The New York Islanders held their first scrimmage of Training Camp on Friday, putting practice into play in 40 minutes of game action. The Blue and White Groups tied 1-1. Bo Horvat netted a goal for the Blue Group while Victor Eklund tallied a goal for the White Group on a Matthew Schaefer assist.
"It's really hard in practice to mimic that game feel where you've got bodies around you and contact and time and space," Islanders Head Coach Pete DeBoer said. "It doesn't matter the drill you're doing; it's hard to replicate that unless you're scrimmaging. We wanted to get into that scrimmage situation quickly. It's also a way for us to see guys and give them an opportunity to show what they can do because we don't have a lot of exhibition games. So, this would be our version of another small exhibition game and a chance to show what you can do in a game situation."
Semyon Varlamov and Vitek Vanecek split goaltending duties for the Blue Group, while Ilya Sorokin and Joshua Kotai split the game for the White Group. All four goalies played 20 minutes between the pipes.
