Islanders 4, Kraken 0: Bo Horvat scores his first as an Islander in big win

Feb 8, 2023 - 3:52 AM

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That has to be one of the best New York Islanders performances in at least a month, right? Bo Horvat’s acquisition seems to have given new energy to the team and to the fans. All four lines were rolling tonight, the defense looked good (though Alex Romanov was absent tonight for personal reasons - probably related to the birth of his daughter a few days ago) and Ilya Sorokin was Ilya Sorokin.

It’s still a big hill to climb for a playoff spot given all the ground lost in January, but maybe Horvat was the shot in the arm this team needed...

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First Period

Andre Burakovsky left the game after one 20 second shift and didn’t return, Seattle announcing that he picked up a lower body injury.

Samuel Bolduc opened up the scoring for the Islanders. His shot from the blue line got past Martin Jones, who appeared to be screened, and that resulted in the rookie’s first NHL goal.

Ryan Pulock lined up a big slapshot that was saved by Jones, and Mat Barzal took a sneaky wrist shot that beat Jones, but he hit the post.

Josh Bailey had a good chance, a puck he was able to get around Jones, but he couldn’t tuck it home.

At the other end, Morgan Geekie had a shot go off the post.

Towards the end of the first, the Pageau line had a great shift in the Kraken end, and Simon Holmstrom was able to be the beneficiary, as the puck got to him all alone in front of Jones, and he made it 2-0.

Second Period

Casey Cizikas took a puck to the ear and had to get some help on the bench, but he was ultimately fine, minus a little bit of bleeding.

It appeared JG Pageau extended the Islanders lead to 3-0, with a nifty shot after a fortuitous bounce, but he wouldn’t get credited with the goal, which was tipped in off Zach Parise’s stick.

Then, the moment everyone was hoping for - Mat Barzal won the puck from Yanni Gourde against the boards, and passed it off to Bo Horvat, who buried his first as a New York Islander.

The crowd was amped up, chanting Hor-vat after, and in his intermission interview, Bo seemed to be very appreciative of the warm welcome.

After the Horvat goal, Seattle started to push, and the Islanders needed Sorokin to make some saves on Jared McCann, Eeli Tolvanen, and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Then, the Islanders took the first penalty of the game, a too many men bench minor, sending them to the penalty kill.

Sorokin once again was great, especially with two big stops on Alex Wennberg, and he was just generally his peak Sorokin self as the Kraken tried to come back from their four goal deficit.

Third Period

We had another Barzal to Horvat moment, but this one went off the post, sparing the crowd from going truly insane for our new dynamic duo.

Sorokin had to make a good save on our old friend Jordan Eberle.

Brock Nelson nearly made it 5-0, off a great pass from Anders Lee, but he couldn’t get the shot off into an empty net.

The Islanders got their first power play of the game in the last five minutes of the period, which mostly allowed them to kill off some clock time.

They were able to close out the game and pick up their fourth straight win, while Ilya Sorokin picked up his fifth(!) shutout this season.

Up Next

Next, the Islanders will be welcoming Anthony Beauvillier and the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, as our recent trade partners come to UBS Arena. Should be an emotional game for Bo and for Beau, as the Isles look to pick up five straight wins.