Ilya Sorokin’s first career win took the spotlight in a 3-0 victory against Buffalo, but the game winning goal belonged to captain Anders Lee who tapped home a pass from Noah Dobson to get the scoring started. It was a nice goal, so let’s break it down.

The play began with a simple regroup. Andy Greene, at his own blue-line, tapped the puck to a retreating Mat Barzal. He then passed the puck to Dobson at the top of the far circle in the Islanders’ zone. With room to skate, the young defenseman moved into the neutral zone. Meanwhile, Josh Bailey waited on the boards near the Buffalo bench while Anders Lee curled and glided up-ice on the near side. Dobson sent a pass to Bailey who tapped the puck between his legs back to the streaking defenseman. With all that speed, Dobson was able to get around Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju and fire a cross-ice pass to Lee before a backchecking Kyle Okposo could reach him. All Lee had to do was tap it into the yawning cage.

The goal resulted from a well-executed regroup, a basic hockey play that teams at all levels work on. Dobson chose to skate the puck while Lee and Bailey filled their lanes on either side of the ice. Mat Barzal remained available for support. Buffalo forward Cody Eakin covered Barzal, eliminating one Buffalo defender right off the bat. As Dobson left his own zone, Buffalo forward Tobias Rieder pressured him to move the puck. Since Bailey was in the right spot, Dobson was able to send a pass to him.

Dobson continued to generate speed as he skated up the ice, which allowed Bailey to give the puck right back to him. Bailey had to get the pass off quickly as Buffalo defenseman Matt Irwin checked Bailey while he was making the pass. This simple give-and-go in the neutral zone gets the puck through two more Sabres, leaving Henri Jokiharju as the only defender still in position. Kyle Okposo was puck-watching and had to hustle back on the other side to cover Lee.

Okposo was caught slightly too far towards the middle of the ice, which allowed Lee to sneak behind him along the near-side boards. The Islanders’ captain stayed wide to keep separation from his former teammate. Back on the other side, Jokiharju had to slide in order to take away Dobson’s space. However, Dobson built up enough speed to make it a tough play for the Buffalo defenseman. Dobson whipped a perfect pass through the kneeling Jokiharju and the lagging Okposo right on the tape of Lee.

Anders Lee scored an impressive goal. It was one of his signature goals off the rush, a strong-side one-timer. A left-winger coming down the left side usually has a tough time getting significant power on shots like that, but Lee makes it a large part of his game as we saw in the playoffs last year. Anders Lee scored a similar goal in Game one against the Flyers.

Dobson continues to show growth and confidence as an everyday player in the Islanders’ lineup. With Head Coach Barry Trotz trusting him on the power play and pairing him with defensively-responsible Andy Greene, Isles fans will likely see the sophomore continue to show his talent.

John Smark