The Islanders jumped out on top of a Seattle Kraken team coming off a ten-day break. Kraken goalie Martin Jones fended off a number of solid scoring chances in the first period, but he didn’t stop the point shot he couldn’t see from D-man Sam Buldoc at 7:59 and he had absolutely no chance later in trying to stop Simon Holmstrom all alone in front.
One thing that was noticeable late in the first period, the Seattle Kraken did start to generate a forecheck of their own and some decent offensive looks against goalie Ilya Sorokin.
— Kraken forward Andre Burakovski left the game after just one shift in the first period and did not return. He seemed to hobble off after not really taking any type of physical punishment, so we’ll briefly play doctor and think he may have tweaked a groin coming off the holiday hiatus. We shall see.
— Rookie center Matty Beniers was back in the line-up after missing two games. Forward Jaden Schwartz returned as well after missing eight. New lefty D-Man Jaycob Megna earned a spot in the line-up replacing Cale Fleury.
Seattle Kraken Slip
The Isles got a nice break early in the second period, with a blocked shot dropping right down on to the stick of J.G. Pageau in the slot. He stroked a shot between the legs of Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, top shelf on Jones. Again, not stoppable.
Former Canucks captain Bo Horvat, playing his second game with the Isles after his trade out of Vancouver on January 30th, picked up his career high 32nd goal of the season and joined the fray in giving New York a 4-0 lead in the 2nd.
The Islanders shut things down in the third period, holding the Seattle Kraken scoreless for the just the second time this season. Seattle was shut-out by the Minnesota Wild back on November 11th at Climate Pledge Arena.
There was a bit of a revenge element for the Islanders in this game. They had their New Year’s Day ruined with a 4-1 loss in Seattle.
