Lighthouse Hockey: Try to fixate on something else.
Mike and Dan look ahead to the Islanders resuming their season with three huge games, and present a special Olympic version of Master Leaf Theatre. The Islanders’ final 24 games will be a brutal sprint, with lots of in-conference opponents, a road trip out west and seven back-to-backs. They get a taste of all of […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
In 1980, it was Jim Craig. In 1996, it was Mike Richter. In 2026, it was Connor Hellebuyck playing the role of goaltender spoiler keying a U.S. victory over a favored opponent. Deciding the gold medal via 3-on-3 overtime feels silly, but it’s at least an improvement over the shootout (Peter Forsberg, 1994, and Czechs […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
The U.S. and Canada battle for gold — the 8 a.m. EST game may be done by the time you read this — and the Olympics mercifully conclude Sunday. Then the Islanders will get their Olympians back and resume play Thursday in Montreal. Bo Horvat will return with either a gold or silver. Islanders News: […]
3 days ago | 1 read
Along with comedian, podcaster and new author John Cullen, we remember Rob Davison, who had one major moment against a marquee opponent in his very short stint on Long Island. Like a lot of defensive defensemen, Rob Davison was not a player most people would remember. His job was preventing goals, not scoring them, for […]
4 days ago | 1 read
The U.S. women fulfilled their destiny, completing their running of the table and medal rounds, though this time they needed a late equalizer and overtime to get past Canada to win gold. It’s almost always an epic battle between those two, even when one is a clear favorite as the U.S. were this time around. […]
4 days ago | 1 read
The practically pre-ordained dream final of Canada vs. USA in Olympic men’s hockey is still on the table after both tournament favorites needed overtime to avoid disaster in the quarterfinals. Canada erased a late Czech one-goal lead (from current Islander Ondrej Palat, lest you forget) to then win on a Mitch Marner OT winner, while […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
Here we are! Well, sort of…almost. The Islanders are now legally allowed to reconvene, while Wednesday at the Olympics offers a full day of men’s ice hockey quarterfinals: The U.S. and Sweden likely gave themselves the toughest mutual matchup, thanks to Sweden’s round-robin slip and the U.S. failure to run up the score against each […]
6 days ago | 1 read
The Olympic men’s hockey round robin is complete, with things generally playing out as expected save for a couple of exceptions. One of those is Sweden, though “didn’t win your group” is not exactly an emergency crisis like, say, losing to Latvia would be. Back on the home front, non-Olympic NHLers (including all Russians, heh) […]
8 days ago | 1 read
Mike and Dan run down the Islanders lineup to say something positive about each player and how they’ve contributed to the good overall season they’ve had so far. We heard some feedback that the last episode came off a little too nervous or negative, so we challenged ourselves to accentuate the plusses of every position […]
8 days ago | 1 read
He’s not ours anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate Brocktober in February. The first couple of days in Olympics men’s hockey produced predictable results, with the top-rated teams rolling against less-heralded opponents. Canada brushed Czechia aside while Jordan Binnington pitched a shutout to temper concerns that his NHL season results would continue […]
11 days ago | 1 read
The NHL break continues but men’s hockey begins today at the Olympics, with Group B featuring Slovakia-Finland (10:30 a.m. EST) and Sweden vs. hosts Italy (3:00 p.m. EST). There are three groups that will do round-robin in the preliminary round, and the U.S. has the relatively light Group C assignment with House of Frans Denmark, […]
13 days ago | 2 reads
Mike and Dan recap the Islanders’ wheezing last games and take stock of where the team sits at the Olympic break before enjoying a dessert of Ranger Piece Theater. The Islanders did what we asked last week and grabbed at least four points. Too bad they looked mostly lousy while doing it. So while their […]
14 days ago | 1 read
Was Nassau Coliseum even louder during some 2000s Resurrection Moments than it was during the dynasty’s greatest moments? We’ll never know for sure, but a couple threads on Twitter elicited “loudest I ever heard that building” sentiments, though the Cup heyday and these other moments are a generation or two apart. There was a release, […]
14 days ago | 2 reads
Ever since a couple of friends who most often hosted Super Bowl parties each relocated out of town, I’ve…discovered the sheer joy and found time that comes with not following the NFL. An intense, grueling season of Sundays to myself and my family culminates in Super Bowl Sunday, when I can go wherever I want […]
15 days ago | 1 read
Along with “Thrill of Defeat” host and Pittsburgh guy Dan Hopper, we remember Dick Tarnstrom, who turned getting waived by the Islanders into a starring role on some bad transitional Penguins teams. While the Penguins have had some all time great players in their history, the periods between those players were pretty dire. Bankruptcies, empty […]
18 days ago | 0 reads
Up until a little over 16 minutes into the third, this recap had a very different vibe. The Islanders did only register 14 shots on goal, apparently tying their lowest ever against the New Jersey Devils, last done in 2004. Ilya Sorokin needed to put in a Vezina-level (and frankly, Hart-level) performance to keep the […]
19 days ago | 1 read
I don’t know nor care when the Olympics actually start (the men’s hockey games start in six days), but for our NHL-centric purposes they start tomorrow. Or rather, today is the last day before a long, cold break in the schedule, when we’ll just hope Bo Horvat and Ondrej Palat stay healthy while we hear […]
19 days ago | 3 reads
The New York Islanders pulled out a late equalizer and 5-4 overtime win in an intense, back-and-forth meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins that highlighted how we have Ilya Sorokin and they have Replacement Jarry. True, Sorokin allowed at least one goal he would want back, when Bryan Rust banked a shot in off his glove […]
21 days ago | 0 reads
The Islanders did not get the job done in D.C., they did not claim any points vs. the Capitals, so they’ll aim for redemption tonight back home against the Penguins. Helpfully, Pittsburgh lost last night in regulation on a late Claude Giroux goal, so their standings edge above the Isles remains two points, though with […]
21 days ago | 0 reads
Third-string rookie goalie? No problem… for the Capitals. Clay Stevenson played just his second game this year, and while he didn’t get his first career shutout, he turned away 29 of 30 shots by the Islanders. Bo Horvat still looks a bit rusty after missing some time due to injury; he had a lot of […]
22 days ago | 3 reads
Mike and Dan look back at a packed week of trades, wins, a season sweep and one terrible loss that makes an already daunting upcoming week for the Islanders even more scary. For five days last week, Islanders fans were feeling good. Three wins, two over the Rangers in a humiliating season sweep complete with […]
22 days ago | 1 read
The Islanders enter a pretty significant back-to-back with a match vs. the Capitals tonight in D.C. followed by tomorrow night at home to the Penguins. The Capitals are just four points behind the Isles and can narrow that gap tonight, though they’ve played one more game. The Penguins currently sit two points above the Islanders […]
22 days ago | 4 reads
The Islanders lost a frustrating game in regulation to the Nashville Predators, one they didn’t really deserve anything from, though the circumstances were still frustrating. They blew an early 2-0 lead after looking pretty good in the first 10 minutes of the game, then were completely discombobulated the rest of the way, relying on Ilya […]
24 days ago | 2 reads
Ilya Sorokin will start again tonight as the Islanders host Barry’s Predators. After starting what looked like another lost, tankable season, Nashville has rebounded a bit and is in shouting distance of the Western playoff wild card slots. But the odds are still slim and the question persists of whether they should dump assets like […]
24 days ago | 2 reads
The morning after beating the Rangers is always sweet; after completing a season sweep, even more so. And remember, it’s not about how they did it, it’s about how badly the misguided Rangers fans in your life feel. The competition over the next four pre-Olympic games should put up more of a fight, but for […]
25 days ago | 1 read