UNIONDALE, N.Y. — It may have been the understatement of the night when New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov said that “we needed that one” when asked about the importance of the win over Pittsburgh on Saturday.
After dropping their last five games the Islanders need a win, and they got it in their first game back after an unexpected week off thanks to COVID-19 cancellations. Jordan Eberle scored twice, Semyon Varlamov came away with the win in his 500th NHL game and Anders Lee was the hero.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but at this point, as the old saying goes, a win is a win.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Jordan Eberle, Michael Dal Colle steal the show
The second line as a whole did a tremendous job on Saturday night against Pittsburgh, but between Jordan Eberle’s second two-goal of the season and Michael Dal Colle’s first multi-point performance of the year, it’s hard not to single them out.
Eberle gave the Islanders twice against Pittsburgh and in both instances, it was Dal Colle who had a hand in setting up the crucial goals. On Eberle’s first goal of the night, Dal Colle was able to pick up the puck along the wall and feed Eberle, who went charging into the offensive zone scored on a nifty backhander.
The second was created by a concerted effort by Dal Colle to keep the puck in the offensive zone while surrounded by a pair of Pittsburgh players and wisely move it over to Brock Nelson.
“Michael was on the puck,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “He was pretty instrumental on the first two goals. I thought Ebs was really going to the hard areas, he was really skating. I thought that whole line, (Brock Nelson) was skating like he can and it gave us some pop for sure.
“I asked Michael just get on pucks, move your feet, and get to those hard areas and he did.”
Eberle was even impactful away from the puck as well. In one instance during the second period, Eberle hopped over the boards on a change and immediately forced a turnover, and created an offensive zone opportunity.
The trio did well together, combining for five points in all. They finished the night with a 54.55 Corsi For percentage and six high danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. And none of them had a giveaway in the game.
“Thought we played a pretty solid game,” Dal Colle said. “For me, super easy guys to play with… I thought we made some pretty nice plays offensively.”
Varlamov Captures Win in Milestone game
In NHL game no. 500, Semyon Varlamov was able to get a much-needed win for the New York Islanders against a divisional foe. Yes, I know they’re all against divisional opponents this year, but still. It was an important win for the team and Varlamov.
The Islanders goaltender had been looking forward to the game all day, he told reporters after the win. And in game 500, he came up with the big saves when the Islanders needed them. In particular, he made a dazzling save on Sidney Crosby in the third period and the Islanders up by one.
What was impressive was the way that Varlamov was able to read the play. He put himself in a position to react to the Crosby shot in the right manner, in this case, a sprawling save.
Varlamov finished the night with 28 saves against Pittsburgh, including a few other crucial ones outside of the Crosby stop. The Islanders didn’t do him any favors at times, with dangerous offensive zone turnovers that forced him to bail them out.
“What I like about (Varlamov) is there’s no blame,” Trotz said. “If we make a mistake he’s taking full responsibility, that if you end up making a mistake it’s my job to erase that mistake if I can. I thought they had way too many looks tonight, high danger chances.”
Islanders Win, but They Need to Fix Some Things Still
Saturday’s win put the New York Islanders a point back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for fourth place in the East Division, so it was a big win. However, there are still some things that the Islanders need to clean up before their meeting with the New York Rangers on Monday.
It was an uncharacteristic game from some of the Islanders’ most dependable players in terms of mistakes and giveaways.
Josh Bailey, who is typically a very responsible player in his own end, had a rough giveaway in the Islanders zone. A defensive lapse led to Pittsburgh’s tying goal in the third period and Scott Mayfield’s turnover in the waning seconds of the second period led to Evgeni Malkin’s goal to tie the game at two earlier.
“It’s on us. We have to make better decisions,” Trotz said. “Pittsburgh puts a lot of heat on you. They’re a quick team, all that, but we can make better decisions. We’re in the NHL. We can make better decisions and I expect better decisions from our guys. I’m going to put it on us.”
