Banged-up Islanders finding consistency ahead of road trip
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) celebrates with teammates after an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, in Elmont, N.Y. The Islanders won 2-1. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
The Islanders already had announced that Oliver Wahlstrom and Simon Holmstrom would not accompany the team on its upcoming four-game western swing. They gave a further update on the right wings just before departing on Friday for Seattle.
Wahlstrom has been ruled out indefinitely with a lower-body injury and Holmstrom is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Both were placed on injured reserve.
Both were injured as the Islanders swept a three-game homestand. Holmstrom hurt his left leg in a knee-to-knee collision in a 5-1 win over the Panthers on Dec. 23 and Wahlstrom exited after being hit into the corner boards in Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Penguins. Both missed Thursday’s yeoman 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Defenseman Adam Pelech (IR/suspected head injury) also did not make the trip.
The Islanders (21-14-2) open the trek on Sunday against the Kraken before also facing the Canucks, Oilers and Flames in a six-day span.
They seemingly found consistency, particularly with their defensive efforts and Ilya Sorokin’s goaltending, during their successful homestand. The last time they had won consecutive games was a four-game winning streak from Nov. 21-26.
“It was an important three-game stint for us here at home after coming off the road,” coach Lane Lambert said. “The consistency and building it defensively has been a real plus for us.”
The Islanders are 9-8-2 on the road after going 1-2-2 on their previous trip against the Bruins, Coyotes, Golden Knights, Avalanche and Rangers.
“It’s nice to find your game at home,” Anders Lee said. “Our goal is to take it into the road trip and have a good game out West.
“It’s a decent amount of travel and you’ve got to adjust a little bit and get your body going and find your legs. The first one is, in some regards, a little bit tougher and then you get used to it. We deal with it all the time. It’s what we do. We’ll be ready. If we continue to play like this, this really will give us a great chance every night.”
The trio of strong defensive efforts was not the only good sign on the homestand.
The Islanders seemingly are at their best in tightly played games, and that certainly was the case against the struggling Blue Jackets, who dropped their seventh straight. The same was true against the Panthers as the Islanders finally cracked open a close contest with three goals in the third period.
This despite having six injured players, including goalie Semyon Varlamov (IR/lower body) and right wings Kyle Palmieri (IR/upper body) and Cal Clutterbuck (IR/upper body). Those three did travel and are eligible to be activated.
“We built off the Florida game,” Matt Martin said. “That was good, tight hockey [against the Blue Jackets]. We weren’t able to get one early but we continued to stick with it. At times this year, maybe we’d get frustrated and try to make an extra play or force a play that ends up in the back of our net.”
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.
