BREAKTHROUGH: Islanders FINALLY Snap Losing Streak | Can Bo Horvat’s HAT TRICK Spark a TURNAROUND?

BREAKTHROUGH: Islanders FINALLY Snap Losing Streak | Can Bo Horvat’s HAT TRICK Spark a TURNAROUND?

The New York Islanders get off the schneide with a big victory. We’ll talk about the key takeaways from this game and why it was so big for the New York Islanders. All that and more coming up on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. You’re Locked On Islanders, your daily podcast on the New York Islanders, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome everybody to the Friday edition of the Locked On Islanders podcast. We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I want to thank everyone who makes Lockdown Islanders your first listen every day. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. I’m Gil Martin. I’ve been covering the New York Islanders for almost two decades, and I wrote the book Ice Wars: on the history of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 to the modern era. So glad you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey. And hey, I am excited. Uh, I did tweet out before the game that I had a good feeling about the Islanders against the Oilers. They come up with their first win of the season. We’ll break down the keys to victory, our key takeaways, our hero, and go to the game. And we will also preview Saturday afternoon’s game against the Ottawa Senators as the Islanders go for two wins in a row. This game started out so much like other games. The Islanders really came out flying and were outplaying the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers looked sloppy. They kept turning the puck over and it kept creating offensive opportunities for the New York Islanders and the Islanders just could not finish. And uh it was just getting frustrating already. And finally late in the period, Matthew Barzal gives the Islanders the lead. And then a little more than a minute later, you start thinking, “Oh boy, same old, same old.” Scott Mayfield off for tripping. Power play goal by Dry Cidle. Tied 1-1 after one. And then in the second period, Edmonton takes the lead. And I could just hear the the tenseness of fellow Islanders fans. I could see it on social media. so many opportunities and then what happened? Bo Horvat takes the Islanders on his back and it wasn’t Bo alone. Let’s let’s not say it was just Bo Horvat, but Horvat scores a shorty and then a power play goal that puts them ahead with a little less than five minutes left in regulation and then gets the empty netter to clinch the win. second career hattick for Bo Horvat and it’s gets the Islanders this 4-2 win and number one let’s start with this the Islanders could have folded they could have you know the frustration in this locker room had and on the bench it had to be mounting they had not played well in any of the first three games uh too many mistakes takes too many failures to finish and yet they stuck with it. And you know, the Oilers were the better team for most of the second period. You’re behind. You’re going up against a team that had made the Stanley Cup final in each of the last two seasons. You could just feel this game slipping away and yet the Islanders bounce back and they did a lot of things better in this game than they had in previous games. And that is why I I am just very very relieved to see a W for the New York Islanders. This team needed it and they got it. And you know, the penalty kill gave up one power play goal in four opportunities, but they also scored a goal. And the power play got a goal. and the Islanders out hit the Oilers 18-7 in what was not a very physical game. But overall, the Islanders just kept grinding and that is what they needed to do. And how it’s like the monkey is off the Islanders back with this win and they needed it. And I will give credit to David Riddick who played a really strong game in net for the New York Islanders and this is something they needed badly. Riddick facing 33 shots in this game stops 31 of them. And again this is Dryidle. This is McDavid. This is Nent Hopkins. this that you’re you’re not playing uh you know a bad team that doesn’t know how to put the puck in the net. And Riddick was there and he played his angles pretty well. He came up big on some big breakaway opportunities. You know, I every day will remember I mentioned with goalenders, it’s not always how many saves you make. Sometimes it’s when you make them and how you make them. And in this game, David Riddick in his Islanders regular season debut stopped a few breakaways, stopped McDavid on some really good scoring chances, came up big when it mattered most in that third period. The Islanders did not have a shot on goal in the third period for the first what eight plus minutes and yet Riddick kept his cool did not allow another goal behind him and the Islanders managed to get that go-ahead goal. Waited and waited and and it paid off and boy was that big. and Bo Horvat. Look, you know, I have discussed on this show and I’ve gotten, you know, emails and other uh questions about, you know, should Bo Horvat be the next captain if Anders Lee is not back with this team? And I think the answer is yes because we just saw Bo Horvat lead this team to a very critical victory before the season started. You lose this game and go 0 and4 and this season could easily snowball in the wrong direction. And the fact that it didn’t and that Bo Horvat, who had seven shots on goal in this game, no other Islander forward, had more than two. In fact, no other Islander, well, excuse me, Anthony Duclair had three and that was it. Everyone else, it’s two or less. And you know, the fact that Horvat just played, you know, he Horvat all season long has had chance after chance after chance and couldn’t bury it. Try as he might, the puck just didn’t go in the net and tonight he broke out. The law of average is caught up. And that short-handed goal which was set up by a beautiful pass by JG Pacio, I think it lifted a weight off of Horvat shoulders and then he came and led the team to lift the monkey off of their collective backs in a really strong performance. So the the losing streak is over. Matthew Dar earns his first win as general manager of any NHL team, but in particular obviously the first win of the Matthew Dar era. And it’s a start. It’s something this team can and must build on because you’re not out of it at one and three. you’re not where you want to be obviously, but you take this win. It should give this team confidence and you you build on it from there. And the other thing is this, and it’ll be interesting for me to see how Patrick Wah handles this. I am 75 80% sure it’s Ilia Sroken in goal Saturday afternoon against the Ottawa Senators. But after that, the next game Tuesday against San Jose, David Riddick has earned a start against the Sharks. He has showed that this team can have confidence in him. And yeah, it’s one game. I get it. I’m not ready to declare him the greatest backup goalie in Islanders history, but the Islanders need to understand that they can play David Riddick and let him cook. And look, he’s going to have some bad games. Every player does. But the thing about Riddick, he always seems to alternate. Good season, not so good season. Good season, not so good season. Well, this year he’s due for the good season. He struggled last year, was lights out the year before, struggled the year before that, had maybe his best season the year before that. So hopefully Patrick Wah realizes that David Riddick can play and be a backup that he can trust enough to play and give Ilia Sroken enough rest that going forward when we get to February, March, April, regardless of where this team is, is in the standings whether they’re in last place or first place probably going to be somewhere in the middle but wherever they are in the standings that Elilia Sroken is not worn down by playing 65 60 65 games a year because they don’t have a backup they trust. Hopefully Riddick can keep playing well and give them a backup they trust. It’s something that I mentioned throughout the preseason the importance of it. This is step one. Let’s see if they can keep it going. We have got more to get to on today’s show. We’ll talk about Matthew Schaefer’s record setting performance, our hero and go to the game. We’ll preview Saturday’s game against the Sens. And we’ll have our Islanders birthday of the day. This is an easy one. I’ll give you the clue in the next break. All that and more next on today’s Lock on Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Hockey season is officially here, and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But let’s be real, getting tickets can be a total headache between waiting in cues, surprise fees, and prices that jump right before checkout. It’s easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. That’s where Game Time comes in. The app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NHL tickets fast, easy, and stressfree. I recently used Game Time to grab seats for the Islanders game, and it couldn’t have been simpler. I had great seats in minutes. There are no hidden fees at checkout, and I love the fact that I can get a view from my seat, a panoramic view from my seat before I purchase the tickets. You can even find hockey tickets for under $25. So, take the guesswork out of buying NHL tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That’s code L O C K E D O NHL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. Hero and go to the game. I I I think hero is easy. You could talk about David Riddick, but when you score four goals and one player scores three of them, I think we know Bo Horvat is the Islanders hero of the game. and go to the game is tough because this was the toughest opponent arguably that the Islanders have played so far this season, but it was also their best performance. And go to the game I I’m going to go with Andrew Lee who was only out there for 12 minutes and 53 seconds. He was a minus one. He had one shot, one hit. Uh he just wasn’t all that visible. I think the Islanders need more from their captain. Everydayers will remember I mentioned that the Islanders, you know, when they benched uh Maxim Ciplov that there were five or six or seven other players who you could arguably bench under the circumstances because this team, you know, just isn’t playing up to their standards. And it wasn’t just Ciplov. I think Anders Lee, even though I doubt the Islanders will actually bench him, uh, he has not played as well as we had hoped. And again, no points for Lee. But couple of other things to discuss here. Special teams was better. Power play got a goal. Penalty kill got a goal even though they gave up a goal. Not saying they were great, but they were better. Matthew Schaefer was not as good as he was in the first three games. And I think his ice time kind of reflects that. He only was out there for 1738 in this game. Only Scott Mayfield was out there for less time. Schaefer was a minus one. He didn’t have a shot on goal. He still skated and made some good plays. He didn’t have a bad game, but what he did was he picked up an assist and he now has four points in four games, a point in each of his first four games. And he is the youngest player in NHL history to have a point in each of his fourth first four games in the league. So kudos to Matthew Schaefer. And I’ll take it a step further. Okay, if this was an off game for Matthew Schaefer, then you know it’s not too darn bad, right? It’s not too bad at all. If this is his off game, that is okay. And look, Matthew Barzal had a good game. Led all Islanders in ice time with 2431. had two points, a goal, and an assist. Uh, still, you know, here’s the thing, and I mentioned it after the first game. Barzy was great in the faceoff circle in the first game of the season. He’s been dreadful since. He took 15 faceoffs in this game. He won three of them, but other than that, Barzy played well. And Drewanne had his moments. Uh, need more though from Simon Holmstrom who was only out there for 10 minutes and 3 seconds and just didn’t do a heck of a lot. So, look, this team needed this win. They needed this win badly. And the question becomes, where do you go from here? And look, a better team would have easily easily been up 3 to one at the end of that first period. a better team, a winning team. When the Oilers are playing as sloppily as they did, especially in the first period, you go out there and you take advantage of the opportunities that were given over and over again by all those turnovers. So, the win is great. I am relieved. I am happy. The question now is, do they make this a oneoff and go out and play a bad game Saturday in Ottawa, which is not going to be an easy opponent, or do they build on this win? And part of that is going to be on coaching. And it’s going to be interesting to see, are there any lineup changes for this game? Do they put Ciplov back in? Do they bench somebody else, whether it’s Simon Holmstrom, Anders Lee, do they make any other changes? And then I think the question also becomes, can you take this win and make it into something better? Build on it, be more consistent, play a stronger game. The Islanders more or less rose to the occasion. They were the better team for most of this game. I think the Oilers were the better team for most of the second period and maybe the first seven or eight minutes of the third. The first period, the Islanders were the better team the last 10, 12 minutes of the third period. The Islanders were the better team. You just went toeto toe with the two-time defending Western Conference champions. They’ve got arguably the best player in the world. Conor McDavid playing for them. McDavid and Dry Cidle are two of the 10 best players in the world right now. And you just beat them and you outplayed them for most of the game. Show me that it wasn’t a fluke. Go out and build on that. I get the feeling there will be no lineup changes. you win, you keep everything the same until you lose again. Other than I think Siroken playing in goal, but let’s build off this win and make it a habit. Make it make sure this team is competitive. And there are still things to work on. The penalty kill can be better. The power play can be better. And more important than anything, more important than anything from this particular game, and I think this is an issue that the team must address sooner rather than later, this team has to finish more. I know this is not the most offensively gifted team in the NHL. If you break down the pure talent, they’re probably in the bottom half easily as far as goal scoring is concerned. They were 28th in the league, I believe, last year in goals scored. I was hoping they’d get into the high teens this year. But when you get chances, like the Islanders got chances in that first period, you finish. Good teams take advantage of the turnovers and the sloppy play. And you know, talking about sloppy play, talking about sloppy play, how bad was Evan Bousard in this game? Minus three. So many giveaways by Evan Bousard. And oh yeah, Conor McDavid minus three in this game. So you got to finish when you get those chances. Hopefully the Islanders will and they will build on it. We have got more to get to on today’s show. Islanders Senators, Saturday afternoon, we’ll preview that game. And for our Islanders birthday of the day, like I said, this is an easy one. The first player in NHL history to win a gold medal and a Stanley Cup in the same season. Let’s see if you can guess who it is. An Islander with a very big legacy for this team. All that and more next on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if that first $5 bet wins. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love how FanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built parlays to increase my odds. I’ve tried player props and I’ve even followed the live lines during games. It makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something riding on the action. So whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. So what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. place that first $5 bet and if it wins, you get $300 in bonus bets. So, head on over to fanduel.com to download the app. Check it out today. Islanders going to go for two in a row on Saturday. It’s a 3:00 Eastern time start. And uh this is going to be a big game for the Islanders. Uh back on the road after a three-game home stand, Ottawa coming off a 4 to3 shootout win over the Seattle Kraken. So they got back on track and you know in that game the four to3 win a big defensive effort. Lenus Olark 30 saves in that game in 33 opportunities. The Islanders, they they’ve got to be on this is one of the teams. Bottom line, this is one of the teams the Islanders may very well be battling for a playoff spot if they put together a great run for this season. If they can show that, if they can do that, then you know Ottawa is a team you’re going to be battling. And you know, early on the Senators goals against has been really bad. They were last in the league in goals against before they let up three goals against Seattle. their penalty kill only killing 52.9% of opposing power plays, 31st in the league. Their power play in the middle of the pack. Again, all of that before the game against Seattle last night. Here are the line combinations for Ottawa. Tim Stutzler, Ridley Greg, and Claude Jeru. The top line, Dylan Cousins centers David Piran and Drake Bathson on the second line. Shane Pinto, the Long Island native, centers Michael Am Amadio and Fabian Zetterland on the third line. And the fourth line from left to right, Nick Cousins, Lars Ellers, and Arthur Calv. On defense, Jake Sanderson and RTM Zub are the top pair. Thomas Shabbo and Nick Jensen, the middle pair, and Tyler Cleven and Jordan Spence are the third pair, the goalies. Omar, as we mentioned, and Levi Marilen, we’ll see which one gets the start. So far, Marilen has gotten one start. Would not shock me if he is in goal against the Islanders. Drake Bath on IR. Brady Kachchuck, they just announced he had surgery. He will be out until at least Thanksgiving. So, the Islanders will not have to face him. And this will be a challenge for the New York Islanders to extend this winning streak, go on the road and beat a team that will likely be battling with them if the Islanders are in the playoff race. And that may be a big if, but let’s be optimistic after a win, shall we? Uh, this is a team you got to try to beat and start logging in and and racking up those early season points. Time now for our Islanders birthday of the day. And today is the 69th birthday of former Islanders defenseman Kenny Marorrow. 6’4, 205 pounds, a fourthround pick of the Islanders in the 1976 uh NHL draft. was also the New England Whalers of the WHA drafted him in the eighth round. He spent four years at Bowling Green and then was a member of the 1980 US Olympic team, the Miracle on Ice. And the Islanders, even though they didn’t like beards back then, they waved that for Ken Marorrow. And uh he went from winning the gold medal in 1980 February miracle on ice to winning the Stanley Cup in 1980, 81, 82, and 83. And Marorrow gave the Islanders so such a lift on the blue line. He was never a big goal scorer, never scored more than five goals in a season, had 17 career goals in 550 regular season games. But he was a rock defensively as I mentioned. Big guy, especially for back then. 6’4 205 was huge for an NHL player in the 80s. And he was clutch. 11 goals and 33 points in 127 playoff games. And Morrow just a special special kind of a player. Still active in the Islanders organization. great guy. Interviewed him for my book and really enjoyed speaking to him and he had a knack for scoring overtime goals. Now, last year we talked about one of his more famous playoff games and and goals. We’re going to talk about another one today, April 20th, 1981. Game four of the best of seven quarterfinal series between the Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers. Islanders up two games to one. This is game four in Edmonton. Roland Milansson, the goalie for the Islanders. Andy Moog, the goalie for Edmonton. And the Oilers took a two nothing lead on goals by Paul Coffee and Yari Curry, but Dennis Potvan and Bob Nestrom tied it by the end of the first period. Then it was Tracier putting the Islanders up. Messier tying it for Edmonton. Tanelli giving the Islanders the lead late in the second and then in the third Brett Caligan ties it again. So the game goes to overtime and 5 minutes and 41 seconds into the extra session. Who gets the game-winning overtime goal? Ken Marorrow. His first of the playoffs. And it puts the Islanders up three games to one. They go on to win the series in six games. For Ken Marorrow, he had a goal. He was a plus two. He had two penalty minutes. He had the gamewinner and it was his only shot on goal of the game. Ken Marorrow, four time Stanley Cup champion, gold medal winner with the Miracle on Ice Team USA in 1980 and now uh a part of the Islanders organization to this day. Ken Marorrow is our Islanders birthday of the day. Thank you for making locked on Islanders your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew Locked on NHL game night. Every game, every night until a Stanley Cup champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. You could find NHL game night on Locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. If you have a question, a comment, maybe a topic you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, email us at lockdown islandersgmail.com. If you leave your first name and where you’re from, we’re happy to mention you on the show and we discuss whatever’s on your mind. You could follow the show on Xlockon. You could follow me, Gil Martin, on X at Ice Wars, NYRVSNY. We’ll keep you up to date on all things Islanders all year long. and it’s great to talk Island Islanders hockey with you. Game time or anytime, I am live tweeting during nearly every Islanders home and road game. So, join me for some instant insight and analysis. Everydayers, we’re back Monday. We will have our key takeaways from Saturday afternoon’s game against Ottawa, plus the latest Islanders news, notes, and happenings. So, join us for that. Until then, have a great day everybody, a great weekend. Stay safe and of course, let’s go Islanders.

Islanders stun Oilers with Bo Horvat’s clutch hat trick. Is this the turning point for New York’s season?

Gil Martin breaks down the New York Islanders’ impressive 4-2 victory, highlighting Horvat’s game-changing performance and David Rittich’s strong goaltending debut. The discussion covers Matthew Schafer’s record-setting streak, the team’s offensive challenges, and what the Islanders did better to earn the win. Key topics include the Islanders’ path to success, upcoming challenges against the Ottawa Senators, and potential roster moves to watch.

Don’t miss this in-depth analysis of the New York Islanders’ crucial win and what it means for their playoff aspirations.

All this and more on today’s Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.

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