Tag: NHL

Simon Holmstrom scores game-winner in Islanders’ win

If the Islanders were healthy, there’s a good chance Simon Holmstrom wouldn’t have played on Wednesday.

Holmstrom, a fixture in the lineup since he was called up after Kyle Palmieri got injured in late November, might have spent the last few months yo-yoing between Bridgeport and Long Island if the situation had not necessitated otherwise.

He had a rough performance in Pittsburgh on Monday night, after coach Lane Lambert had said he wanted more from the 21-year-old, but the Islanders couldn’t just demote him as part of the learning experience. With five forwards on the shelf right now, they didn’t have much of a choice but to keep Holmstrom up.

“It gives him an opportunity to fight through the adversity here or try to find some traction,” Lambert said Wednesday night. “Which can be extremely helpful as we move forward.”

A little earlier in the night, it had already helped the Islanders in their 2-1 victory over the Jets.


Simon Holmstrom (left) accepts congratulations from Bo Horvat after scoring the game-winning goal in the third period of the Islanders’ 2-1 win over the Jets.
AP

Mason Appleton reacts dejectedly as the Islanders' celebrate Simon Holmstrom's game-winning goal.
Mason Appleton reacts dejectedly as the Islanders’ celebrate Simon Holmstrom’s game-winning goal.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Holmstrom got to the corner, fought through a hit from Dylan DeMelo and found himself on the receiving end from a feed from Bo Horvat midway through the third period. He let loose and came up with what turned into the game-winning goal.

“It was a good forecheck from our line,” Holmstrom said. “We got the puck back a couple times. I got the puck and I was just trying to find a lane and pick a corner.”

Holmstrom did what the Islanders have been trying to get him to do.

“We need him to get more shots and get into areas,” Lambert said Wednesday morning. “I think that’s the biggest thinking, is to get him into areas where he can provide that.”

Message received.

As for the hit by DeMelo, one of the harder plays in a tight and physical contest?

“It’s hockey,” Holmstrom said. “You gotta take a hit and make a play, right?”

And learn how to bounce back, which he did.

“It’s greatly satisfying and I’m happy for him,” Lambert said. “There isn’t a player that doesn’t want to do well or isn’t trying to do well. He had a good night tonight. Let’s hope he continues it going.”

The injured Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Josh Bailey have yet to begin skating, Lambert said.

The Islanders sent down Andy Andreoff while calling up Otto Koivula from AHL Bridgeport for his second audition within eight days. Koivula centered the fourth line, skating 8:46, but taking a penalty for tripping in the third period.

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Gerard Gallant trying new options on Rangers’ second power play

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Rangers’ second power-play unit had undergone adjustments throughout the season, while the first unit had stayed exactly the same — until there was an injury and then a major trade.

The top group of Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Filip Chytil and Adam Fox appears primed to get a run of games to solidify its chemistry. The second unit, on the other hand, is providing coach Gerard Gallant with a couple of options he can toy with for the time being.

Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller have both seen time at the point of the second power-play unit lately, but Gallant isn’t married to sticking with one or the other.

“Interchangeable,” the coach said of the two defensemen after practice at Rogers Arena on Tuesday. “Sometimes they get too cute and then Troubs is out there with the big shot at times. Depends who we’re playing a little bit, but it more depends on the group, what they’re doing the first or second time through.

“Troubs had a lot of that power-play time early and now Key [Miller] is getting a little bit of it. We’ll see where it goes. Key has been a real good player for us, obviously.”


K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba
Getty Images

It’s true, Trouba has seen a bulk of the power-play time this season with an average of 1:08 per game. Miller only started getting a look on the second unit later in the season, right around the time when the 23-year-old began stacking points. Miller currently has an average of just 24 seconds on the power play per game.

Both have a big shot in their arsenal to put pucks on net for others to tip in. Both have three power-play points, as well. Miller’s points are all assists, while Trouba has two power-play goals and one assist.

Because Trouba has received an extended look, however, it may be time to see what Miller can do with the same opportunity. That appears to be where Gallant is headed. Miller took the first rep with the second power-play unit at practice on Tuesday, so it’s likely he will get the first look against the Canucks on Wednesday.

If the Rangers notch at least one point Wednesday night against the Canucks, it would mark their first eight-game point streak since the 2015-16 season and their first time scoring at least a point in eight consecutive games on the road since the 2019-20 season.

This season has been just the ninth in franchise history in which the Rangers have posted more than 20 wins over a 27-game span.

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Florida Panthers investigating fight between Lightning fan and mascot

Five for fighting!

A Tampa Bay Lightning fan, in the final minutes of his team’s embarrassing 7-1 loss to Florida on Monday, took matters into his own hands when he picked a fight with a Panthers mascot.

A viral video from the game captured an unidentified Lightning fan attacking Viktor E. Ratt, which has caused the Panthers to launch an investigation into the incident.

In the video, a man in a blue t-shirt grabbed and pulled Viktor E. Ratt’s jersey over its head after the mascot launched the fan’s jersey into the crowd.

The fan then proceeds to shove his furry opponent into a glass divider while an arena usher and another employee look on at the exchange.

After standing back up, the fan puts the mascot into a partial chokehold and seemingly begins to shout “Go Bolts.” One of the mascot’s handlers diffused the situation as the man picked up his tossed jersey and walked out of the seating bowl.

Some Twitter users speculated whether the fight was staged as Panthers and FLA Arena employees did nothing to break up the altercation and the lack of presence from Florida police and arena security.

Fox Sports South Florida’s Andy Slater reported — citing a Panthers spokesperson — that the exchange was not staged and the team is investigating the incident.

Slater also reported “The mascot’s normal handler was off” on Monday and Sunrise Police has not been contacted by the team.


Viktor E. Ratt joined the team in 2014.
Florida Panthers: Twitter

Monday’s game was the first hockey event held at the arena since Saturday’s NHL All-Star Game.

Viktor E. Ratt is the Panthers’ second mascot, having been introduced to the team in October 2014, 21 years after the team’s inception and the introduction of their first mascot Stanley C. Panther.



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Islanders’ Pride Night won’t feature rainbow jerseys or tape

The Islanders will be the latest team to avoid wearing rainbow warmups for Pride Night on Thursday against the Canucks.

Unlike the Rangers, who pulled their plans to do so without explanation, the Islanders have never worn rainbow jerseys due to an organizational policy against wearing specialized warmups. The only ones they wear are mandated by the league: Hockey Fights Cancer, Military and St. Patrick’s Day.

The Islanders also won’t be using rainbow tape in warmups, another common theme in Pride nights throughout the league.


The Islanders will hold Pride Night on Thursday, but won’t be wearing an special jerseys or using Pride tape to commemorate the event.
Getty Images

The issue has come to the forefront this season after Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to take part in warmups on the Flyers’ Pride Night, stating his religious beliefs as his reason for not supporting the LGBTQ+ community. A couple weeks later, the Rangers suddenly reversed their plans to wear rainbow warmups, and still haven’t explained why.

The Islanders will be making donations toward the LGBT Network and the New York Gay Hockey Association, as well as a series of other initiatives including Pride branding on their advertising boards and on the team’s social and digital platforms.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has made clear that he doesn’t want the issue of rainbow warmups to overshadow the league’s initiatives supporting the gay community. In reality, though, it has.


Ivan Provorov drew stern criticism when he opted not to skate in warmups while the Flyers wore their Pride Night jerseys.
AP

“You know what our goals and our values and our intentions are across the league, whether it’s at the league level or the club level,” Bettman said at last week’s All-Star Game. “But we also have to respect some individual choice. And some people are more comfortable embracing themselves and causes than others. And part of being diverse and welcoming is understanding those differences.”

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‘Nervous’ Bo Horvat makes immediate impact with Islanders

PHILADELPHIA — Lane Lambert wasted no time getting Bo Horvat on the ice, sending the newest Islander out for the opening draw on Monday night. 

Horvat didn’t score in the 2-1 victory over the Flyers, but his line with Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey had an all-around successful night, and both Horvat and Barzal spoke glowingly of playing with each other afterwards. 

“He was great,” Horvat said of Barzal. “He’s got so much skill and he creates so much out there. I was trying to get the puck to him and get open. He was finding me, found me a couple times. We had some good looks.” 

“I think we probably could have had three or four [goals],” Barzal said. “Some good possession time. Some good plays. It’s nice — every time Bo had the puck, I had confidence he was gonna make a good play and he did. And he won a lot of battles down low, got me the puck. I really enjoyed it tonight.” 


Bo Horvat made his Islanders debut during the team’s win over the Flyers on Feb. 6.
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Bo Horvat battles for the puck during the Islanders’ win over the Flyers on Feb. 6.
AP

In 11:31 of ice time, the top line outshot the Flyers 11-5 and had an expected goals percentage of 56.01. Horvat, who skated for 19:08, had four shots on net and six total attempts, including one that hit the crossbar. And he did so with “awful” nerves. 

“I’m not gonna lie, I was really nervous tonight,” Horvat said. “The guys made me feel really comfortable and they were great. Obviously it feels even better to get that win, to get my legs under me. Hopefully feeling better here tomorrow.” 

He did admit, though, that with his first home game Tuesday against the Kraken, the nerves were unlikely to dissipate. 

“It’s gonna be exciting,” Horvat said. “I’m really looking forward to it.” 

Noah Dobson (lower body) and Hudson Fasching (lower body) were both back in the lineup on Monday, with Fasching activated off injured reserve. No one was sent down, meaning the Islanders are currently carrying a full 23-man roster. 

Dobson picked up his 100th career point on an assist to Barzal 8:18 into the second period. 


Noah Dobson returned to the Islanders’ lineup.
Getty Images

“I thought he played well,” Lambert said. “Clearly he hasn’t played for a while so there was always gonna be some little stretch to get back into it, but I thought he was good.” 

Kyle Palmieri has now scored points in five straight games. 

Alexander Romanov’s wife, Sofia, gave birth to a daughter, Olivia.

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Islander’ Bo Horvat can ‘do it all’

SUNRISE, Fla. — Connor McDavid has spent his career dealing with Bo Horvat in the Pacific Division. So the Oilers star, who is universally acclaimed as the NHL’s best, knows well what the Islanders are How the betting market reacted to Islanders’ Bo Horvat trade, who will make his debut with his new team on Monday in Philadelphia after he was acquired from the Canucks this past week.

“He’s gonna be somebody that brings it each and every night,” McDavid said. “Somebody that can play at both ends of the rink. Obviously he’s having a career year scoring goals. Defensively, he’s solid. He’s great on the kill. Obviously his faceoff numbers speak for themselves. They’re kind of getting somebody that can do it all.”

It likely won’t be clear where Horvat will slot into the Islanders’ lineup until they take pregame rushes Monday. But the educated guess is he will be taking faceoffs on the top line with Mathew Barzal, though who would slide over to play the wing is an open question.

Horvat’s 31 goals this season have already matched his career high. With his shooting percentage at an unsustainable 21.7 percent, it’s unlikely he’ll score at a 50-goal pace beyond this season if he stays with the Islanders. But they are getting a player capable of scoring at least 30 times annually — something they needed to add to their lineup badly.


Bo Horvat to the Islanders sends one of the NHL’s best scorers to Long Island.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY

“I just think his confidence is there,” McDavid said. “He got off to a real good start, that helps so many different things. Obviously namely confidence. He feels good about himself, I think he feels good about his game. It just shows out there.”

Horvat skated with McDavid and the rest of the Pacific Division All-Stars on Saturday, though he wore an Islanders jersey at the skills competition Friday night. 

“We talked about it,” said Pettersson, Horvat’s former teammate with the Canucks. “Whatever happens, make sure we score one together.”

Horvat’s focus now will turn to getting acclimated with the Islanders, who will practice on Sunday before going to Philadelphia.


McDavid commended his former Bo Horvat, his now ex-Pacific Division rival, for his play.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

“[All-Star] was great, but at the same time, I wanted to get going,” Horvat said. “Enough’s enough now. Let’s start playing some games and get to know the guys. I just want to start playing hockey again.”

He has at least gotten a chance this weekend to meet Brock Nelson and Ilya Sorokin, his new Islanders teammates and fellow All-Stars.

“He’s gonna bring a huge element to our team up front, depth, scoring,” Nelson said. “He does a little bit of everything. Kills, power play, five-on-five. So he’s gonna be a huge part of our team. That’s a big move for us, a big move by Lou [Lamoriello] to kinda try to get things going.”

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Rangers’ Adam Fox finally gets All-Star Game shot

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It feels like an error of accounting that Saturday will be the first time Adam Fox skates in an All-Star Game, and indeed, in some ways it is just that.

Had there been an All-Star Game in 2021, when this event was originally meant to visit South Florida, surely Fox would have been a part of it. That was the season when Fox elevated himself to superstar status, winning the Norris Trophy as a 22-year-old, and at the end of the year, he was named to the NHL’s honorary First All-Star Team.

This weekend, though, Fox gets his first All-Star experience live and in the flesh. It comes just as he is charting a course to fight for his second Norris Trophy, averaging an absurd 25:03 per game with 48 points to his name as he keys the Rangers’ defense corps.

“It’s awesome,” Fox said Thursday. “Being in Florida, too, I got my parents coming and my grandpa’s gonna be able to come down, too. It’s a special event. Obviously you’re around great players, too. Really excited to get everything going.”


Adam Fox spoke with reporters Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
NHLI via Getty Images

Fox has quietly elevated himself into the current pantheon of New York stars by his sterling, almost innate ability to be where he is needed. Kevin Hayes, who left the Rangers before Fox got there but has played against him constantly on the Flyers, put it best.

“His poise, not a lot of guys in the league have that poise. I don’t want to say it’s risky, cause that’s probably the wrong word, cause it makes it look bad. He seems to be correct every time he does it,” Hayes said. “Maybe it’s a rewarding style, I guess. He’s an unbelievable player.”

Hayes recalled a summer tournament both participated in while Fox was still at Harvard.


Rangers defenseman Adam Fox will participate in the All-Star Game for the first time this weekend.
Corey Sipkin for the New York Post

“Then all of a sudden, two years later, he’s up for the [Norris] and one of the best defensive players in the league,” Hayes said.

Fox is a stalwart atop the Rangers’ power play, yes, and can command the offensive blue line as well as anyone in the league. But it is his hockey sense and details that have gotten him this far, the nearly nightly occurrence of him being in just the right spot to stop a two-on-one.

“Every night, I look at him like that,” Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin said, putting his hands to his eyes like goggles, “when he tries to make a move. Because I see everything, everybody, but … he sees what other players don’t see.”

Ask Fox what’s improved in the four seasons he’s been in the league and you will get an answer that emphasizes the little things.

“It’s not always gonna be making a great pass,” Fox said. “Sometimes it’s, you just gotta be defensively. Maybe you’re playing against a really skilled player on the other side for most of the game. You gotta not let him score, and that’ll help the team. So I think it’s just finding each game, what you gotta do to help the team as a whole, and I think that’s really where I’m trying to focus game in and game out.”

That is what can help propel the Rangers to another playoff run, something Fox has at the front of his mind after the joy and ultimate disappointment of last season.

“I think once you experience that and got a little taste of it, at least for me, you just want to get back there,” he said. 

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Islanders’ strong finish to January changed tone going into break

Islanders coach Lane Lambert won’t be getting much rest or relaxation during his team’s eight-day break. But getting away from a hectic schedule will be a moment for him and his players to take a needed breath of fresh air. 

“We’ve played a lot of hockey, as has every team in the league, really,” Lambert said. “But we’ve had some travel through January. It’s been a tough stretch for us. It’s good to get away from the game to refresh, regenerate, spend some time with your family. Get in a frame of mind where you get reenergized coming back. And that’s just really all it is.” 

The Islanders had a woeful January but finished it off feeling good. They swept back-to-back games at home against the Red Wings and Golden Knights to put a six-game losing streak behind them. 

Brock Nelson and Ilya Sorokin will go to South Florida as the team’s two representatives at All-Star Weekend, and everyone else will get a break from a schedule that’s been unrelenting. 

“It’s pretty hard to turn it off,” Lambert said. “You do your best you possibly can to do that, and I will. But overall, there’s always something going on.” 


Barzal netted in a clutch shot against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

After the 2-1 win over Vegas on Saturday, in which Mathew Barzal netted the winner late in overtime, the mood in the dressing room was one of relief. The Islanders had won just twice all month going into the weekend, but now find themselves just two points behind Pittsburgh for the last wild-card spot. The Penguins do have three games in hand to add to their advantage, but the Islanders still having a chance after a 4-8-3 January is giving life to the group. 

“Think if it went the other way these last two games, this break would’ve been tough,” Barzal said. “For us to put ourselves right back in the mix, huge going into this break.” 

Adding to the optimism is that the schedule in the first week out of the break looks navigable. The Isles play four times in six nights, but three of their opponents are .500 or below in the Flyers, Canucks and Canadiens. 

That should give them a chance to make a statement, particularly with management weighing what moves to make at the March 3 trade deadline. 

If the Islanders are in a position to go for it, adding a scorer will be a must. The Isles rank 25th in per-game scoring and their power play, which is in the midst of a 3-for-64 run, is 31st in the league at 15.54 percent. 


The Islanders are in a position to either land a playoff spot or have a woeful season.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Most nights, their defense and goaltending has been good enough to at least keep them in games, but in a league where speed and skill is king, it’s hard to win many games without consistently scoring more than three goals. Not so coincidentally, the Islanders scored more than three times just once in January, a 6-2 win over the Canucks early in the month. 

Lately, the goals have been coming from the second line of Anders Lee, Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, which has looked rejuvenated since Palmieri’s return to the lineup. 

“I think it bleeds into everyone,” Lambert said. “When you’re watching the line out there and they’re playing the way they’re playing, you want to follow that up. And that’s what’s happening right now. The line is playing very well. It’s leading into other players playing very well.” 

With a long vacation in front of them, the Islanders are happy to have something positive to reflect on. 

“It was an important four points for us right before the break,” Semyon Varlamov said. “It’s nice to go into the break feeling good about the team, about ourselves.”

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Rangers rookie Will Cuylle making already making an impact

The Rangers gave Will Cuylle his first taste of the NHL this past week, recalling the big-bodied wing from AHL Hartford for a two-game stint before the All-Star break.

Cuylle had been tearing it up for the Wolf Pack, with five goals in eight games leading up to the call-up, which seemingly gave the Rangers the perfect excuse to give him a look in the fourth-line role  they imagine him fitting into in the future. Plus, the stars aligned and his NHL debut came  in Cuylle’s home city of Toronto.

“It’s kind of in the back of your head, but you don’t want to think too much about it when you have your team and you’re trying to win games in Hartford,” Cuylle said before he took his rookie lap at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday in front of his friends and family. “But, obviously, it’s my dream to play in the NHL. That’s what I want to do. So it was in the back of my mind a little bit.”

The two games were an extremely small sample size for Cuylle, who only logged a total of 12:20 ice time in 20 shifts. He skated on the fourth line with Jake Leschyshyn and Julien Gauthier.


Cuylle has been a bright spot for the Rangers since his debut.
Elsa/Getty Images

In recent games, head coach Gerard Gallant has been riding his top nine more than usual. It resulted in a gentle introductory to the NHL for the Cuylle, but the 6-foot-3, 211-pounder still showed off some bruising contributions.

Cuylle, skating in his second NHL game, engaged in his first NHL fight when he dropped the gloves with Vegas tough guy Keegan Kolesar off the second-period faceoff in the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Golden Knights on Friday night at the Garden.

“He fought a tough guy, but he did pretty well,” Gallant said after the victory. “Good for him. Will came up and played two games. It’s pretty exciting for a young, 20-year-old to come up and do that. Then to get challenged like that and fight — and Kolesar is a tough kid, I had him in Vegas — so, he did a great job. It was probably an even fight, and good for him. [Cuylle] showed up.”

The Rangers had to send Cuylle back to Hartford for cap space-accruing purposes, but the No. 60 overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft is set to compete in the AHL All-Star Game on Feb. 6. There shouldn’t be any rush to bring Cuylle in full-time, especially when the organization still needs to figure out what to do with Vitali Kravtsov, who found himself on the outs of the lineup amid Cuylle’s recall.

The Rangers will return to practice on Feb. 5 before they resume their game schedule the following night at home against the Flames.

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Devils fall to Predators for just second regulation loss in January

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Predators’ Matt Duchene scored a third-period goal and assisted on another to drop the Devils, 6-4, Thursday night

Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who lost in regulation for just the second time in January and fell to 7-1-1 in their last nine games.

“The first period wasn’t the way we wanted to play, but I thought the second period we were starting to hit our stride until we turned another puck over in our zone,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “And that has been an area of our strength — tonight it was a weakness.”

Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich and Dawson Mercer also scored for New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves and Dougie Hamilton had three assists.

“He gave us a chance to still win that game even though we gave so many chances up,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said of Blackwood. “He plays unbelievable for us.”


Nashville’s Matt Duchene battles for the puck against the Devils’ Jack Hughes.
NHLI via Getty Images

Hughes extended his point streak to seven games, picking up an assist on Bratt’s first-period goal and then scoring one of his own early in the second. Hughes has five goals and eight assists during his streak.

Blackwood was active in the first, stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced — the most the Devils have allowed in a period this season. Likewise for Nashville, the shot total was its season high for a period.

“We played with the emotion and the passion you have to play with to give you a good chance to win,” Predators coach John Hynes said.

Hamilton and Hughes each have multiple points in three straight games. Hughes leads the Devils with 21 multipoint games this season, and Hamilton is second on the team with 14.

Cody Glass, Cole Smith, Mikael Granlund, Filip Forsberg and Tanner Jeannot also scored for Nashville, which has won three straight and five of six heading into the All-Star break. Juuse Saros stopped 36 shots and Juuso Parssinen added two assists.

“I felt like we were the better team from start to finish,” Duchene said. “The start of the second, they came out and we weren’t quite at our best. But the last three games, we’ve beaten teams. We haven’t hung on or we didn’t have to rely on our goaltenders to steal us one.”

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