The New York Islanders grind out a vital win in Vancouver despite a shaky performance—are they learning how to win ugly like true NHL contenders?
Gil Martin analyzes the Islanders’ road victory, spotlighting Anthony Duclair’s red-hot form, Matthew Barzal’s clutch assists, and the emerging chemistry on the power play. The episode breaks down key defensive lapses, accountability issues for Jonathan Drouin and Maxim Tsyplakov, and why the power play still needs a major reset. With Patrick Roy facing tough lineup decisions and the team’s identity evolving, the conversation tackles what it will take for the Islanders to make a playoff push. Plus, tributes to Phil Goyette and Doug Weight celebrate franchise history as fans look ahead to the Seattle Kraken showdown.
Can the Islanders build on this hard-fought win and develop the consistency needed for postseason success?
All this and more on today’s Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin.
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15 Comments
Look, most of the league is like the Islanders. They have improved more from last year, but no one thinks they're elite. Who knows what they'll do in the playoffs
LAHKED AHN, good reporting man. What's your fav line that night?
wow unpretty isles squeak by nhl worst casucks. isles now 2-1 on their tour thru sorry canadian teams playing for mckenna trip. what if casucks, flames (both have never had the top pick), or jets win the lottery? gary wont be very happy. flames are doing it right and can add a big time add next draft and will be a power soon.
confusing-why sir duke suddenly has decided to contribute g's? troubling-why 49 not contributing g's was scratched?
the – boys 6, 24, 7 could be the goats of the game. sir duke, 30 one save better than lankinen the heroes.
Pretty isn’t pretty anymore! Sir Duke is finally playing the game the way we know he is capable of playing. Schaefer is truly a Generational player! Simply Amazing 🤩! Barzal has really raised his Game! Bravo 🙌! Feel better Gil!
The Duke has gone mad with power!!!!!!
Why is Mayfield still on the roster.
Happy with the win Gil, Great efforts from Duke Barzy Schaefer DeAngelo etc. Lets hope Duke stays hot! RIP Phil Goyette 😢 LGI
Good morning team! Gil, finally getting a win against a sub-par team, and I'm glad to see it. If I am honest, it looked to me that both teams looked flat, especially in the skating department. It seemed like it was a very slow ice surface. Am I imagining that? Duke played a sweet game. Calling for the puck and finishing the play by putting it in the net. Congrats to him. I hope he continues scoring. It really wasn't the prettiest game, but I'll take the 2 points just the same. I'm glad Seattle is the last game of this road trip. Kraken is middle of the pack and above .500 so we should really show up in this one (#fingerscrossed). Everyone, have a great day! See you all again tomorrow. Until then.. Let's Go Islanders!!
Gm Gil. The team was a sorry site in Calgary…..last night was not much better. Yes, they won but not for attempts to give the points away late. As is often the case, they played down to the competition.
Thank goodness for the win. We needed that 2 points. Now if we can only get Alan Feuhring to pronounce Pulock's name and Barzal's name correctly 😉
No disagreement with your individual player assessments. It may just have to be waivers for Tsippy. One thing I have noticed in their losses is their play in general in the defensive zone. Specifically, watch for players arriving to a puck and having time to make a play (pass it, chip it, move it out of the zone), and they just don't … they hesitate, look too long for a better option, or otherwise just generate a turn over … which ends up in our net. So many times, I am asking "Why didn't you just move the puck?! You had time!"
Good 🌅, Gil. How are you? I fell 😴 and couldn't ⌚ the game last 🌃 but I saw the highlights on ESPN. The Islanders won in Vancouver, but they couldn't beat them at UBS Arena. The bottom line, THE ISLANDERS GOT THE JOB DONE. THE DUKE REIGNED SUPREME. The Islanders had a
5 on 3 for just over a minute and they didn't score, SHAME ON THEM. I think Matheiu Darche is going to trade Tsyplakov before the trade deadline. Jonathan Drouin needs to work on snapping out of his months-long slump. Phil Goyette, the very first Coach in the history of the Islanders, passed away at the age of 92. He was there during the days of the Original 6. He was replaced by Earl Ingarfield. I read somewhere that there were no hard feelings, especially after the Islanders won their first Stanley 🏆. HAPPY 🎂, DOUG WEIGHT. He scored a goal and an assist in a win over the ⚡. Hear from you later, Gil b, but before I go, I compared Marc Gatcomb Luca Brasi from the Godfather for his punishment of the opponents at the blue line, and Rip from Yellowstone, also for grittiness and punishing ways. Of course, BOTH WERE LOYAL. In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of comparisons to Rip when it comes to Yellowstone. Now, LET'S GO ISLANDERS.
Really sad about Tsyplakov. I was a fan last year. I think we seen his last game
Gil, now is the time to strike while the iron is hot, and put out feelers for Duclair. He's on a tear, and with his team friendly contract, teams should be chomping at the bit to solidify their rosters for the playoff push. If Lee, now that he surpassed what was it 300 goals in the NHL, gets hot too, then we could get more for him as well. Nice comeback win last night, however it was against the team that will probably get the #1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft this upcoming Summer. Yeah, we shutdown, and shut out, the Oilers without Horvat. But even with Horvat back in the lineup, best case scenario, we make it to and meet Edmonton in the Stanley Cup finals, can we honestly say we're capable of shutting them down and beating them in a best of 7 game series? I think not. What say you? Thirty three games left in the season, we're 3-3 on a Canadian west coast road trip, with one more to be played against the tush kraken, and there's much excitement in Islanders Country at where we are in the standings and how we've been playing against the elite teams in the NHL. Temper that irrational exuberance with how we play down to lesser teams and that's what I call a genuinely inconsistent team that could very easily hit a slump and go into a tailspin and not make the playoffs. I know, Duclair has a NTC. But he would be foolish to turn down a trade to a more dominant team that has a greater chance to win the cup. As an aside, this is the type of weather that requires macaroni and cheese, and chili to stay warm. Just don't stand behind me because this chowdah head (Curly Three Stooges reference) really knows how to cut the cheese. Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!!!!
The defense is struggling a bit. Glad for the win.