Andrew Gross: Islanders get relief in goal with David Rittich's solid start
The Islanders' David Rittich makes a save during the second period against the Calgary Flames at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
David Rittich absolutely needed this kind of performance.
So did the victorious Islanders with their reconstituted lines, even if things got uncomfortably tight in the third period.
Forging a three-goal lead simply makes it way easier to play than constantly trying to rally from three-goal deficits, as was the case in the Islanders’ previous two games. That’s what the Flames had to do at UBS Arena on Saturday night before falling short, 3-2.
Nothing is going to come easily for the Islanders in their playoff push, especially as they’re being chased by the relentless Blue Jackets, who remain two points back after beating the Flyers in a shootout to increase their point streak to nine games.
But getting solid outings from their backup goalie and not chasing the game is a much better recipe for success. That was an obvious takeaway with the Islanders coming off Friday night’s 3-2 loss to the Kings in which the visitors built a three-goal lead in the first period.
“I think it’s been kind of coming for a while,” rookie Cal Ritchie said. “A few unlucky bounces at the start of games beforehand. Tonight I thought we played pretty solid.”
Ritchie was part of coach Patrick Roy’s latest line shuffles as he swapped spots with Simon Holmstrom, who scored twice, including shorthanded. Ritchie skated on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s right wing along with Anders Lee. Holmstrom moved to newcomer Brayden Schenn’s right wing along with Anthony Duclair, a healthy scratch the previous two games.
Roy also reinserted Kyle MacLean onto the fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Ondrej Palat after three games as a healthy scratch. Cizikas scored a tone-setting opening goal by willing himself to the right post midway through the first period.
But Roy’s brightest decision was to keep Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal reunited on a top line with Emil Heineman even if none of those three made the scoresheet Saturday.
Roy inexplicably experimented with separating them to start Friday’s game even though Barzal had five goals and 11 assists in his previous 11 games and Horvat had nine goals and three assists in a nine-game stretch leading into facing the Kings.
Roy put them back together by the second period on Friday, and that’s when the Islanders started playing better.
“We’re going to need scoring from pretty much everybody on our team for us to keep having some success,” Roy said. But Horvat and Barzal necessarily set the pace with their skills.
The Flames scored twice in the third period against the tiring Islanders, but Rittich made 15 of his 30 saves in the final 20 minutes to beat his former team for the first time in seven tries.
Rittich, who played for the Flames from 2017-21, had been 0-4-2 with a 4.02 goals-against average and an .851 save percentage against them since being traded to the Maple Leafs.
“About time,” he said. “I knew my record against them since I left Calgary. It was not great. Well, it was terrible. So I’m glad I finally got a win against them.”
More importantly, Rittich was 2-4-1 with a 3.24 GAA and an .866 save percentage in his previous seven starts since Jan. 8. That included a 4-2 loss in Calgary on Jan. 17 in which the Flames took a four-goal lead and Rittich stopped only 15 shots.
But the Islanders will absolutely need the best they can get from Rittich to secure a playoff spot. Of course, Ilya Sorokin is the unquestioned No. 1. But the three-week Olympic break in February made for a tightly condensed schedule. Starting Tuesday, when the Islanders open a three-game Canadian swing against the Maple Leafs, they will play 11 games in 19 days.
Saturday marked one of five back-to-back sets the Islanders have in the 18-game stretch to end the season. The next one is next weekend, with the Islanders hosting the Blue Jackets on March 22 after playing in Montreal the night before.
Most likely, one of those two will be Rittich’s next start.
The Islanders will need a repeat performance from Rittich then. Just as they need to consistently repeat this new thing called playing with a lead.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
