Takeaways: Islanders Fall 7-2 to Utah

The New York Islanders dropped a 7-2 decision to the Utah Mammoth on Thursday afternoon at UBS Arena.

Cal Ritchie and Matthew Schaefer (PPG) scored for the Islanders, but Dylan Guenther’s hat trick and goals Nick Schmaltz (2G) and Mikhail Sergachev lifted Utah to the win.

David RIttich allowed five goals on 14 shots before he was replaced by Marcus Hogberg, who made his season debut and made five saves on seven shots in relief. Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves in the win for Utah. The Islanders and Mammoth concluded the season series tied at one game apiece.

- The Islanders got off to a hot start, jumping out of the gate with a 10-0 shot advantage midway through the opening frame, which Head Coach Patrick Roy saw as a missed opportunity not to captialize with a dominant shot advantage. The Mammoth exploded with three goals in the second period and four in the third. It was also an uncharacteristic night for the Isles PK, which allowed a pair of goals (on five opportunities) for the first time since Dec. 16 in Detroit.

“If we were able to score in that first period, it would have given us some momentum,” Roy said. “But after that, it’s probably more about the detail of the game. We lost one-on-one battles and we should have been better in those areas. We took some offensive zone penalties, too many men. So these details, at some point, are going to hurt you.”

- Bo Horvat left the game in the third period after he collided with Sean Durzi in the neutral zone and did not return. Roy did not have an update on Horvat postgame, but said he’ll be evaluated on Friday by team doctors. Horvat leads the team in scoring with 33 points (21G, 12A) through 36 games.

- The Islanders have been struggling offensively as of late, with 17 goals (excludingf shootout winners) in their last nine games (1.88 GF/GP).

“When you score two goals a game, it’s pretty tough to win,” Scott Mayfield said after the loss. “I like some of the chances we had, but it’s about being a little hungrier around the net and finding those lanes.”

- Guenther’s first career hat trick made a huge impact for Utah. He broke open the scoring 36 seconds into the second period, as his shot deflected off Adam Pelech’s stick and off Rittich’s mask and in. He struck again in the same period, receiving a no-look pass from Lawson Crouse and buried his second goal of the game at the 10:20 mark of the second period. He completed the hat trick to make it 6-2 on a two-on-one by burying his team-leading 20^th goal of the season.

- Ritchie drew four-minute high sticking penalty and the Islanders could not convert on the opportunity. The Isles went 1-for-5 on the power play.

- Rittich started a sixth-straight game on Thursday, marking the first time the netminder had six starts in a row since Jan. 28th - Feb. 17, 2024 when he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

- Ritchie netted his sixth goal of the season on Thursday. Before the game, Roy praised the way Ritchie’s line with Simon Holmstrom and Max Shabanov played in Chicago, and it was the only line he did not change heading into Thursday’s matchup against Utah. Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal centered their own lines after they were on the same line in Chicago.

- Schaefer’s long shot cleanly beat Vejmelka on the power play to cut the deficit to 5-2 at the 11:48 mark of the third period. Schaefer’s 10^th goal of the season broke history, as he became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach the 10-goal mark and the seventh skater in the NHL to achieve the feat.

“It’s pretty cool, the guys in here help me so much, they just feed me and I just hope it goes in,” Schaefer said. “You don’t really think about things like that, you just want to keep going and keep pushing yourself.”

- Max Tsyplakov returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 20. He recorded three hits in 13:32 and had a grade-A chance in the first period, ripping a shot from the slot. Kyle MacLean also returned to the lineup after sitting on Tuesday in Chicago – he played on the same line as Tsyplakov and logged 11:51 TOI and recorded one shot on goal. Anthony Duclair and Marc Gatcomb were healthy scratches as a result.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at 7 PM.