Mammoth 7, Islanders 2: Unhappy new year, injured Olympian

1 week ago 2

The New York Islanders started off their New Year afternoon with intent but could not beat Karel Vejmelka on 11 first-period shots, and then the game swiftly slipped away into a blowout 7-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth.

In accordance with the prophecies, Islanders killer Dylan Guenther not only scored but absolutely torched the Isles for his first NHL hat trick, while the Islanders penalty kill was burned twice early in the third period to firmly put the game away.

On balance, it was another discouraging performance by an Isles squad whose recent form has featured either losses or eked-out wins since just before Christmas. Making matters worse, a day after being named to the Olympic team, Bo Horvat left the game with what appeared to be another lower body (re?)injury after an awkward low-speed collision in the third.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

It obviously wasn’t a great game for David Rittich either, though the quality of shots was pretty high on the backup who started his sixth straight while Ilya Sorokin is on the mend. Marcus Hogberg came in for mop-up duty midway through the third and gave up two more, including Guenther’s hat trick tally on a 2-on-1.

Patrick Roy’s opening thoughts on the game lamented missed chances and good looks in the first period, as the Isles had the first seven shots on goal.

“After that, it was in the details of the game. We lost battles, lost one-on-one battles, took offensive zone penalties…” Roy said.

As for a forward who has been the target of some fan ire lately, Roy was asked, “What are you seeing from Jonathan Drouin right now?” and did not criticize his game:

With the game still scoreless, Guenther opened scoring in the first minute of the second period with a burst of speed around Tony DeAngelo, leaving Adam Pelech to slide over for a quasi- 2-on-1. Guenther made a body move and nice shot to the far side, hitting the net after getting a piece of Rittich’s arm.

But the Isles answered quickly when Max Shabanov froze the Utah defense with a fake dump in only to sweetly drop a lead pass into Calum Ritchie, whose shot from the top of the circle tied it at 2:35.

Guenther answered again though, on a lightning one-timer following a brilliant Lawson Crouse backhand pass from the corner — this after Scott Mayfield turned the puck over with a soft biscuit tossed behind the net, allowing the Mammoth to make quick work of it. Not sure what Mayfield thought was available there; maybe their protocol calls for Barzal or Pageau to retrieve that but neither expected it.

The NHL tweeter could’ve offered an alternate tweet: “Can we talk about that Mayfield pass?!”

Utah never looked back after that. Nick Schmaltz scored at 16:19 to make it 3-1 at the second intermission, then Utah’s power play got two early goals in the third to make it a laugher.

Matthew Schaefer got one back on the Isles power play, adding to his incredible rookie season (the latest stat update is he’s now the youngest defensemen to reach 10 goals) as the lone solace on an ugly afternoon.

Horvat Injured

The Isles don’t look like a team that can afford to go long without their top center again. Here’s a look at the sequence that injured Horvat, whom Roy said would see a doctor tomorrow to learn more: