ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders have done something they haven’t done in over a calendar year: Win a game in a shootout.
Facing a second straight loss after Freddy Gaudreau of the Seattle Kraken snuck the opener past Islanders netminder David Rittich, the red-hot Bo Horvat converted what would have been his side’s final chance with a quick wrister that beat netminder Joey Daccord. Kyle Palmieri snapped the winner in the next round, lifting the Islanders to a 1-0 victory on Sunday night at UBS Arena.
“It was nice to see Bo score that one because no one wanted to go back in the dressing room with a loss, even in a shootout,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “Then [Palmieri] finished the deal right after that. There was a lot of pressure on Bo. But right now, he’s responding to every challenge and deserves a lot of credit for it.”
It was just the third time ever that the Islanders (13-8-2) won by a score of 1-0 in a shootout, while breaking a five-game shootout skid that dated back to Nov. 5, 2024, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The result helps soften the fact that the Islanders have scored just one goal in open play over their last two games (65 minutes), which began with a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon — their first game back at home following a seven-game road trip in which they went 6-1-0.
“It’s weird, back-to-back earlier starts, no pre-game skates,” Palmieri said. “We just wanted to get off to a good start. I thought we had some energy off the back-to-back. We’re excited to be back home in front of our fans on a weekend.”
Rittich continued to prove reliable in his relief appearances for Ilya Sorokin. The veteran turned away all 19 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, plus three more in the shootout.
“David was outstanding out there,” Roy said. “It was a great team effort on a back-to-back, tough schedule. We talked about it before the game. We didn’t want to lose two in a row. It was important to come with a solid performance like this one.”
