Lighthouse Hockey: Try to fixate on something else.
It’s a bit of a lighter week for the 2-3 Islanders, with another day before they host the (still winless) Sharks on Tuesday, the (shockingly Atlantic leading) Red Wings on Thursday, then visit Philadelphia on Saturday. With two wins at the end of last week, they avoided falling into a nightmare start, but a variety […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
The Islanders walked away from a back-and-forth afternoon in Ottawa with two regulation points after a stunning Anders Lee goal gave them their first lead of the game with 63 seconds left to go, setting up a 5-4 win. The Isles did well to come back multiple times, from 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3, but escaping […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Today the New York Islanders face the Senators in Ottawa, where both teams have stumbled out of the gate amid modestly increased expectations over last year. The Senators, who finally broke through the playoff line last spring, they’re also dealing with injuries highlighted by Brady Tkachuk’s expected two-month departure due to surgery on his thumb. […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
Mike and Dan begin Season 5 of Weird Islanders: The Podcast! by talking to affable one-game Islander Cory Schneider about his great NHL career and path to Long Island. From a standout career at BU to a run with a great Canucks team to a monster trade to New Jersey to years in the AHL, […]
3 months ago | 4 reads
Bo Horvat notched his second career hat trick, David Rittich made 30 saves in his debut, the Isles scored an elusive empty net goal while surviving a pulled goalie, and they avoided an 0-4 start to get their first win of the season, 4-2 over the Edmonton Oilers. The Islanders dominated the first period but […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Whenever their first standings point of 2025-26 comes, the Islanders will be the 32nd NHL team to get one. With the sadsack(TM) Sabres winning big last night over the Senators, the Islanders are the last team in the league with zero points and one of two teams (San Jose is the other) yet to win. […]
3 months ago | 6 reads
It’s early and all that, but the Islanders really need a win — hell, even an extra-time loss — to avoid all the terrible associations that would come with an 0-4 start. Buffalo and San Jose are the only other winless teams thus far, and that’s not great company to keep. Worse, their opponent on […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The New York Islanders have zero standings points through their first three games but 18-year-old (and TOI leader) Matthew Schaefer has a point in each game. That could be a harbinger of how the 2025-26 transition season will go, we’ll see. It’s only three games in, but their power play is still whiffing, their franchise […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
Mike and Dan recap the Islanders’ first two games of the season, which were mostly bad except for two new guys who were actually trying to win. We asked them for a couple of wins, something they haven’t started a campaign with in ages. They did not do that, losing in Pittsburgh and against Washington […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
The 0-2 Islanders’ homestand continues tonight (duh, this afternoon) with a visit from the Winnipeg Jets, who’ve opened the season by announcing a long-term extension with one of their franchise players, Kyle Connor, who promptly scored a hat trick in their season-opening loss. With some line mixups during Saturday’s home opener, no wins yet, and […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
The Islanders’ home opener was a disappointment, with the team neutralized by the Capitals in the first period, before they made it a little interesting later on in a 4-2 loss. In what may be a refrain this season, the main bright spot was Matthew Schaefer, who led the team in minutes played by a […]
3 months ago | 2 reads