Islanders in awe of Emil Heineman's ability to shoot the puck

PHILADELPHIA — The Islanders had just brief glimpses of Emil Heineman last season when he was with the Canadiens. Captain Anders Lee noted he was a hard worker who could skate. Coach Patrick Roy admitted he didn’t know much about the Swede even as general manager/executive vice president Mathieu Darche pushed hard for him to be included in the offseason trade for Noah Dobson.

Now, every Islander knows about Heineman’s shot and potential to produce more than he did in his bottom-six role as a Canadiens’ rookie.

He converted Anthony Duclair’s saucer pass for the winner at 17:06 of the third period as the Islanders beat the Flyers 4-3 in their preseason finale on Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

“He can play anywhere with anyone,” Duclair said. “We call him a horse in the room. He’s so strong on the puck and he’s got a heck of a shot. He’s going to be a huge part for us.”

The win came with some potential bad news as promising rookie center Calum Ritchie, acquired at last season’s trade deadline in the Brock Nelson deal, exited after the second period with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day. It may now be tough for him to make the initial 23-man roster, which must be finalized by Monday.

Ritchie was centering Heineman and Duclair.

Heineman, who had 10 goals and eight assists in 62 games for the Canadiens, took a team-high five shots in 14:39, including 3:15 on the power play.

“That’s the first thing I noticed when he came into our practices,” Roy said. “Mathieu was talking a lot about his shot when we were talking about trading with Montreal.”

“He can really rip the puck,” Lee said, also praising Heineman’s accuracy. “He’s one of those guys that can play up and down the lineup.”

Heineman said he has always enjoyed shooting the puck.

“Pretty young,” Heineman said when asked when he realized he had a good shot. “I felt like when I started to go up and flex [a measurement of the stick’s flexibility] I started to get the hang of getting the puck in the air. After that, I just always loved to shoot.

Heineman said he increased the flex on his stick from 80 to 85 last season, giving him more power and control.

Notes & quotes: Lee connected from the right circle to tie it at 2-2 at 11:25 of the second period as he returned to the lineup for the first time since the preseason opener after missing time with an upper-body injury . . . Max Shabanov scored on the power play at 3:45 of the second period to tie it at 1-1 and defenseman Adam Pelech scored shorthanded for a 3-2 lead at 17:12 of the second period . . . Ilya Sorokin, playing his second game of the preseason, made 18 saves . . . No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer had the shakiest of his four preseason outings, getting beat on Travis Sanheim’s shorthanded goal at 1:46 of the first period. It was the first time the defenseman faced an NHL-ready lineup. “I came out a little slow,” Schaefer said. “As the game went on, I got more confident, more comfortable.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.