Islanders defensemen and forwards lighting the lamp
Oliver Wahlstrom of the New York Islanders skates during the third period against the San Jose Sharks at UBS Arena on Oct. 18, 2022. Credit: James Escher
Five goals came from defensemen in the first win and five goals came from forwards in their latest victory as the Islanders beat up on two bottom-feeding teams from California.
But the ability to get production from both groups bodes well as the Islanders conclude a season-opening four-game homestand against the Devils on Thursday night.
“We were the ones that put it in [tonight],” left wing Anders Lee said after Tuesday night’s 5-2 victory over the winless Sharks. “But we don’t really care how it goes in as long as we have more at the end of the night.”
The Islanders outscored the Sharks and Ducks — teams that combined for just two points in their first nine games — by a 12-3 aggregate. That left them tied for sixth in the NHL with 13 goals through their first three games, not bad considering the Islanders finished last season 24th in the league with 231 goals.
Defensemen Scott Mayfield and Robin Salo each had two goals in Saturday night’s 7-1 win over the Ducks. Right wing Oliver Wahlstrom notched two against the Sharks to give him three in his first two games.
Meanwhile, defenseman Noah Dobson (two goals, two assists), center Brock Nelson (four assists) and Lee (one goal, three assists) all are tied with Wahlstrom with a team-high four points.
Coach Lane Lambert moved Wahlstrom to Nelson’s line in the second period on Tuesday. A breakout season from the 11th overall pick in 2018 could alleviate a lot of the concerns about the Islanders' ability to produce offense consistently that was exacerbated by their inability to attract a top-level free agent such as Johnny Gaudreau.
“I guess he is playing free,” Lambert said of Wahlstrom. “I talked about him last game, I liked his game. I liked his game again [Tuesday]. I liked the little details that he’s doing. Anytime you’re a guy who’s a shooter or a scorer, if you do the details and the little things in the game, it leads to that. I think he’s doing those things very well.”
“He played great,” Lee said. “He gets a couple of opportunities like that with his shot, he finds himself in the slot, I like his chances. Wahlly is putting himself in position to get those pucks and he’s thinking the game.”
Notes & quotes: The Islanders did not practice on Wednesday . . . Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves against the Sharks in earning his first win of the season, improving as the game progressed after acknowledging he felt somewhat “uncomfortable” in the first period when he found the action moving “too fast.” Last season, Varlamov missed all of training camp, did not make his first start until the Islanders’ 10th game and did not get his first win until his sixth start. “It was very important for me to start the season with a win,” Varlamov said. “I was still nervous because I haven’t played for a while, an official game. It’s nice to get a ‘W’ in the first game I play.”
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.
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