Bo Horvat knows he's not giving Islanders what they need
Bo Horvat of the Islanders skates against Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes in Game 4 of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at UBS Arena on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Bo Horvat knows what’s expected of him.
And Bo knows he’s not giving the Islanders what they need.
“I think I can be a lot better, to be honest with you,” Horvat said after the Islanders lost to the Hurricanes, 5-2, in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday afternoon at UBS Arena. They trail 3-1 in the series.
“I think I’m doing a lot of good things away from the puck and winning my faceoffs and doing all that kind of stuff,’’ said Horvat, who won 14 of 22 faceoffs (64%). “But at the end of the day, I’ve got to find ways to score big goals or get on the scoresheet not in a 5-2 game. I’ve got to find ways to make it meaningful. I’ve got to be better.”
Horvat notched his first point of the series on a shorthanded breakaway to cap the scoring at 17:57 of the third period. It was his lone shot in 17:02 of ice time.
Horvat’s top line with Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee has a combined three goals and no assists in the series. All three are on the first power-play unit and the Islanders are 1-for-12 in the series.
“We’ve been doing a lot of good things, but I think there’s been a lot of perimeter stuff,” Horvat said. “I think we can get to the blue paint a little bit more and maybe not try to be as fancy and try to get more pucks and bodies to the net. I just don’t think we’re creating enough havoc there sometimes.”
Barzal returned for Game 1 of this series after missing the final 23 games of the regular season with a knee injury.
Long streak ends
Sunday’s defeat marked the first time the Isles lost a home playoff game by more than one goal since April 18, 2007, when they lost Game 4 of their first-round series to the Sabres, 4-2.
Game 4 against the Hurricanes marked the Islanders’ 26th home game since then. Before Sunday, all 11 losses in that span — with games being played at Nassau Coliseum, Barclays Center and UBS Arena — were by one goal.
Isles files
Defenseman Ryan Pulock had a team-high 24:44 of ice time. He also led the team with six shots on goal . . . Forwards Josh Bailey, Simon Holmstrom and Ross Johnston, defensemen Samuel Bolduc and Parker Wotherspoon and goalie Jakub Skarek remained healthy scratches . . . The Islanders will not practice on Monday before traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina . . . Goalie Frederik Andersen remained unavailable for the Hurricanes. He did not dress for Games 2 and 3 because of illness, but coach Rod Brind’Amour classified his Game 4 absence as injury-related. “He tweaked something the other day in the warmup,” Brind’Amour said. “I was expecting him to probably be able to go today. It’s nothing serious.”
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.
