{"id":72328,"date":"2025-12-05T10:54:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T10:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72328\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T10:54:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T10:54:53","slug":"islanders-leaning-on-shabanov-find-hope-in-win-over-tampa-bay-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72328\/","title":{"rendered":"Islanders ‘Leaning On’ Shabanov; Find Hope in Win Over Tampa Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

BELMONT PARK, N.Y. \u2014 There is no help on the way for the New York Islanders\u2019 offense. In two full games since Kyle Palmieri went down for the season with an ACL injury<\/a> against Philadelphia, the Islanders mustered just three goals.<\/p>\n

And yet, Tuesday, the Islanders beat the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning in a tight 2-1 game at UBS Arena. <\/p>\n

\u201cGuys up and down are contributing,\u201d Islanders captain Anders Lee said after the win. \u201cSorokin played great. Better defense and better penalty kill, guys were blocking some big shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were due for one of these games. Maybe it wasn\u2019t our best of the last little bit but we come out with the two points and end this little drought we\u2019ve been on. Now we can take a breath of fresh air and get back to work tomorrow,\u201d Lee added.<\/p>\n

Just 55 seconds into the second period, Bo Horvat scored on his own rebound to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. Max Shabanov found Horvat open along the left side boards. Horvat was stopped on his initial shot by Andrei Vasilevskiy. Horvat wouldn\u2019t be denied, skating into the slot and burying his own rebound.<\/p>\n

Cal Ritchie dished a pass to an open Anthony Duclair in the slot. Duclair beat Vasilevskiy blocker side to double the lead at 5:30 into the third period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing really good hockey, but haven\u2019t been able to win the past few. It was good to get that win tonight,\u201d Cal Ritchie said after the game.<\/p>\n

Dominic James made the game interesting late in the third. He ripped a shot off a sharp angle and found an opening underneath Ilya Sorokin\u2019s glove to cut the deficit in half. <\/p>\n

Tampa had a strong push late in the third, but the Islanders defended well and preserved the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig saves, big blocks by our guys,\u201d Bo Horvat said after the win. \u201c[Horvat] and [Heineman] were big there. We defended well, we protected our house\u2026it was a good overall effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick Roy elevated Max Shabanov to Palmieri\u2019s spot. Roy hopes Shabanov can fill some of the big shoes left by Palmieri\u2019s absence. Through two games, Shabanov has one point and two shots on goal. Shabanov has three goals and five assists through 15 total games.<\/p>\n

Shabanov was noticeable. Against Tampa Bay, his skating, decision-making, and puck movement were highlights. Shabanov was one of the Islanders\u2019 most effective overall skaters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am [leaning on him],\u201d Roy said after the win. \u201cI feel it\u2019s a great opportunity for him. He\u2019s taking advantage of it. I\u2019m very happy the way he\u2019s playing. He\u2019s very shifty [and] makes great plays\u2026it\u2019s a good mix with [Horvat] and [Heineman]. Emil is more physical, he goes to the net. Bo is a mix of the two\u2026I think they\u2019re a great fit for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to HockeyStatCards, Shabanov had the second-best +2.15 game score. The only Islander higher was Bo Horvat with a +2.55. This number is calculated based on production, play driving, special teams, and overall usage.<\/p>\n

Despite positives from the win, the Islanders\u2019 offense continues to struggle putting the puck in the net.<\/p>\n

Heading into Dec. 2, the Islanders sat 29th in the NHL on the power play, scoring on just 13.8% of their opportunities. They went 0-for-3 against Tampa, sending that number lower. Kyle Palmieri was tied for third on the Islanders with 18 points alongside Mathew Barzal. Only Bo Horvat (26) and Matthew Schaefer (19) had more. Palmieri and Jonathan Drouin were tied with 12 assists.<\/p>\n

The Islanders played seven of the eight games in this home stretch. They scored a combined eight non-shootout goals. The Islanders were tied for 22nd in the NHL at 2.88 goals scored per game. <\/p>\n

Via PuckPedia, the Islanders have just over $2 million in cap space after putting Palmieri on LTIR. That space is more than the $44,185 they had before the injury. The Islanders had potential trade options <\/a>before the injury if Darche was willing to get creative. Now with more financial breathing room, does that provide Darche with enough incentive to pull the trigger on a trade?<\/p>\n

Both can be true: there are plenty of positives to take away from the game; the overall negative trends for the Islanders continue to come up. <\/p>\n

After working the locker room and speaking to players, it was clear the win meant more than two points. It was a bit of hope and something to build upon in the wake of losing Palmieri for the season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BELMONT PARK, N.Y. \u2014 There is no help on the way for the New York Islanders\u2019 offense. In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[40336,5691,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-72328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}