The chance got here with 48 seconds left within the sport. The Islanders didn’t let it go to waste.
Anders Lee had by no means scored a hat trick throughout a profession that’s now in its tenth NHL 12 months, a reality Barry Trotz would later say shocked him, on condition that Lee is continually across the web. Now, he was being fed, repeatedly, with the Islanders holding a five-goal lead and a man-advantage within the ultimate minute of a sport that in any other case would have felt like nothing.
As a substitute, it grew to become a second to recollect, as Lee — with simply 1.3 seconds to go — accomplished a profession milestone. The Islanders have a working joke about former participant Eric Boulton working the hat trick membership, texting new members as soon as they get their first. Lee, practically a 12 months to the day after tearing his ACL, can have a textual content from Boulton when he appears at his telephone.
“I’ve been ready for that one for some time,” he stated afterwards.
Following the Isles’ 6-0 win over Columbus on Thursday night time, Lee has now scored 5 targets in two video games. He tore his ACL on March 12, 2021, in opposition to the Devils — an damage that Trotz stated, in his estimation, takes a few 12 months to heal.
Requested in regards to the damage on Thursday night, Lee picked his phrases rigorously. Everyone seems to be enjoying with bumps and bruises, he stated, and it’s clear he didn’t need to put himself forward of them. That's typical of a participant who, when Trotz took over because the Islanders coach and surveyed the staff, was a near-unanimous decide as captain following John Tavares’ departure.
“I feel it took me a bit longer than I'd’ve hoped for,” Lee stated of his therapeutic course of. “It’s a kind of issues, you simply gotta preserve going and preserve working by way of and proper now it’s feeling fairly good.”
Lee by no means uttered the phrases 100% — and it might not be the case that he has reached that time.
“It’s a kind of issues, it’s not gonna really feel prefer it’s utterly gone for a bit bit,” he stated. “And that’s positive. I knew that going into it. It’s only one that possibly took me a bit bit longer than I had labored or hoped for.”
Lee now has 16 targets this season, and 30 could possibly be in sight. If the damage remains to be a little bit of an element, that’s a powerful mark in a season that’s gone so badly awry for the Islanders.
However as issues have gone off the rails, he’s been a steadying presence within the room. That, in the end, is why he wears the C.
“His voice has a number of, I’ll say it has a number of benefit within the room,” Trotz stated. “When he speaks, the fellows realize it’s real. They know that he cares.”
“I’m simply glad for him,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau stated. “The best way he leads the staff day in, day trip, the way in which he is available in and works each day, regardless of the outcome you’re gonna get his 110 p.c. You simply wished him to complete and get the hat trick.”
Because the Islanders got here inside a aim of reaching the Stanley Cup finals final 12 months, Lee needed to watch from afar. It’s been a very long time since then, and the franchise is in a markedly completely different place than it was final summer season. So, too, is Lee.
“I don’t know,’ he stated when requested in regards to the perspective the final one year have given him. “I suppose proper now, I’m grateful.”
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