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Islanders/Flyers Preseason Recap

September 17, 2019, 1:47 PM ET [96 Comments]
Ben Shelley
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The New York Islanders took their preseason opener by a score of 3-1 in Philadelphia last night. I didn’t have a ton of time to write this up, so here’s a quick summary and some scattered thoughts.

Thomas Hickey, Luca Sbisa and Erik Brown had the goals for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov made his debut as an Islander and was solid in the win. He didn’t get a ton of action but made some nice saves in close and can’t be faulted on James van Riemsdyk’s goal. Christopher Gibson came in half way through (the two were simply splitting the game) and ended up being a key part of New York’s win. He stopped all 13 shots he faced and made some great saves.

One thing that nobody wanted to see was the Islanders’ power play struggling. After finishing 29th last year in producing with a man advantage, New York went 0-for-5 on the power play in Philadelphia and blew a long 5-on-3.

I only got to see parts of the game (my stream was acting up) but Josh Ho-Sang, someone who needs to look really good in the preseason, had a pretty good showing. He had some chances coming down the wing with the puck, made zone entries and was trying his best to make plays. Away from the puck though at times he wasn’t very hard on the puck. Also Leo Komarov can be frustrating to watch. Sometimes it almost seems like he’s skating around aimlessly looking for a hit, then when he gets his chance he just flies by and continues on his way. Yeah, it’s just preseason but this isn’t a one-time thing.

Kyle Burroughs had a fight but looked out of place at times (and didn’t look great in the fight either). St. Denis looked good and had great energy on the forecheck. One surprise was actually Erik Brown who looked great and really showed off some speed. He created chances on the rush and picked up an empty-netter (though it took a bit more work than it maybe should have).

Really, it’s just a preseason game but if it’s worth watching then it’s worth talking about. I'll have reviews out for each Islanders preseason game, so stay tuned!


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