Islanders Room: Gaining Confidence, Lee’s 21st, Team Unity

The New York Islanders (21-20-7) are above NHL .500 for the first time since November 14, 2024. This season has gone so far off the rails at times that it feels like the NHL world is circling around the bones of the core that came within a game of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Instead, the Islanders have won four in a row, are 21-20-7, and have life. From being in the bottom five of the NHL after consecutive losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs, this team has risen from the dead. Call them zombies. There’s no way to keep them down.

Even tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes (30-16-4) picked up a quick 2-0 edge just six-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Ryan Pulock had exited the game with an upper-body injury, and the Islanders had Tony DeAngelo debuting. Down to five defensemen, down two early, it would’ve been fair to say this game felt over.

Then, Marc Gatcomb threw a couple of big hits. Jean-Gabriel Pageau dropped the gloves and drew an extra penalty on Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Right after the power play ended, Alexander Romanov flung home his first of the season.

That turned the game around. Anders Lee scored his team-leading 21st of the season. Brock Nelson won it in overtime, passing Denis Potvin for the third-most game-winning goals in franchise history.

The Islanders fought back and scrapped their way to a 3-2 overtime victory.

In the room postgame, the theme clearly was winning trumps all personal stats. Here’s what the team had to say:

DeAngelo Speaks; Winning is Great:

Tony DeAngelo met with the media postgame and discussed his arrival, initially stating that he made his decision fairly quickly after meeting with Team President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello. On tonight’s game in particular, DeAngelo said he did not expect to play 25 minutes and added how unfortunate it was to lose Pulock so early.

Lee, who shot a career-low last year and only scored 20 goals, passed that number today in January. Asked postgame, Lee said, “It’s just the way it goes sometimes. I think the most important thing tonight, we got the win. That’s what we’re here for. We’re just trying to win hockey games and doing whatever I can to do to help our team win.”

Ditto that sentiment for Romanov, who, when asked about his two-point night, simply stated he’s happy he got points, but he cares about defense, and far more importantly, he’s just happy the team won. He cited Pageau’s fight as a moment that helped build momentum.

Sorokin 1-on-1:

NYIHN got the chance to speak with Ilya Sorokin, who entered the game for an injured Hogberg and picked up the ultra-rare one-save victory in overtime tonight.

LIGHTLY EDITED FOR CLARITY

Q- When you find out you’re coming in cold for OT, what’s happening in your head?

A- (While smiling and with a laugh): “Nothing. Patrick said, ‘Hey, go to the net.’ So, okay, I go to the net and do a short warm-up, and it’s good. No shots on me, actually just one shot. Works right?’

Q- He gets hurt, but just what have you seen from Marcus Hogberg and how composed he’s been?

A- “Really good. Every game. He’s played he played at a high level and I hope it’s nothing serious, and he comes back soon.”

Q- Watching Pyotr Kochetkov tonight, he was very aggressive in the net with poke checks. What do you see out of him?

A-  “Every game he plays, he plays really good with his stick. He made a lot of good saves tonight. Especially on the breakaway, two times he stopped our breakaways and he play really good.”