Simon Holmstrom had his biggest game as an Islander and Ilya Sorokin kept the Wild barrage at bay as the Isles won in overtime, 4-3 in Minnesota. This was an occasion where the Islanders were not the better side, but they refused to wilt nor slow their tempo against one of the top teams in […]
Simon Holmstrom had his biggest game as an Islander and Ilya Sorokin kept the Wild barrage at bay as the Isles won in overtime, 4-3 in Minnesota.
This was an occasion where the Islanders were not the better side, but they refused to wilt nor slow their tempo against one of the top teams in the league. That makes nights like this possible and fun — though also dependent on the top-level goaltending they’ve received from both netminders this season.
Holmstrom’s game winner 94 seconds into overtime capped a sterling night, which also included his impressive shorthanded assist on Casey Cizikas’ equalizer with 26 seconds left in the second period and a shot from distance earlier in that period that tied it at 2-2.
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The Islanders hung in there all night, tying the game three times and mounting counterattacks after each scary phase of sustained Wild pressure. There were many times where the Wild dazzled with their cycling and puck movement — often requiring big stops from Sorokin — but the Isles didn’t respond to those by simply trying to catch their breath; instead, they took their turns attacking.
That included the dying minutes of regulation, when the Quinn Hughes Show — three assists on the night and could’ve been more — was in full effect. But the Isles followed a long stretch in their own zone with a dangerous counterattack that concluded with a classic Anders Lee screen and tip, stopped by Filip Gustavsson.
To meet the Wild’s speed, Patrick Roy made a couple lineup changes, with Adam Boqvist — playing on his natural side — coming in for Cole McWard, and Max Tsyplakov providing a little life in place of Kyle MacLean.
Sorokin was acrobatic as usual, but the night belonged to Holmstrom’s attributes. On the Cizikas shorthander, Holmstrom intercepted a dangerous slot pass, made a move with his long reach to trap a Wild pinch and then lead a semi-odd-man rush. Holmstrom stared down Hughes long enough to create a lane for him to set up Cizikas, who needed to make a smart five-hole move to finish the sequence.
On the OT winner, Holmstrom circled the zone and accelerated away from a Hughes-Boldy coverage exchange to get himself a lane to Gustavsson. He faked the shot and then used his reach to backhand around the Wild goalie, giving the Isles two points on a night when they could’ve easily netted zero.
Up Next
Chapter 3 of the seven-game road trip comes Tuesday when the Islanders visit the Winnipeg Jets and hang out in Canada for a bit.
Category: General Sports
