3 takeaways from the Islanders' seven-game road trip
Islanders' Anthony Duclair skates with the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Monday. Credit: AP/Darryl Dyck
The longest road trip of the season — and, for most Islanders players, of their careers — is finally over and the team spent Thursday flying back to Long Island.
A disappointing and disjointed 4-1 loss to the Kraken on Wednesday night put somewhat of a damper on an up-and-down 3-3-1 trip that began on Jan. 7.
“Would’ve liked tonight,” Anders Lee said. “Had a couple of games on this trip we would have liked to have. Beat a couple of really good hockey teams.”
Those were a 4-3 overtime win over the Wild on Jan. 10 in which the Islanders rallied from one-goal deficits three times against the speedier hosts and a 1-0 win over the Oilers on Jan. 15 as Connor McDavid’s 20-game point streak was snapped. But a 5-4 loss to the Jets on Jan. 13 and a 4-2 loss to the Flames on Jan. 17, with neither team a playoff contender, and the 1-for-7 power-play showing against the Kraken were lowlights.
Here are three takeaways from the road trip:
1. Maybe more Islanders should switch sticks
Anthony Duclair was struggling, a healthy scratch in two straight games and three of five before the Islanders faced the Devils on Jan. 6 at UBS Arena. He tried out one of Casey Cizikas’ sticks leading up to the game and liked it enough to keep it.
Duclair had a natural hat trick and a career-high five points in that 9-0 win and has continued to score, finishing the trip with eight goals in eight games after a power-play tally against the Kraken and two goals in Monday’s 4-3 win over the Canucks.
Duclair, who has 12 goals and 11 assists in 47 games, is shooting with confidence. Finally.
“Yeah, it’s pretty high,” said Duclair, in the second season of a four-year, $14 million deal. “I made the switch and I think that’s why it’s going in. It’s a totally different stick, totally different model, curve, everything. I put my stick in the garbage and I’m using Cizikas’ now. One day I tried his stick after practice and I just felt my shot was way better.”
Duclair said he had used the same stick model since his junior hockey days.
“You try everything,” Cizikas said. “It’s a long season. Sometimes you just want to kind of feel something different. That was what I did last year. I switched my stick. I grabbed one of [former Islander Brock Nelson’s] sticks. I liked the way it handled. That’s what I’m using now. It just says ‘Cizikas’ on it.”
2. Reinforcements should be coming
There’s a chance the lineup will look different for Saturday’s home matinee against the Sabres, especially if Bo Horvat (lower body) is ready to return.
The top-line center has missed nine games and remained on Long Island for treatment and to skate on his own while the team traveled. If he’s able to practice with his teammates on Friday, there’s a chance he will play on Saturday.
General manager Mathieu Darche said twice on the road trip that he expects Horvat, selected for Team Canada, to play “way before” the Olympic break. The Islanders have eight games remaining through Feb. 5 before the three-week break in their NHL schedule.
The return of their leading goal-scorer would balance their lines better and should bolster the power play.
The Islanders soon might recall defenseman Isaiah George from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport to play with Scott Mayfield on the third pair. Adam Boqvist played the last six games of the trip with Mayfield but logged 11 minutes or less three times, including his 10:25 against the Kraken.
Laurel Hollow’s Marshall Warren, Travis Mitchell and Cole McWard also have been recalled from Bridgeport to try to fill the spot after Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) was lost for the regular season.
3. The power play remains a problem
The Islanders were 3-for-19 (15.8%) on the trip, leaving them 28th in the NHL at 24-for-151 (15.9%). The Kraken’s penalty kill was ranked last in the league before they faced the Islanders.
“They did a good job putting pressure on us,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a bit of a hard time getting the puck in. We need to move the puck faster, make quicker decisions and move it up and throw more pucks at the net.”
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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