Kyle Palmieri’s return to form and Matias Maccelli’s first goal in an Islanders sweater gave New York exactly the kind of spark it needed in a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, and both players were rewarded for it after the final horn.
Palmieri delivered the loudest night of the bunch, scoring twice, including the game-winner, as he picked up his first goal and point since coming back from ACL surgery. He also earned the hardest worker helmet from Logan Stanley after a performance that looked like a step forward from the start.
“I saw signs of it last game, and I told him that I thought last game was his best game,” Islanders Head Coach Pete DeBoer said of Palmieri. “There were some really good signs that he was starting to get his timing back and do some of the things that he does well, and it was nice for him to get rewarded tonight."
Palmieri opened the scoring in the first period, finishing off a feed from Matt Kessel. He wasn’t done there. With the game later back in the Islanders’ control, Palmieri struck again in the third period to restore the lead, taking a wraparound feed from behind the net from Maccelli and snapping a wrist shot past Leevi Merilainen’s glove side.
Maccelli had his own breakthrough night, scoring his first goal as an Islander and earning the player of the game oar. His goal came just a minute after Palmieri’s opener, when Matthew Schaefer moved the puck to Maccelli on the left side and he buried a top-shelf finish past Merilainen.
“Maybe I was thinking a little bit more to shoot, be a threat that way too, not just on a pass to the guys,” Maccelli said on his approach entering the game.
DeBoer also made a mid-game adjustment that paid off, moving Maccelli from the fourth line up to the top line with Palmieri and Bo Horvat. Maccelli responded with a team-high six shots and later set up the winning goal, adding the game-winning assist to his night.
“I think we got a guy that is out to prove something, and I think he knows he's a good player in the league,” DeBoer said. “He's been a good player in the league.
He's produced at a really good level in this league before. He just had a couple tough years the last couple years.
The last year in Utah and in Toronto last year for different reasons, so I think we got a really motivated guy that bet on himself with that contract in order to prove that he's the player that we all feel he is.”
For Maccelli, the production - and the trust - meant plenty.
“Yeah, it's awesome,” Maccelli said on contributing the game-winning assist. “You want to go in and boost your confidence.
All of a sudden, they start calling you out there. So, it feels really good.”
In Other News...
Mathew Barzal Found Unexpected Inspiration During His Injury Comeback
Mathew Barzals road back from a knee injury has been a long one, but an unexpected moment on live television gave the Islanders forward a boost he probably did not see coming. During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Barzal was surprised by Tommy Ryan, a fan whose connection to the team and to Barzal goes back to Ryans hospitalization, when he credited the Islanders for helping him get through leukemia treatment.
The relationship has grown from there, including a previous meeting at UBS Arena, and Ryans presence clearly hit home for Barzal as he continues working his way through recovery. For a player trying to navigate the patience and grind of coming back, finding motivation in the story of a fan who drew strength from him in the first place is a reminder that these ties can run both ways. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Schaefer Is Giving Islanders Fans A Massive Reason To Believe
At 19, Matthew Schaefer is already logging a workload that would be notable for a veteran, let alone a rookie defenseman. The Islanders are trusting him with 25:26 of ice time per game, and even in a role that still leaves him with limited shorthanded duty, his influence has been obvious every night hes on the ice.
The numbers back up what the eye test suggests. Schaefers underlying profile includes a 54.9% expected goals share and 3.52 expected goals for per 60 minutes, markers of a player driving play rather than just surviving it. With that kind of start, it is easy to see why the conversation around him is already stretching far beyond this season and into the kind of upside that can reshape a blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Needed This Win And One Young Name Keeps Standing Out
The Islanders got the kind of win they badly needed against Vancouver, and it came with some familiar names doing the heavy lifting. Kyle Palmieri scored twice and Matias Maccelli added a goal, while the game also offered another look at Matthew Schaefer, whose play continues to make him hard to ignore as the season moves along.
Matt Kessel also stepped into the picture by making his Islanders debut in place of Scott Mayfield, a lineup tweak that added another wrinkle to a night that already had a little bit of everything. Vancouver made things interesting with a late push, but the Islanders still found a way to leave with two points, and Palmieris night was the sort of reminder that the veteran can still tilt a game when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]