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Lighthouse Hockey

Lighthouse Hockey: Try to fixate on something else.

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Islanders 3, Maple Leafs 1: Ritchie shines in homecoming

Unsurprisingly in the lead up to this game, all the media attention for the New York Islanders was on rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer, who is from Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up going to Toronto Maple Leafs games. Blah, blah, you’ve heard it all before. But it would be a different rookie from the Toronto area […]

Islanders @ Maple Leafs [game thread]

Back by (popular?) demand, we’ll try to have game thread posts that are separate from the morning thread and any other posts. Ideally, this is to help people riff in-the-moment (hilarious, heated, or otherwise) while not having the emotional reactions get confused in the morning/daytime threads. You know, like once upon a time. The Islanders […]

Islanders Gameday: Schaefer in Toronto; Varlamov’s *two new knees*

Is Lou Lamoriello still around? Because only learning now that Semyon Varlamov’s two-season-long “lower body injury” is TWO KNEE REPLACEMENTS — and thanks to Patrick Roy mentioning it (likely off script) in a media scrum — feels very Lou-esque. He hasn’t played since late November 2024, so you knew there were serious issues, but still… […]

Islanders News: Headed north to settle some things

The Islanders begin their last road “trip” of the regular season as they head north of the border for visits to tanking Toronto and still playoff-holding Montreal and playoff-hopeful Ottawa. After this trip, they’ll finish with 10 of 12 games at home and only single-game trips to make up those two away games in Buffalo […]

Islanders 3, Flames 2: Got the points after Holmstrom pair

For the third Islanders game in a row, a team got out to a 3-0 lead and had trouble holding it. This time, however, the Islanders — after lamenting their slow starts — got that early lead only to make things tough on themselves in the third. Still, they hung on for the two points […]

Islanders vs. Flames Gameday: Need the points

The Islanders really need to not mess this up. The second-worst team in the league (even worse than the Rangers) is in town and the Isles need the points in the very tight Eastern Conference playoff race. David Rittich will get the start, so hopefully he and the skaters in front of him recapture their […]

Kings 3, Islanders 2: This comeback falls short

The Islanders kicked off an important mini-homestand with their second loss to the Los Angeles Kings in eight days. This one was closer than the deceptive 5-3 loss in Los Angeles, but it didn’t look headed that way when the Isles fell behind 3-0 in the first period. That’s the second game in a row […]

Islanders vs. Kings Gameday: Line adjustments

The Islanders are back home for a back-to-back, starting with what will hopefully be a vengeance match against the Los Angeles Kings. Coach Patrick Roy has made some line adjustments, putting newcomer Brayden Schenn with Mathew Barzal instead of with Calum Ritchie, the center who his arrival bumped to the wing. Personally, it’s the Palat-Schenn […]

Islanders News: Life’s fun when your team is 10-0 in OT

With an extra day between games and preceding a rare home back-to-back, it’s a good day to sit back and relish the joy, the rarity and surreal fact that the Islanders are 10-0 in games decided in overtime this year. Mathew Barzal’s streaking goal in St. Louis was the latest addition to the chronicles, largely […]

Islanders 4, Blues 3 (OT): Barzal caps 3-goal comeback

The Islanders’ incredible overtime magic continued with their 10th OT winner of the season, this time built off the foundation of a three-goal comeback and a rare double-power-play conversion from a team whose power play can rarely shoot straight. Mat Barzal finished the 4-3 win in St. Louis, using his speed to wrongfoot forward Jordan […]

Islanders vs. Blues Gameday: Road trip finale, Darche talks deadline

The Islanders’ final out-of-time-zone road trip comes to a conclusion tonight in St. Louis, with a golden chance to go .500 on a four-game trip that began with a couple of stinkers in Southern California. The Blues are in the middle of a cratering season that has brought Brayden Schenn to Long Island. However, they […]

Islanders Anxiety – Episode 364 – Breakfast with the Islanders

Dan is joined by Lighthouse Hockey’s Jenny Berman to discuss the acquisition of Brayden Schenn and the games surrounding this season’s Trade Deadline. It was a wild weekend for the Islanders, who dropped two massive duds in Anaheim and LA, then made a shocking last minute trade for the St. Louis Blues captain on Friday’s […]

Islanders Gameday: In San Jose with Schenn, #10

The 2025-26 New York Islanders begin the rest of their season with a roster that has three veterans they did not have a couple of months ago. Two of them were once semi-stars but are now in their decline — while carrying cap hits that reflect the former phase than the latter — but Mathieu […]

Islanders News: Trade Deadline Day thread

On the NHL’s trade deadline day, the New York Islanders are in playoff position but far from contender position. They have a Vezina candidate (favorite?) goalie and a Calder favorite who have driven an exciting season above expectations. Their power play is abysmal, and their overall team defense often leaves us scratching our head. They […]

Kings 5, Islanders 3: Chasing their tails

It’s a good thing the Islanders managed three dramatic comeback wins coming out of the Olympic break, because then they headed to southern California and played like doodoo. Actually, their starts and play in SoCal wasn’t that much different from the prior three games, just the bounces and outcomes were a little different. They followed […]

Islanders vs. Kings Gameday: 2nd try in SoCal

The Islanders’ Olympic-spanning win streak ended in a Husso in Anaheim Wednesday night, but they have another chance to pick up points from Southern California tonight vs. the Kings. First Islanders Goal picks go here. Islanders News Elsewhere

Ducks 5 (EN), Islanders 1: Toss it out

The California trip got off to a thud of a start with a 5-1 loss in Anaheim as the Islanders could not get much going and could not finish nor get better looks against the Ducks’ backup-backup goalie. Ville Husso made 42 saves, but the game really turned in the first period as the Islanders […]

Islanders Gameday News: California swing begins in Anaheim

The Islanders and their five-game win streak touched down in California and got their skating legs going at practice Tuesday. A back-to-back begins tonight in Anaheim, which will be playing its own back-to-back after losing at home last night to the Avalanche. After an orange-heavy kickoff, this trip includes Los Angeles tomorrow and San Jose […]

Islanders News: Heading west with magic in their pocket

The Islanders are headed West, where the Kings are falling but the Ducks are surging again. A few bounces here or there and they could be beginning this trip under a dark cloud, but the comebacks and magical individual efforts to win the last three games have them six points ahead of the next Metro […]

Islanders Anxiety – Episode 363 – Pixie Dust Everywhere

Mike and Dan are relaxed and excited as the Islanders win three in a row and put themselves in good position for both the playoffs and the NHL Trade Deadline. We were worried that going into two places they never win in – Montreal and Columbus – and coming back to face the rabid Panthers […]