Lighthouse Hockey: Try to fixate on something else.
The Islanders took another regulation loss because this sport is alternately frustrating and fun in the “on any given Sunday afternoon…” kind of way. It was funny to hear the coaches in post-game because Washington’s Spencer Carbery was basically, “Eh, well, we were OK” and “we [were fortunate to get] a 2-0 lead and were […]
The New York Islanders’ seven-game homestand got evermore frustrating Sunday afternoon as they dropped their third in regulation and fourth loss overall through five tries. Falling to the Capitals 4-1 (with two empty netters), the Islanders couldn’t convert their chances early, then couldn’t get a toehold late after Tom Not That Kind of Player Wilson […]
The Islanders close November on Sunday afternoon by starting a new chapter in their 2025-26 story: life without Kyle Palmieri. The winger’s ACL surgery (following a heroic exit) is the latest season-ending injury for a roster that has proven better than many thought — thank you, Matthew Schaefer! — but still tested in the depth […]
The worst-case scenario has come true after Kyle Palmieri limped off the ice — while assisting on a goal! — during the Islanders’ shootout loss to the Flyers on Friday. The winger tore his ACL requiring surgery, meaning he’s out for six to eight months. That puts him out for the regular season and it […]
Sorry for the late posting, thought I’d get back in time for this early start time to get a gameday post up. Alas, David Rittich and the Islanders also got off to a late start… First Islanders Goal picks go here.
Mike and Dan welcome back YouTube hockey documentarian Pinholes Graham to discuss his great film on the 2006-07 Islanders season, The Last Days of Bedlam. The 2006-07 Islanders defy belief. From shocking front office upheaval to a roster of mostly mercenaries to two surprise trades to a heroic performance by a relative nobody, that squad […]
The Islanders fell to the Boston Bruins for the second time this month and the third time this season, an odd sweep (two regulation losses, one shootout) at the hands of a team that has been up and down and missing its top defenseman. It was an odd game. The Islanders outshot Boston 45-14 (!), […]
The Islanders continue their homestand (1-1 thus far, thanks to the shootout) with a Thanksgiving Eve visit from the Bruins, who just lost to the Sharks. The Bruins visited earlier in the month, prevailing in a 4-3 (shootout) shortly before the big road trip that may have turned the Islanders’ season around. Time to take […]
The Islanders bounced back from a weaker home return performance against the Blues to pull out a shootout win in the double-shutout meeting with the Kraken, but hanging in the background is injury news to two significant players. Alex Romanov was not having a good season thus far, but the 5-6-month prognosis removes any chance […]
Mike and Dan recap a wild, emotional week in which the Islanders cap off an epic road trip in style before struggling to find their game again at home. The gauntlet that seemed like it could sink their season instead saw the Islanders surge into a playoff berth with a tense win in Dallas and […]
If a game takes place on Long Island with no goal and almost no penalties, does it make a sound? The Islanders and Kraken faced off to a stalemate that went all the way to extra-extra time in the shootout before the Isles prevailed for the extra point. It goes down as a 1-0 win […]
The Islanders complete a back-to-back weekend of home matinees when Lane Lambert and the Seattle Kraken visit. Both played yesterday, the Kraken winning in OT in Pittsburgh and the Islanders losing at home to the Blues. Hopefully the Isles can deliver a better show for home fans today. First Islanders Goal picks go here. Islanders […]
The Islanders came home from their rousing 6-1 road trip to start a seven-game homestand but could not keep their groove going in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It wasn’t an awful game, just a frustrating one against an opponent that has really struggled but has been inching its way back to […]
For those who went into this Islanders transitional season with low or at least cautiously tempered expectations, the last eight games have been startling, confusing and pretty damn fun. I say eight games, because the 6-1 road trip, which started with some “not great but pulled it off” wins and steamrolled into some “that was […]
The Islanders have turned their traditional season-ending western road trip into…something else entirely. Thoroughly dispatching the Red Wings in Detroit, the Isles finished the seven-game stretch with a 6-1 record that has launched them up the standings. At the quarter pole, they’re suddenly in a non-wild card playoff position and just a couple points off […]
The Islanders finish their long and surprisingly successful road trip tonight in Detroit, back in the Eastern time zone and oh so lose to returning home for a weekend of back-to-back afternoon games. A win tonight would put them in the non-wildcard proper playoff section of the Metro for the moment. Just half a year […]
Tuesday night had a chaotic, disheartening ending to what otherwise should’ve been an uplifting evening as the Isles took four of six points from a run through Vegas, Colorado and Dallas. (Six of eight when you include Utah, no slouches themselves, though that effort was less impressive.) The Isles’ win over the Stars in a […]
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Well that was one of the most up and down third periods of hockey in a long time. A 1-1, penalty-free game after two periods quickly devolved after Bo Horvat gave the Isles a 2-1 lead, then took a high-sticking double minor that also earned him a misconduct penalty. Kyle Palmieri scored short handed to […]
Mike and Dan are in good spirits as the Islanders win four of the first five games of their road trip and show signs of excitement. The seven game gauntlet through several Stanley Cup contenders loomed large on the schedule. But after three electric overtime games, the Islanders were making believers out of many. While […]
How do you get to Texas, the old joke goes: Go south till you smell it, then west till you step in it. The Islanders are in Dallas tonight where they’ll step in it, alright. The Stars are a perennial contender off to another great start, 12-4-3, and of course the Isles lost both games […]
With the Islanders riding a three-game overtime win streak, if you were expecting a back-to-earth reality check against the league-leading Avalanche in Colorado, that’s not exactly what they received. Though the Isles lost, 4-1, the game was close until the end — an empty netter plus a garbage-time deflection goal by Brock Nelson inflated the […]
The Islanders are riding a 4-0 start to a seven-game stretch away from home that includes three consecutive overtime wins, which is both inspiring and classic “that’s the luck of the draw” kind of muddied reflection of where they are. The East is a mashup of meh-ness but the Islanders now find themselves in wild […]
Hey all, good to be back writing recaps! I spent the early part of the season in Tokyo, so the disastrous 0-3 start to the season happened in the early morning for me. It’s a weird experience to get notifications on Islanders goals while eating breakfast. But like I said, good to be back, and […]
If you didn’t stay up late last night, you missed quite the stirring against-script conclusion. Shorthanded in OT, having blown a 2-0 lead and then scored a late 6-on-5 goal just to make it to extra time, the Isles pulled off another one on the back of Ilya Sorokin and a tremendous individual play by […]