Islanders Robin Salo gets his pocket picked by Red Wings prospect

New York Islanders Robin Salo got his pocket absolutely picked by Detroit Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond resulting in an embarrassing goal against.

Robin Salo has been having a quiet but solid start to the 2020-21 season with Örebro of the SHL. The New York Islanders second-round pick from 2017, has been one of the most used players in Sweden’s top league averaging 23:41 of ice time per night.

The 22-year-old defender is skating in his second season in Sweden after Örebro plucked him from Finnish side SaiPa during the European transfer period last year. Since making the move he’s been a work-horse for Örebro.

He plays a responsible game and is typically poised when the puck is on his stick. But today

Detroit Red Wings

prospect Lucas Raymond (selected fourth overall at the 2020 draft) made Salo look like a novice.

Pocket = Picked

Again, one of Salo’s strengths is how poised he is with the puck on his stick. He isn’t typically forced into making a mistake and doesn’t give the puck away cheaply. He’s a smart and responsible player for Örebro, and it’s why he gets the minutes he does.

But as he tried to exit the zone with the puck today, Raymond pressed Salo into making a rare mistake and Salo paid for it dearly.

We aren’t talking about a play where Salo had his head down and didn’t see Raymond coming. It wasn’t even that Raymond surprised him from behind. Salo say Raymond coming the entire way and tried a few little moves to get out of Raymond’s way and it just wasn’t enough.

Salo will be seeing that goal in his nightmares for a while.

Salo has been having a solid 2020-21 season before this game. He’d finish this contest with a -3 rating (his lowest rating this season) and his 21:03 of ice time is the third lowest this season, the only games where he finished with less ice time was 20:56 of ice time on October 1 (20:56 TOI) and on October 22 (20:44 TOI) where Örebro lost 7-3 to Färjestad.

Thankfully, he won’t have too much time to dwell on the mistake. He’s back in action on Halloween night when Örebro plays Sellefteå, a team Salo’s team played on September 26 where they came away with a 4-1 win and where Salo had a helper, three shots on goal, two hits, and 22:47 minutes of ice time.