Watching the New York Islanders on any given night makes you wonder if it's safe to exhale.
Watching the New York Islanders on any given night makes you wonder if it's safe to exhale.
Watching the New York Islanders on any given night makes you wonder if it's safe to exhale.
The Maven speaks firsthand, having finally resumed breathing after Kyle Palmieri potted the final minute open-netter in another perilous -- but who cares? -- 4-2 (open netter) victory over the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
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Like the Tuesday night win over Chicago, coach Patrick Roy's skaters "found a way" to win and this time it was by outshooting the BJ's by a ton. In this case The Law of Averages caught up to our boys and paid off two points.
Yeah, there were mistakes, to be sure -- errant passes, heads-down plays, and a "Michigan" style puck that bounced off Ilya Sorokin's back and into the net -- but the Orange and Blue patched the holes and carried on.
The 1-0 and 2-1 starts were not enough to curb a home team that seemed determined to take the lead but never got the chance.
Moving into the third period tied 2-2, the Isles played precarious hockey and survived when Noah Dobson did what he's supposed to do; put the Islanders in front for good.
Even then, it wasn't over by any means. If the checkers weren't going to foil the intruders, then goaltending had to deliver, and that Sorokin did in spades.
Ilya saw to that with a pair of side to side saves that also managed to ensure the win.
Full credit to Anders Lee, who had to leave the game absorbing twin body checks from two different Blue Jackets in the second period.
"Mark my words," said MSG Networks analyst Butch Goring, "Lee will come back."
And so he did in the third period, battling as of yore while helping set up the insurance fourth -- open net -- goal by Kyle Palmieri
That noise you hear in the background is The Maven finally exhaling!