If you told New York Islanders fans midway through the second period that their team would escape with a point, everyone would have taken it and run. Down 3–0, out of rhythm, and with Kyle Palmieri injured, the game looked like it was headed toward a holiday hangover.
But after a furious, exhilarating second-period comeback, walking away with only one point suddenly feels like a missed opportunity. “We had to earn our way back into this game to pick up a point that maybe after the first period, didn’t look like it was possible,” Captain Anders Lee said.
The Islanders stormed back with three unanswered goals before ultimately falling 4–3 to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout on Black Friday at UBS Arena. Trevor Zegras scored in regulation and again in the shootout, and Travis Konecny added the winner for Philadelphia.
Rookie Matthew Schaefer continued his remarkable start, posting a goal and an assist. His tally at 8:11 of the second made NHL history, as he became the first teenage defenseman ever to score eight goals in his first 25 games, surpassing Bobby Orr. Emil Heineman, who buried a laser to get the Isles on the board, and Anders Lee also scored for New York. David Rittich stopped 18 shots.
The comeback was sparked moments after Palmieri appeared to injure his left knee. Even on one leg, he stripped Emil Andrae to set up Heineman’s goal, then exited the game. Heineman’s tally cut the deficit to 3–1, Schaefer followed moments later, and the building erupted when Lee tied it on a late power play, snapping an 0-for-30 drought with the man advantage.
Philadelphia’s early damage loomed large. Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier scored off Islanders turnovers just 22 seconds apart in the first. Zegras’ deflected power-play goal made it 3–0 early in the second before the Isles’ rally.
The point is better than none, especially after the disastrous start, but after that surge and control in the third, not securing two feels like one slipping away.
The Islanders will have to regroup quickly. In the Metro this year, every point matters more than ever.