Thanks to their 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night the New York Islanders are now the owners of the NHL’s longest winning streak this season, extending their current streak to six games.
That winning streak matches their longest winning streak from the 2018-19 season. They will try to make it seven consecutive games on Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers. Six of their next seven games take place on home ice.
But back to Friday’s game for a second because this one had a little bit of everything, including...
Nick Leddy had a hat trick -- until he didn’t
For about 20 minutes it appeared as if Leddy had recorded a natural hat trick by scoring three consecutive goals, which would have made him the first Islanders defender to record a hat trick since Denis Potvin. That moment in history would be short-lived, however, as a scoring change later took away his third goal and awarded it to forward Matt Martin. Tough break, but still a big night for one of the Islanders’ top defenders. Especially since...
Leddy still made Islanders history
And he did so thanks to his second goal which he scored on a penalty shot.
That is a big moment for the Islanders because it marked the first time in Islanders’ franchise history that a defender scored on a penalty shot. Here is a look at the play.
Entering play on Friday Leddy had scored just five goals in his past 98 games dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season (including playoffs). He scored two in five minutes of game-time on Friday, then nearly added a third.
One of the Tkachuk brothers was making people mad again
Usually it is Matthew causing trouble out in Calgary, but on this night it was Brady getting into it with Islanders forward Casey Cizikas.
Do not mess with Thomas Greiss
He was excellent in the Islanders’ net by stopping 30 of 32 shots he faced. The only Senator that seemed to give him an issue was forward Tyler Ennis, who not only scored both of the Senators’ goals, but also started a little bit of a melee late in the game when he poked his stick into Greiss’ glove, infuriating the Islanders goalie.
Warning: You mess with Greiss, he's not so nice 😡 #Isles | @NYIslanders pic.twitter.com/ueaQtHc683
— Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) October 26, 2019
After starting the season 1-3 the Islanders have been on a roll to climb back toward the top of the Metropolitan Division to not only keep pace with the Washington Capitals, but also try to show their success a year ago was not a fluke.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.