After sitting out nine straight games, New York Islanders rookie forward Maxim Shabanov found himself in the lineup on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues for the first time since Jan. 31.
He came in for forward Anthony Duclair, who skated on the fourth line in their 2-1 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Shabanov played 10:07 minutes in their 4-3 comeback overtime win, which included 1:14 on the second power-play unit, recording two shots on three attempts.
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When Shabanov was on the ice at 5-on-5, 8:52, the Islanders were outshot 5-3 and outscored 1-0.
However, they did have four scoring chances, three of which were considered high-danger chances. On the goal against, Shabanov definitely wants to get his stick or body in front of Dylan Holloway’s shot from the top of the left circle, which beat a screened Ilya Sorokin.
It happens, especially as a rookie. Other things went wrong on that play.
In the third period, Shabanov made a power move, cutting to the top of the crease off the rush, but Blues netminder Jordan Hofer made the save.
Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Standing at 5’9, he has a strong ability to find open ice, which is what led to that scoring chance. Shabanov doesn’t force things, and we saw a handful of times on Tuesday when the 25-year-old Russian forward looked up the ice but opted for the smarter read, sending the puck back to his defenseman to start a cleaner breakout.
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It’s hard to remain confident in your ability when you sit for as long as Shabanov has, but he’s been putting in a ton of work behind the scenes. Whether it’s after practice or morning skate, Shabanov seems to always be on the ice for an hour-plus, working 1-on-1 with Benoit Desrosiers.
Getting acclimated to the NHL has been a process, but it says something that Patrick Roy went with him on their road trip finale, a game they really needed to win with the Columbus Blue Jackets breathing down their neck.
Shabanov also saw some minutes with Brayden Schenn and Ondrej Palat afer Calum Ritchie’s failed coverage on the Jimmy Snuggerud goal at 9:10 of the second period, which gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
The question is, does Roy rotate the fourth-line left-wing spot for a few games before just riding the hot hand?
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Are Shabanov’s hands warm enough to get another game? Duclair should be the guy in there given his speed and goal-scoring ability, but seeing him come out for Shabanov wasn’t a good sign for No. 11 in what’s been another difficult season on Long Island.
Kyle MacLean had held that role for quite some time, but a few rough games saw him come out. He’s served as one of the two healthy scratches for the last two games.
The Islanders are back in action against the Los Angeles Kings at UBS Arena on Friday, the first of a back-to-back, before they host the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The Kings handed the Islanders a 5-3 loss last Wednesday in Los Angeles.
