There hasn't been anything like a learning curve for Isiah George through his two NHL games.
Instead, the 20-year-old looked like a veteran, playing with poise and stabilizing a back end that was without all three players who made up the left side in the opener.
“Nominal” was the operative word when coach Patrick Roy put George on the nominal top pairing with Noah Dobson before Thursday's 4-2 win over the Senators in Ottawa. The idea was that Roy would spend the game rotating between defensive and defensive pairs. They rely heavily on Dobson, Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock.
Instead, George rarely missed a shift, finishing with just 23 minutes and 49 seconds of ice time (slightly more time than Mayfield) and coming close to winning as his family watched in the stands at the Canadian Tire Center. I didn't give in.
“Honestly, it’s just amazing,” Purok said. “As a young player, he's done a great job of keeping his feet moving. He's moving with the puck. He's setting the puck up. You can see his confidence grow every shift. Masu.”
It's hard to overstate how big a risk it was to call up George, who played in just four games with AHL Bridgeport.
No matter how good he looked in training camp, the Islanders were throwing him at deep end and couldn't afford to let him fail given the current state of the blue line.
For George to not only come out and hold his own, but to earn that kind of ice time and excellence is a tremendous feat.
“He skates well, he moves very well on the ice,” Roy told reporters in Ottawa. “It's only his second game, but I thought he was getting more and more confident in the game. I was very happy with the way he played.”
George hasn't scored any points yet, but attacking is not his method.
Rather, he's been touted as a back-end stabilizer and eraser, and that's exactly what he's been thus far, repeatedly putting himself in the right spots and making the right decisions with the puck.
He may just be making difficult decisions for Roy and Lou Lamoriello in the process.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, of Ottawa, was honored by his minor league hockey team Wednesday night with his family in attendance.
“It was amazing,” Pageau told reporters. “There were so many memories and so many sacrifices made by me and my friends and the people around me. I think it was an honor not only for me but for all of us, but it was a great moment to lift it up. [banner] With everyone. ” …Ryan Pulock played his 500th NHL game.
