The New York Islanders won last night with a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Brooklyn. With its victory, the Isles remained the only team in the NHL with an unbeaten-in-regulation record at home (8-0-2). And that is no mean feat in a league that is inundated with parity. It’s safe to say that a winning culture is filling these players when they’re in Brooklyn.
And while Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Calvin de Haan, Jordan Eberle, and exquisite playmaking center John Tavares took care of the dashing scoring, it was a near-flawless Jaroslav Halak who excelled as goaltender recording 22 saves.
“Our offense is showing that it can score goals and when that happens, you win games,” said a humble-mannered Halak. “They deserve a lot of credit.”
Now in all fairness, Barclays has been its own enemy in relation to the Islanders. The ice making there has not always been up to snuff in the past and has given a shoal of players aches and pains. However, the team is now on a hot streak (15-7-2, 2nd in the Metropolitan Division standings) and it would be a shame for the club to exit the citified portion of Long Island, as is expected in a year or two, leaving behind new packs of local, rabid fans and youths who are starting to pour into the arena in fast-growing numbers.
The Isles, the most successful athletic team in the city right now, is doing everything it can to arouse our borough with its exceptional play this season. With 11,194 exultant spectators watching tonight, this crowd that easily goes into delirium with its “Yes!” chants after goals has apparently created a sense of urgency with this team that always seems to press forward. The immortals from the Islanders dynasty of the 1980s would be proud.
And next summer, a Stanley Cup miracle on ice in Brooklyn sure would be something else. Keeping fingers crossed.
The Canucks, however, despite their poor play provided some magic of their own even prior to the puck drop. Fans of the Canadian team unfurled a grand old flag of the Maple Leaf replaced by the pot leaf during the rendition of O Canada. Helpful that Trudeau is in power up north. Canada is like the U.S. with universal healthcare or something. It’s a saner version of the U.S.
