Tri-State Hockey Podcast · The Nation Network

Episode 35: Isles Win, Keefe's Future, Mika 1000

·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

Ilya Sorokin leads the league with seven shutouts and first in goal save above expected.

Johnny Lazarus says up front that he has no idea where the episode is going to lead. The setup is loose, and the show leans into that instead of pretending it has a fixed agenda. Chris from Hicksville is the lone voicemail caller on deck, but the Islanders game takes over first. The panel starts with the 7-3 loss in Montreal and the need for a real response the next night. Arthur Staple says the Islanders showed they can play a simple game when they need to. He contrasts that with what they were doing in the third period in Ottawa last week, when they were just shoveling the puck out and hopping off after about 30 seconds. Matthew Schaefer's late-game shift becomes the clearest example of the night. The hosts treat that shift as proof that he can make smart, responsible plays when the game gets tight. They keep circling back to puck management and the way the Islanders closed out the final minutes. The conversation then moves to the challenge from Columbus. Johnny talks through it with Columbus video coach Aaron Augustitis and says he liked the decision even though he hated the call. The group agrees that a situational challenge makes sense when a team is down and chasing momentum. They keep stressing that the decision has to be judged in context, not as some abstract rulebook answer. Rick Bonus gets mentioned with a little wink from the bench, which makes the whole sequence feel a bit like Columbus got lucky. From there they widen the lens to the goalie-interference debate itself. Johnny points toward the broader player-safety questions sitting behind calls like that. One of the hosts calls it a pretty nondescript play and more of a lack-of-something moment than a clean offensive event. The show stays practical and makes clear it is not trying to play the hot-take game. It closes with the Novig sponsor read, thanks to listeners and caller Chris, and a nod to producer Vick before promising to talk again on Friday.

As heard by us

An Islanders postgame discussion turns into a sharp argument about the replay, the challenge, and what mattered.

A messy Islanders win over Columbus gives Johnny Lazarus, Arthur Staple, and Mike Rupp enough to chew on: Matthew Schaefer's late shift, the need to answer a bad night in Montreal, and the old question of whether a team can simplify when it matters.

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Why you'd press play

You want a real Islanders postgame argument, not a cleaned-up recap.

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