NYHN Daily: Remembering Gillies, Islanders Win Streak Snapped & More

On Friday night, the New York Islanders lost a legend as Clark Gillies tragically passed away at the age of 67. We send our condolences to his family, his friends, and anyone he has ever touched. The Toronto Maple Leafs snapped the Islanders’ three-game winning streak, with the turning point coming with less than a second to play in the first period.

These stories and more in today’s daily links!

Keeping it on the Island

On Friday night, the New York Islanders lost a legend as Clark Gillies tragically passed away at the age of 67. It was a devastating loss for the Islanders ‘community as memories of not just the player that Clark was, but of the man that he was, poured onto social media from ex-teammates, legendary figures in the sports, and the fanbase. (NYI Hockey Now)

The New York Islanders failed to push their win streak to four games as they fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday night in the second of their back-to-back. The Islanders fall back to NHL .500 with a 14-14-6 record, a 7-7-3 record at UBS Arena. (NYI Hockey Now)

After tying the score at one late in the first period, it seemed that the New York Islanders would be heading to the dressing room with their heads held high after a strong finish to the opening frame. However, a lack of attention with seconds to go allowed Toronto to take the lead, and turn the game in their favor. (NYI Hockey Now)

Around the National Hockey Now Boards

The Boston Bruins have now won ten of their last 12 games and two straight games since the 7-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. After their best player, Brad Marchand made a surprise return to the lineup, the Bruins came back to tie the game twice and then got another game-winning goal from David Pastrnak on a powerplay goal 3:59 into the third period. (Boston Hockey Now)

Neither Team Canada nor Team Russia has yet released their full hockey rosters for the Beijing Olympics, so we may yet add a few names to the list. PHN has compiled the list of former Pittsburgh Penguins and Penguins prospects who will go for the gold. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

The Philadelphia Flyers lost in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon at the KeyBank Center, 6-3, and their winless streak is now 11 games — one shy of equaling an unwanted franchise record set in 1998-99, a season they made the playoffs. Their next game is Monday against visiting Dallas. The Flyers, who fell into last place in the Metropolitan Division, reached the halfway point of their disastrous season with a 13-20-8 record. (Philly Hockey Now)

A week before the Florida Panthers took the ice for their 2021-22 season opener, I penned my pre-season predictions for who on the team I thought would be the best fit for every individual award the NHL hands out. Granted, some of those predictions did not pan out well…(Florida Hockey Now)

Heading toward the end of the first period, the Washington Capitals found themselves without a shot on goal and down early to the Ottawa Senators after a bit of a slow start. Ultimately, as the team balanced a number of blue line absences, patience and sticking with the process proved to be key to a vital 3-2 victory overtime win over Ottawa on Saturday. (Washington Hockey Now)

The script wasn’t the same for the Detroit Red Wings. However, the denouement and the outcome were looking very familiar. A 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators was Detroit’s 13th loss over the club’s past 16 road games. Though the Red Wings gave a much better accounting of themselves than in a 5-2 home-ice loss to the Preds earlier this season, the end result remained the same. (Detroit Hockey Now)

The Montreal Canadiens got another brilliant performance in net and once again were able to earn in a point against a Stanley Cup contender. The Colorado Avalanche got the overtime tally to win 3-2, but Cayden Primeau was excellent in goal as he bounced back following a tough showing on Monday as he stopped 43 in the contest. (Montreal Hockey Now)

There was a lot to like on the Colorado Avalanche side of things in their contest against the Montreal Canadiens. No, it was not a blowout against a weaker team, but it was Avalanche’s 16th win in their last 18 games and Valeri Nichushkin was phenomenal in his return to the lineup with a goal and the primary assist on the Gabriel Landeskog overtime winner. Here are more of Adrian Dater’s observations from Saturday night. (Colorado Hockey Now)

The Vegas Golden Knights have played 41 games this season, which accounts for half of the 2021-22 NHL regular season. As the team once again sits in a multi-day pause let’s review every player on the roster’s performance so far this season and hand out player grades for the Golden Knights at the halfway mark. (Vegas Hockey Now)

The San Jose Sharks welcome in defending champs Tampa Bay Lightning to SAP Center. It was some welcome mat too, as the Sharks fell down 4-0 in the opening 12:32. James Reimer got pulled then, but the Sharks didn’t have answers, as they lost 7-1. Jaycob Megna scored for the Sharks, who start their death gauntlet before their February break — Tampa Bay tonight, Washington, Florida, Carolina, and Tampa Bay — with a quick death. Hope they got more quarters by Wednesday in Washington. (San Jose Hockey Now)

Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford worked from North Carolina at home with his wife and son until the Canucks came through last week and scooped him up. He jumped on the charter to Tennessee and then continued to British Columbia after the Canucks 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. He’s here for the long run now, looking to fill out the Canucks hockey operations management staff. There’s no guarantee or plan that the general manager has to be hired before the assistants. (Vancouver Hockey Now)

Leon Draisaitl was described with a certain ‘P’ word this week. On Saturday night, he added a few more against the Calgary Flames. Persistent, patient and potent. Along with the play of netminder Mikko Koskinen, the Oilers were able to snap their seven-game skid. (Calgary Hockey Now)