Isles Skate Past Kraken in Shootout Thriller

Looking to bounce back from Saturday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Islanders faced the Seattle Kraken and former Islanders head coach Lane Lambert in a late Sunday afternoon matchup. Just before gametime, the Islanders received difficult injury news: defenseman Alexander Romanov will miss the remainder of the regular season as he works to repair a shoulder injury suffered in Dallas, and center J.G. Pageau has been ruled “week to week” with an upper-body injury. As a result, head coach Patrick Roy was forced to adjust his lineup. Bo Horvat’s line remained intact, while Mathew Barzal centered Anders Lee and Jonathan Drouin. Cal Ritchie centered Max Shabanov and Simon Holmstrom, and Casey Cizikas centered Anthony Duclair and Ruslan Tsyplakov.

But in the end, it was the goaltenders who stole the show, as neither allowed a goal through regulation. The Islanders carried a sizable advantage in shots, while David Rittich stood tall each time Seattle managed to break through.

New York opened the game with strong pressure, forcing the Kraken to spend much of the early going in their own end. Seattle settled in as the period progressed, but the Islanders still controlled the chances, outshooting the Kraken 10–4 in a scoreless first.

At 7:56 of the second period, Simon Holmstrom was called for tripping, giving the Islanders their first penalty kill without Pageau. Although they prevented Seattle from recording a shot, New York struggled to clear the zone. Still, the Islanders killed off the penalty, keeping the game locked at zero.

The second period was full of opportunities for New York. Joey Daccord turned aside a number of high-danger chances, including a 3-on-2 opportunity where Bo Horvat found a breaking Mathew Barzal. In the closing minutes, Max Shabanov generated one of the Islanders’ best looks of the night, but Daccord again shut the door, sending the game into the third period still scoreless.

The back-and-forth play continued throughout the third, but despite a flurry of late chances the Islanders couldn’t solve Daccord, who continued his stellar play. Regulation ended 0–0, and overtime solved nothing, even as New York controlled long stretches of possession.

That sent the game to a shootout. Seattle’s Freddie Gaudreau opened the scoring, followed by misses from Barzal and Jordan Eberle. Holmstrom attempted to cut back across the crease, but Daccord poked the puck away. The Kraken had a chance to seal it on their next shooter, but Eeli Tolvanen missed, giving Bo Horvat the opportunity to extend the contest. Horvat delivered, ripping a shot high over the blocker.

In the extra round, Chandler Stephenson missed for Seattle, setting the stage for Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri attacked with speed and fired a shot high over Daccord’s glove, securing a hard-earned Islanders victory.

The Islanders next game is at home against Boston on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.