The Islanders dispatched the Blackhawks, as well they should, to even their record at 2-2 on the young season.
The 4-1 final turned in the second period when the Isles got two goals in quick succession, converting some counterattacks against a loose Blackhawks team defense.
Bo Horvat had two goals, a power play one to open scoring and an empty netter to finish it, while Emil Heineman scored with a rifle aided by a Horvat screen, and Anthony Duclair got on the board after a snuffed partial breakaway
led to an amusingly insightful setup from Logan Stanley, who paired with Matthew Schaefer in the wake of Alex Romanov’s season-ending injury.
Stanley has four assists in four games after signing at the conclusion of preseason; things can be weird this early in the year.
[Game center | Game summary | Event summary | Natural Stat Trick]
The run of play wasn’t that lopsided overall, but the Isles’ quick pair in the middle period put things fairly out of reach. Ilya Sorokin was there when needed, and the Blackhawks don’t have many guns to ever make you too nervous that the Isles might blow it.
Shenanigans began on the final goal, when Frank Nazar bizarrely went for a shoulder check to the head of Horvat as the Islanders captain released his empty net shot from the Isles zone. After the dust settled with a match penalty to Nazar — and an enraged J-G Pageau taking on Tyler Bertuzzi — more theater erupted when someone by the ethnically confused name of Wyatt Kaiser took a shot at Emil Heineman, which drew objection from Duclair.
Kaiser and Duclair drew matching roughing penalties, and the rest of the game was a formality.
Horvat was sent to the dressing room for evaluation, but I (not a doctor) thought he looked fine and it was just a spotter precaution.
Up Next
The Islanders host the Lightning on Saturday, a 7:30 EDT start.
