The New York Islanders picked up a two goal lead early, only to let it slip away from them in the second period. It’s becoming a bit of a bad habit lately that the team just stops playing with a lead,
and letting teams like the Blackhawks sans Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar get back into the game is pretty rough. Good to pick up two points on the road though, no matter how ugly they might be.
And… as much as I enjoyed Mat Barzal sticking up for Matthew Schaefer last game, he really shouldn’t be the one to play enforcer. Where is everyone else when a guy like Emil Heineman gets hit a bit late?
Speaking of Matthew Schaefer, tonight he hit another milestone/record, becoming the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record 25 points. And with Schaefer picking up a secondary assist on Bo Horvat’s power play goal, the Islanders now have 49 combined points from rookies this year, third in the NHL.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
First Period
Cal Ritchie, returning to the lineup in place of Kyle MacLean, opened the scoring early, wristing his 5th of the season past Spencer Knight.
Andre Burakovsky took a penalty for holding Adam Pelech, and Bo Horvat made it 2-0 on the power play.
Then, the Blackhawks had some chances as David Rittich made a save on Burakovsky and Artyom Levshunov hit the post.
Knight made a big save on a great chance from Ritchie, and the Blackhawks hit another post near the end of the period.
Second Period
Nick Foligno hit Emil Heineman and knocked his helmet off after the whistle in front of the net and earned a penalty for it, giving the Islanders another PP opportunity, which Mat Barzal hit the post on and the Blackhawks killed.
Later, Barzal got hit by Foligno’s stick in the neck/shoulder area. He was down and slow to get up and to the bench, but was back on for his next shift.
Teuvo Teravainen made it a one goal game, and then Heineman hit the post after.
Horvat was called for a double minor for high sticking Foligno, and Lardis made it 2-2 with just 1.7 seconds left in the period.
Third Period
Both teams exchanged chances, but the Blackhawks looked more dangerous overall.
Then, Casey Cizikas hit Landon Slaggert near the Blackhawks bench, drawing some attention, and then after Knight saved a shot by Heineman, Colton Dach hit Heineman, and Barzal and Ilya Mikheyev both took roughing penalties.
Neither team could get anything done on the 4 on 4, but the Blackhawks continued to have chances throughout the period, while the Islanders struggled to get much offense going.
In the last minute of the period, the Blackhawks had a flurry of chances, and hit yet another post, sending us to overtime.
Overtime/SO
In OT, the Islanders got lucky as Ryan Greene couldn’t connect on a shot into an empty net.
Heineman drew a penalty on Levshunov, but the Isles couldn’t convert on the 4 on 3 despite some looks.
Then, we went to a shootout, and Horvat scored the only goal to give the Islanders a 3-2 win on the road to close out 2025.
Up Next
Next, the Islanders head back to UBS Arena to take on the Utah Mammoth on New Year’s Day. See you all next year for more recaps and hopefully a strong second half of the season!
