Islanders Preseason News: Different roster, different result, little bit better

The Islanders rebounded from an opening los— oh hell, this is preseason, there is no continuity nor meaning any narratives.

After a loss to the Rangers on Tuesday, a different roster faced the less-imposing Flyers on Wednesday and won, 2-1. Lane Lambert noted progress but still lots of work to do.

It was not a dominant nor particularly impressive performance, but they won and gave the home fans something to cheer.

Julien Gauthier and Simon Holmstrom, who could conceivably be fighting for the same roster spot, got the goals. Ilya Sorokin got some work in, Oliver Wahlstrom appeared in his first game since December, and Ruslan Iskhakov made a pretty cool interception on the backcheck to break up a Flyers odd-man rush.

Islanders News

• Three Takeaways: Holmstrom, Wahlstrom, Gauthier. [Isles]
• Now it’s Holmstrom’s turn to try to cash in on the wing next to Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal. [Post]
• Brock Nelson is good. [THN]
• Are Anders Lee and J-G Pageau a fit? [LHH]

Elsewhere

• When prompted, Connor McDavid agrees it would be good for his legacy if he won a Stanley Cup. You don’t say. [NHL | Sportsnet]
• The Flames have signed a two-year deal with Mikael Backlund, who becomes captain. [TSN | Red Mile Hockey]
• The Post and Paul Bissonnette are two sides of the same attention-seeking coin. So makes sense one is “reporting” on the other’s hot takes. This is the kind of pulp that made me fail to see any heroism in his Mike Babcock takedown. (In fact, the Post, Bissonnette and Babcock are kind of made for each other.) [Post]