Islanders win. Sorokin finds his form -- And Ollie Wahlstrom pots the shootout winner. Life Is Nice In .500-Land!
Islanders win. Sorokin finds his form -- And Ollie Wahlstrom pots the shootout winner. Life Is Nice In .500-Land!
W is for Wonderful; as in the New York Islanders over the Calgary Flames -- 5-4 -- enabling them to shake the blues away and take on the surprisingly sizzling Flyers on Wednesday at UBS Arena.
As a critic of hockey art, I can assure you that Commissioner Gary Bettman will not subtract two points simply because coach Lane Lambert's stickhandlers pushed our nerve endings to the limit with his decisive S.O. counter. Ollie's winner came in the fifth shootout round -- a pure shooters goal.
"It's a great feeling." said Wahlstrom. "Now we can go home with two points."
Two points is 2 points no matter how you spell it and thank you very much Red Light Brigade that also included redoubtable Brock Nelson, reliable Kyle Palmieri; not to mention playing to his flying form, Mathew Barzal as well as the driving Hudson Fasching with his season's first.
"We've faced a lot of adversity," asserted captain Anders Lee, "and we came back and lifted ourselves to the .500 mark."
Or, as one NHL scout observed, "The Isles showed on this one night that they could generate offense and prevail in a close shootout; factors that had failed them in the past."
And one of those vital signs was the ability of Fasching to score and prove he can duplicate last season's horse of a game to advantage.
So when The Maven talks about The Morning After, the Night Before at Scotia Bank Saddledome suited the Islanders to a T (as in Triumph). The long, awaited victory -- so key to their climb in the standings -- couldn't come at a more opportune time.
Two of the next games are against John Tortorella's upstart Flyers -- first at UBS on Wednesday and back in Philly on Saturday night. A trip to Ottawa is squeezed in between on Friday.
Hey, all things considered, there was a lot to like about the schnei-breaker.
Palmieri's power play goal came via Bo Horvat Boulevard and sent a message throughout the Visitors room once the final buzzer sounded.
"We got a confident team," Kyle concluded.
The Boys From Elmont will get a chance to underline that point on Wednesday night at their welcome home party!