A Hopeful Start To The Season...

<p>Welcome back to the Isles Den Podcast! </p><p>First things first: the Bo Horvat panic was for nothing, he didn't miss a game while Frank Nazar got a two game suspension for the hit. <br /><br />The Islanders sit at 3-3 without Mathew Barzal. Today we covered the heartbreaking 5-3 loss to the Lightning, the bounce back 3-2 win over the Canucks, and opened up the mailbag to answer all of your submitted Islanders questions. <br /><br />The Tampa game gave us the play of the NHL season so far... Matthew Schaefer crossing up Anthony Cirelli, (a perennial Selke finalist), before burying the shot that flipped the whole game. The Isles went toe to toe with a Cup contender without Barzal on an off night from Ilya Sorokin, not too bad! <br /><br />Against Vancouver it was Kyle Palmieri's turn to answer the bell as notched two goals, while Matias Maccelli picked up two assists and is starting to look like the player I bet big on all summer. </p><p>Credit to Pete DeBoer too: ice time on this team is being earned, with Ondrej Palat and Anthony Duclair climbing the lineup instead of riding their contracts. <br /><br />Lastly, we ran through the early Metropolitan Division picture, explained why this stretch reminds him of year one under Barry Trotz, and with Barzal's return around the corner, took your questions on who comes out of the lineup. <br /><br />Chapters</p><ul><li>00:00 Bo Horvat Is NOT injured</li><li>01:20 NYI vs. TBL Recap: A Heartbreaking Loss </li><li>03:30 Matthew Schaefer's Play of the Season </li><li>06:00 A Moral Victory Without Barzal </li><li>07:00 NYI vs. VAN Recap: Kyle Palmieri Bounces Back</li><li>09:45 Ice Time Is Being Earned Under Pete DeBoer </li><li>11:30 Metropolitan Division Check-In </li><li>13:15 The Barry Trotz Year One Parallel </li><li>14:00 Q&amp;A: Your Islanders Questions</li></ul><p>Socials: <a href="https://linktr.ee/islesden" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://linktr.ee/islesden</a></p>