NHL-ийн багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд гарсан ноцтой гэмтлүүдийн улмаас Нью-Йорк Айлендерс улирлын эхний шатанд хүндхэн сорилттой тулгарч байна.
Нью-Йорк Айлендерс улирлын эхний 10 тоглолт болоогүй байхад тоглогчдын гэмтлийн улмаас хүнд байдалд орлоо. Калум Ричи, Матиас Макчелли нар Торонто Мэйпл Лифс багийн эсрэг тоглолтын эхний үед гэмтэл авч талбайг орхисон бөгөөд тэдний нөхцөл байдал одоогоор тодорхойгүй байна. Мөн Мэт Барзал гэмтлийн улмаас жагсаалтад орсон бол Александр Романов улирлыг өнжихөөр болжээ.
Багийн ахлах дасгалжуулагч Пит ДеБур тоглогчдын хамгаалалтын тоглолтыг сайжруулж, 5-ын эсрэг 5-ын тоглолтын үеэр алдсан гоолын тоогоор лигт хоёрдугаарт бичигдэх амжилтыг үзүүлээд байна. Хаалгач Илья Сорокинтой хамтран хамгаалалтын бүсээ нягт болгосон нь багийн амжилтад эергээр нөлөөлж байгааг Кэйси Сизикас онцолсон юм. Тоглогчид нэгдмэл байж, системтэй тоглолтыг харуулах нь энэ удаагийн хүндрэлийг даван туулах гол түлхүүр хэмээн багийнхан үзэж байна.
Одоогоор 4-3-1 гэсэн үзүүлэлттэй байгаа Нью-Йорк Айлендерс ирэх долоо хоногт Даллас Старс, Нэшвилл Предаторс, Миннесота Уайлд багуудтай хийх тоглолтуудад бэлтгэж байна. Энэ нь багийн хувьд том сорилт болох бөгөөд хамгаалалт болон хаалгачийн найдвартай тоглолт нь тэднийг плей-оффын өрсөлдөөнд үлдэхэд туслах юм. Симон Холмстром багийн дотоод уур амьсгал болон бие биенээ дэмжих сэтгэл нь хүнд үеийг даван туулахад чухал үүрэгтэйг тэмдэглэв.
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Mathieu Darche went against orthodoxy in April when he fired Patrick Roy and brought in Pete DeBoer with four games left in the season.
It didn’t save the 2025-26 Islanders, who were already too far gone, but it already looks like a move that can have a hugely positive impact on the 2026-27 club. Indeed, the single biggest reason to believe the Islanders can survive the rash of injuries that’s hit them before they’ve even played 10 games is DeBoer.
We don’t know the prognosis yet on Calum Ritchie or Matias Maccelli after both left the ice in the first period Saturday night in Toronto and didn’t return. At least in that sense, there’s room for optimism. Maybe they’ll both emerge for practice Monday no worse for wear and the whole episode can be forgotten.
As a practical matter, though, it behooves the Islanders to hope for the best and expect the worst. Which means thinking hard about how they can survive with Ritchie and Maccelli joining Mat Barzal — half of their top six in a perfect world — on the injured list for a period of time, in addition to Alexander Romanov being out for the season.
While the Islanders are not about to win a playoff series with their roster as is, they don’t need to. The requirement here is to keep chugging along, win the games they should, hang around the playoff race and be in position to pounce once they get healthy.
The good news? DeBoer has already given the Islanders the formula. They are second in the league in both expected and actual goals allowed at 5-on-5 per 60 minutes with a defense that seemed to have serious holes coming into the season.
At least so far, DeBoer has done what good coaches do. He’s maximized his players, or at least come pretty close. The Islanders have kept teams out of the middle of the ice and made life easy for Ilya Sorokin, tasks that felt next to impossible for them a year ago, when the goaltender was putting out fires on a shift-by-shift basis. They have been physical and hard to play against. There have not been any free passes through the neutral zone.
“That’s what we’ve been working on from day one,” Casey Cizikas told The Post after Saturday’s win over the Leafs that was a showcase of all those qualities. “Being connected on the forecheck, being connected on the breakouts. I said it before the game: If one guy’s not doing his job, then the whole system breaks down and everyone needs to be on the same page working together. You can see it all coming together.”
To put it in a sentence: They have played like an extremely well-coached team, even as DeBoer has continually and correctly cautioned that they need to get better.
“I think we’ve learned a lot from each other,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper — who employed DeBoer as an assistant on Team Canada for the last two years — said a week ago Saturday. “What he did for us at the 4 Nations, it was a no-brainer bringing him back for the Olympics. He gets it. Sees the game. There’s a reason he’s coached for so many years. The guy finds a way.”
He can find a way here too. The Islanders can find a way. Just look at how the Islanders stuck it out Saturday night with 10 forwards on the road.
“It just shows how good this group is and how close we are to each other,” Simon Holmstrom told reporters. “Everyone is there for each other, to support one another. Just digging deep out there. Being able to get a win, it’s just great team spirit as well.”
The Islanders are 4-3-1, and decidedly imperfect. Their scoring was a cause for concern before; it is that much bigger an issue now. It also remains to be seen how their defense will hold up against the class of the league: next week’s three-game trip to Dallas, Nashville and Minnesota before the Isles get home and face Edmonton on Halloween looms as a massive test.
But if they stick to the formula — stout defense, good goaltending and a heavy dose of Matthew Schaefer’s seemingly endless energy — they will give themselves a chance in every one of those. The hockey won’t be pretty, the record won’t be world beating, but the Islanders can keep themselves in the mix.
