Islanders top five goals from 2021-22

Last year sucked, there's no other way to say it. It sucked. The New York Islanders 2021-22 season was just one negative twist after another it seemed.

And we're all well-rehearsed on the negatives. We've all been relentlessly talking about them since October. A 13-game road trip, a bungled response to a COVID outbreak in the team, injuries to key players, and a lack of production from other key players. All of it conspired together and saw the Isles miss the playoffs for the first time in four years.

But lets move on from that, at least for this post. Lets focus on some good.

For that, I'm looking at the top five goals by the Islanders in the 2021-22 season.

And by "top 5" I'm looking at some of the prettier, or well-worked goals from this past season. At least in my opinion. Something to give us a nice boost of dopamine by remembering some of the nicer goals scored.

I don't typically add honorable mentions, but I wanted to pass on a few a goals that didn't make my top five, but maybe make yours:

• Palmieri's epic power move against the Carolina Hurricanes on April 8
• Chara final goal for the Islanders, and maybe his NHL career vs Tampa on April 29
• Parise's goal off of Noah Dobson's insane pass vs. Columbus on March 29

Casey Cizikas vs. Washington Apr 26

There's nothing cooler than seeing a player scoring from their back-side. It's hard enough to score a goal in the NHL under normal (or expected) circumstances. Being able to score a goal while sitting on the ice is incredible.

Near the end of the year, Cizikas pulled off one of those goals.

There's so much more going on with this goal than just "he scored while on his butt". Which is already incredible in and of itself.

First, the opportunity was created thanks to Cizikas forechecking so aggressively that he causes the Capitals defenseman to absolutely bungle possession of the puck. Second, the goal was scored while the Isles were on the penalty kill.

But (pun intended) the finish is what is really impressive.

After all that work to push the Caps defenseman into a panic, Cizikas knows that Samsonov isn't back in his crease and thankfully the Caps goalie gets tanged up somehow as he returns to the crease. So as Cizikas falls he uses his knee to bump the puck away from himself and into some open ice where he backhands the disc into the toy department on the near side. Epic.

That's, just as IslesFix said, the best goal of the year. At least from the Islanders anyways.

Josh Bailey vs Washington Apr 28

Josh Bailey isn't known as a goal scorer. It's just not the main part of his game. He's been in the NHL for 14-years now and not once has he put up 20 goals in a year. Even when you pace out his goal-scoring to account for years with fewer than 82 games played, Bailey isn't a 20-goal scorer.

He's a pass-first guy. And sometimes (some would say often) to a fault. Bailey will typically look for the pass rather than finish off the play by himself.

That wasn't the case on April 28.

Kieffer Bellows is sitting alone on the far side waiting for that pass we all thought was coming. Clearly, Bailey told himself: "I've done this much work to carve out this chance, might as well see it through."

And rightfully, so he goes around Jonsson-Fjallby as if the Caps player wasn't even there, and with Vanecek deep in his crease, Bailey knows a move or two should be enough to open up a good portion of the net. A move or two is what he does before roofing the backhander in the net.

We haven't seen enough of that from Josh Bailey over his career. We know he's got some decent hands, but he doesn't flash them nearly enough. At this point of his career, as he's set to enter his 15th NHL season, I doubt that changes.

Noah Dobson vs. Buffalo Apr 23

By puck drop vs. Buffalo on April 23, Dobson already had eleven goals and 45 points to his name on the year. Even if he didn't hit 50 points it was an impressive showing from the kid.

But what the Islanders had been missing on the year, is a defenseman that can headman the puck up the ice from the D-zone into the O-zone. To have the confidence in his abilities to push the play, solo, up the ide. And, if he had to, finish the play. Or at least try.

And then Dobson did the thing on April 23.

Dobson, seeing an opening through the neutral zone skates the lane and accepts the pass at his own defensive blueline. With no real pressure from the Sabres defense, partly due to Dobson's speed, the Isles d-man decides to cut into the slot and stuffs it over the keeper for goal 12 on the year.

We haven't seen rushes like that since Nick Leddy skated on the Island. That's the type of skillset the Islanders needed to replace with back-to-back years of losing Devon Toews and the aforementioned Nick Leddy. Maybe the plan was that Dobson would fill that void on day one. Unfortunately, he didn't really start doing so till the latter half of the year.

The goal was a hell of a move from Dobson, who took a big step up this season. Adding this type of play to his game is something the Isles were missing from day one during the year. Hopefully, 2022-23 is the year he takes away as the premier puck-carrier for this team. Because as it stands now, they're going to need it.

Oliver Wahlstrom shootout vs PHI Jan 18

I didn't pick this goal out because it was particularly nice. There isn't anything really "nice" about it. It's a simple wrist shot that beats a keeper in a one-on-one situation. It's a pretty simple goal, specifically for a sniper like Oliver Wahlstrom.

The reason I chose this goal was for the context around it.

In January the Islanders the Islanders were hoping to bounce back from a dismal start to the year. And with a 7-2-1 record since December 7, it looked like the Isles were on their way heading to Philly.

Facing the Flyers for the second time in two nights, the game needed a shootout to decide who got the second point. And you'll remember that the shootout went deep. Like 18 shooters deep.

That 18th shooter was Oliver Wahlstrom. Barry Trotz confusingly decided to try a few other guys before Oliver Wahlstrom. This situation was the perfect microcosm of the Wahlstrom-Trotz dynamic. Trotz was punishing Wahlstrom for not capitalizing in previous shootout attempts on the year. And so he made the kid wait it out.

While Wahlstrom was 0/3 on the year in the shootout (pre-Jan 18), Beauvillier was also 0/3, and Barzal was 0/1. Was it fair to single out Wahlstrom like this? I don't think so. But Trotz did, and to his credit, he got the desired outcome from his young player.

And that's basically the story of Wahlstrom's season. Was it fair that Whalstrom's ice-time was cut time and time again because Trotz was looking for something specific out of him? I don't think so. Did he play particularly well enough to deserve more ice-time? Also, I don't think so. But sometimes a good way to get a player to perform is to give him more. And that's something Barry Trotz just didn't try with Wahlstrom this year.