New York Islanders snap their losing streak with a gritty regulation win over the New Jersey Devils—does this spark a turnaround before the holiday break? Gil Martin dissects how David Rittich’s clutch goaltending and Adam Pelech’s late game-winner delivered a much-needed victory, spotlighting the resilient top line of Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, and Simon Holmstrom despite key injuries to Bo Horvat and Ilya Sorokin.
Key discussions focus on Patrick Roy’s line adjustments, defensive composure, and a near-perfect penalty-free performance. Gil Martin explores the team’s inconsistency against lesser opponents, the impact of upcoming roster returns, and Bridgeport’s prospect developments in the weekly farm report. Plus, trivia for die-hard fans: can you name the Yale-educated defenseman from the 2008-09 roster? Stay tuned for insightful analysis and the latest on the Islanders’ drive for playoff contention.
All this and more on today’s Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.
Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.
MonarchTake control of your finances with Monarch. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at https://monarch.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.
FanDuelToday’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOIslanders?sid=YouTube
Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL
And follow the show and Gil Martin on Twitter where he’ll share the latest news on your New York Islanders and will talk with fans like you.
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/LockedOnIsles
and https://twitter.com/icewarsnyrvsnyi
#Islanders #NYIslanders #NHL
13 Comments
The Islanders main problem since the departure of John Taveras has been scoring. They still struggle with it. When Horvat returns, it'll improve of course.
There are times when you watch Islander games in part to evaluate their opponents and see where the other teams stack up against the better clubs in the league. Now I am not going to take away from the Islanders, who played a solid game for the most part and deserved the win, especially Rittich who was very good. That being said, the Devils are extremely overrated, had New Jersey played a team that could put the puck in the net, like Dallas, Colorado or Montreal, they would have been lit up like a pinball machine. New Jersey is atrocious in their own zone, Markstrom and Allen are the reason they win games and Sheldon Keefe is obviously a poor head coach. As for the Islanders, most of the team performed well and D'Angelo is what he is and they knew that when they re-signed him so no surprises but Duclair is completely checked out, he doesn't even bother to pretend like he cares anymore, I know that he and Roy once had a good relationship but you have to wonder why Darche allows it to continue when it is so blatantly obvious.Merry Christmas Gil.😊
HUGE WIN
MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL
Great analysis as always
MERRY CHRISTMAS TEAM!!! Gil, I kick myself for turning off the game to get some sleep. I missed the game winning goal, and I'm kicking myself. Excellent game! Let's Go Islanders!!
Merry Christmas-Happy Holidays Islanders Nation. Thank you Gil for your tremendous effort and selfless determination in sharing your life and personal time to bring us all a quality product. Thank you to all the regulars who provide incredible insight, thank you for the humor and the generous opinions as well as the wealth of knowledge on display.
I've not had a television in well over 2 decades but do listen to radio broadcasts when possible; my childhood was filled with John Sterlings' energy and larger than life spirit (had no TV growing up either. Played hockey competitively until 47 years old thanks to the Islanders getting me interested while cruising the AM dial in the early 70's.
I've always thought it would be a great idea to plan a group outing to a game so everyone can meet in person instead of Gil's faceless kingdom!
Thank you again Gil for your expert reporting and to all you subscribers for your wonderful comments and contributions.
Wishing you all a new year filled with joy and good health for you and each of your families. (And of course a few W's)
❤
At UBS with the family last night- great atmosphere, fun game, big win! LGI!!!
Merry Christmas to Gil and Islander fans🎄
They needed that win before the break. And hopefully Horvat comes back in their next game
Solid outing by Rittich. The same can be said for the defense in front of him, as they battened down the hatches against a Devils team that has the ability to score in bunches provided their star player isn't horsing around with glass, or utensils or whatever it was. Matthew Schaefer is logging lots of minutes, but the more the merrier right? As long as the kid doesn't get hurt, and he develops into a star D man. Holmstrom with a goal and an assist on Pelech's game winning goal. Not too shabby for a guy who typically only produces on a line with Pageau. The goal and assist came a line without JG. Pelech and Pulock have turned their game around at the midpoint of the season. Quietly doing their job. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to Gil and all our fans. Be safe and enjoy.
Good 🌅, Gil. How are you? The Islanders showed some resilience in their win over the 👿. Yes, they came out flat as a 🥞, but they looked towards the end, they looked good. The Islanders didn't want to go into the 🎄 break with a 4 game losing streak. Patrick Roy's line shuffling like ♟️ pieces PAID OFF. Ever since Bo Horvat's been out, BARZY HAS STEPPED UP. This year's Islanders are a little better than last year's team . David Rittich put on a show in the net, and he acted like
Billy Smith on the opposition. Hero, David Rittich for his performance in goal Adam Pellach for scoring the GW GOAL late in the game. 🐐, Tony D'Angelo for commiting the turnover that led to the 👿 goal. Cal Ritchie got hurt, but it wasn't serious. HAPPY 🎂, JOHN CALLAHAN. He had a helper in a win over the Avalanche. Hear from you later, Gil, but before I go, I compared Kyle Palmieri to Tom Hagen from the Godfather for his 🏒 IQ, and Lloyd Pierce from Yellowstone for his loyalty and he's not above going into the trenches TO GET THE JOB DONE. I also compared Matthew Schafer to a young Michael Corleone from the Godfather. As a clean cut kid who due to unforeseen circumstances took over,, and as Kayce from Yellowstone, he was the reluctant heir to the ranch, and he had pinpoint accuracy. Now, LET'S GO ISLANDERS.
gutsy win…this team seems to me to be extremely well coached….has a very good locker room…and a nice mix of youth and veterans with something to prove that are hungry to win…..look on paper we stink….on the ice , we can hang with anyone in the league and very few games that we are not in