Islanders Captain Anders Lee's Bounce-Back Season Continues vs. Kings
Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesNew York Islanders captain Anders Lee has been a tremendous story in a season with many negatives.
On Tuesday night, with the Islanders trailing 1-0, Lee received a cross-ice pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and buried the puck high blocker side on Darcy Kuemper from the slot to tie the game at 8:37 of the second:
That was Lee's 25th goal of the season, reaching that mark for the seventh time in his NHL career.
What Lee's done this season, at age 34, has been astonishing, to be honest.
After 20 goals in and 17 assists for just 37 points in 81 games last season, there were thoughts that the Islanders may have to buy out the final two years of Lee's deal, which carries a cap hit of $7 million annually.
But, this season, he's played to his paycheck, with 25 goals and 20 assists for 45 points in 64 games. He's on pace for 32 goals, which would be the most since his career-high 40 back in 2017. He's on pace for 25 assists, which would be a new career-high.
Not only that, but Lee has 183 shots on goal, which puts him on pace to reach north of 234, with his career high being 214.
Per MSG statistician Eric Hornick, Lee joins Bryan Trottier (12), Mike Bossy (10), Clark Gillies (7) and John Tavares (7) as the only Islanders to reach the 25-goal mark in seven or more seasons.
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