was of surprisingly high intensity, marking his second career goal.
"I've adjusted myself pretty well," Bolduc modestly allowed after playing an effective game at both ends of the ice. Ditto for Fasching whose superior performances no longer surprise.
Captain Anders Lee spearheaded the first line with Horvat and rookie Simon Holmstrom, the latter of whom was a beast all night. It was Simon’s superior shift on the Mayfield opening goal that underlined his confidence.
"Simon keeps getting better and better," said Horvat. "He plays a smart game."
All things considered the turning point was the second score -- Nelson's goal off the rush. A radar feed from defenseman Noah Dobson created the play which allowed the Isles to take control of the contest.
Dobson was voted third star with Sorokin and Horvat -- a demon again on face-offs, 11 for 16 -- ahead of him. For Ilya it was his 16th blank job over 128 games, a remarkable accomplishment.
"We shut them down pretty good in the last forty minutes," said pleased coach Lane Lambert.
He had to be happy with the revived Ryan Pulock-Adam Pelech team doing a good fortress imitation, allowing the Flyers little room to maneuver.
Lambert's choice of Holmstrom -- his first career multi-point game -- on the top line also is glowing brighter by the week, indicating that Not-So-Simple Simon has taken the gig from veteran Josh Bailey.
Few shutouts are easy and in this case Sorokin kept Philly off the scoresheet with big stops on Ivan Provorov and Morgan Frost early in the game, enabling New York to retain its 1-0. lead.
If a fourth star of the game were given, the enthusiastic crowd deserved it.
"It was a great atmosphere," said Dobson, "and we fed off it. When the crowd is going, we're going."
The Isles are going to Washington tomorrow for their next biggest game of the season. Strap on your safety belts, folks, as the Wild Card Race gets even wilder!