Hockey Night In New York - A New York Islanders Podcast · Hockey Night In New York

1/18/26 - Safe Travels!

January 19, 2026·1 hr 24 min·5 clips

Matthew Schaefer logged 26 minutes against Connor McDavid and did not allow a goal.

January 18th gets messy fast. The show starts from home after weather blows up the plan, with Sean Cuthbert calling it the first remote Hockey Night in New York show. Skeleton crew, same Isles pulse. The main thread is the 2-2-1 road trip and the need to get back to winning ways before the last stop. Vancouver cannot be treated like a warmup. Arthur Staple says the Islanders cannot look past any game, especially with the way they have handled some bottom-10 teams. Then Seattle enters, and that Lane Lambert reunion has teeth. The Kraken sit third in the Pacific with 51 points, have lost two straight, and still play the kind of low-event hockey Islanders fans know too well. They do not create a ton, Staple says, but they also do not give up much, especially around high-danger chances. Philippe Grubauer taking the net back helps the whole thing feel even stickier. The Rangers game is the warning label: Seattle fell behind early, kept grinding, and won on hardworking goals. Jersey had to drag another low-event night into overtime. That is the trap for the Islanders. Staple connects it to Lambert's years under Barry Trotz, where the message was plain enough: nobody gets an easy night. The end loosens up with social feeds, the Tri-State Hockey Report, missing regulars, and the hope of getting back to Borelli's next week.

As heard by us

A remote Islanders road-trip check-in that treats Vancouver and Seattle as must-handle tests.

The episode follows a remote Islanders check-in with Sean Cuthbert and Arthur Staple, opening live from home on Sunday, January 18, 2026 and settling quickly into the 2-2-1 road trip.

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Why you'd press play

If you want the Islanders road trip framed like a fan-room argument, press play.

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