"This one was all about goaltending. Rittich, making just his eighth appearance of the season, stopped all 19 shots he faced for his first shutout as an Islander. And he earned every bit of it. "They had 19 shots, so that tells you a lot about the guys in front of me," Rittich said. "A lot of blocked shots, a lot of effort defensively... We're playing really good hockey.""
"On the other side, Seattle's Joey Daccord matched him save for save through 65 minutes, finishing with 34 stops before the skills competition finally broke the deadlock. After Bo Horvat extended the shootout in Round 3, Palmieri stepped up in Round 4 and froze Daccord with a smooth forehand-to-backhand move that went glove-side."
""Both goalies were incredible," Palmieri said. "Rittich gave us a chance, and we were lucky enough to come through for him." Patrick Roy praised his team's commitment to structure, especially on the second half of a back-to-back."We didn't give them many chances," Roy said. "And when we did, Rittich was outstanding. Great team effort... We talked about it: we don't want to lose two in a row.""
The New York Islanders defeated the Seattle Kraken 1-0 in a shootout at UBS Arena, driven by outstanding goaltending and defensive structure. David Rittich stopped all 19 shots for his first Islanders shutout in his eighth appearance, while Seattle's Joey Daccord made 34 saves through overtime. Bo Horvat extended the shootout, and Kyle Palmieri won it in Round 4 with a forehand-to-backhand move that beat Daccord glove-side. Coaches and players credited blocked shots, effort, and team structure for limiting chances. The victory improved the Islanders to 13-8-2 overall and 7-2-0 in their last nine games.
Read at Eyes On Isles
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]