Islanders defeat Oilers on Bo Horvat's hat trick for first win of the season
New York Islanders center Bo Horvat reacts after his hat-trick against the Edmonton Oilers in the third period at UBS Arena on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
No matter how well the Islanders thought they played through the first three games, there still was the weight of not only not having a win but being the last team in the NHL without a point.
So to say Thursday night’s 4-2 win over the Oilers at UBS Arena felt as if a burden had been removed was an understatement.
“Everyone feels pretty good about that win,” coach Patrick Roy said after the Islanders concluded a three-game homestand. “We could have a better record than 1-3. I just feel we’re playing some good hockey, and that’s why I was trying to focus more on how we want to play.”
The postgame dressing room was raucous, first in celebrating Mathieu Darche’s first victory as Islanders general manager — he received the game puck — as well as for Bo Horvat’s second career hat trick, done the unorthodox way.
Then there was David Rittich’s 31 saves in his first start for the Islanders, including a game-changing stop on Connor McDavid’s power-play try at the crease late in the second period with the score tied at 2-2.
“Darchy got the game puck,” said Horvat, who scored shorthanded and on the power play and added an empty-netter for his first hat trick since Oct. 22, 2019, when he was with the Canucks. “We’re really happy to give him that one. He deserved it. It’s a stepping stone toward what’s to come.”
No Islanders team had ever lost four consecutive games in regulation to open the season.
Horvat’s shorthanded breakaway tied it at 2-2 at 17:56 of the second period, with Rittich’s subsequent save on McDavid preserving that score.
His power-play one-timer from the slot off Mathew Barzal’s feed — the Islanders were 1-for-5 on the power play — made it 3-2 at 15:14 of the third period and came after Roy swapped No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer onto the first power-play unit for defenseman Tony DeAngelo.
Schaefer’s secondary assist made him the youngest player in NHL history to start his career with a four-game point streak (one goal, three assists).
“I want to say I’ve really nothing to do with that because I give the puck to my teammates and they put it in the back of the net,” said Schaefer, 18, who also drew the high stick from Trent Frederic that gave the Islanders the man advantage for Horvat’s goal. “It really doesn’t matter at the end of the day what points you have. I just want to win.”
Horvat clinched it with an empty-netter at 19:51 after Rittich made two key saves with the Oilers (2-1-1) skating six-on-five after pulling goalie Stuart Skinner (21 saves).
The Islanders signed Rittich, in his 10th NHL season with his sixth team, to a one-year, $1 million deal after he went 16-14-2 with a 2.84 GAA and .886 save percentage with the Kings last season.
“It’s more for the guys,” Rittich said when asked about his first win as an Islander. “We stuck together all four games.”
The Oilers took a 2-1 lead at 8:53 of the second period as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins beat Rittich over his glove to the far post from the left circle.
But Rittich turned aside Leon Draisaitl’s bid for a second power-play goal at 17:33 just before Horvat’s shorthanded goal.
Barzal’s breakaway off defenseman Evan Bouchard’s neutral-zone turnover — Bouchard played horrific defense all game — had given the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 16:23 of the first period. It was only the Islanders’ second lead of the season, and it lasted only one minute, seven seconds as Draisaitl’s power-play goal at 17:40 tied it at 1-1.
Notes & quotes: Casey Cizikas played in his 901st NHL game, tying Brock Nelson for the fourth-most in Islanders history . . . Max Tsyplakov, Marc Gatcomb and defenseman Adam Boqvist were the healthy scratches . . . Roy stayed on the ice with the extras after the morning skate to work one-on-one with No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin, who will bring a 4.14 goals-against average and an .854 save percentage into his start in Ottawa on Saturday. Roy was emphasizing Sorokin’s rebound control but mostly wanted to boost his confidence. “When I met with him before the season, I said I want him to feel my trust,” Roy said. “I thought today was the moment.”
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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