Brock Nelson, Islanders enjoy proving people wrong
NEW YORK – Brock Nelson wears a bracelet on his left wrist. Sort of a Livestrong knockoff, themed for breast cancer awareness, as his aunt battled the disease.
It reads, in vibrant pink letters: “PROVE PEOPLE WRONG.”
“It’s kind of a good slogan to carry around with you all the time,” said Nelson.
It might as well be emblazoned on the front of the Islanders’ jerseys this season, or at least the one Nelson wears. The 22-year-old center form Warroad, Minn., has followed a 14-goal campaign in 72 games in his rookie season with a sizzling start to 2014-15: four goals and three assists in three games, including the second goal in a four-goal third-period rally for a 6-3 rout of the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
It moved the Islanders to 3-0-0 on the season, the first time they’ve started that perfectly since 2001-02. It moved Nelson into a tie for the NHL lead in points with seven, a mark shared by several players including Islanders star John Tavares.
Nelson’s not exactly an unknown commodity: Drafted No. 30 overall in 2010, played on the American world junior team, scored 25 goals in the AHL in 2012-13. He’s one of the young guns the Islanders have had in their arsenal and, like the rest of the team, he seems poised to make the next leap.
No one on the Islanders is under the delusion that a fast start in the first week is indicative of anything except a fast start in the first week. Were it not for goalie Jaroslav Halak, for example, the Rangers would probably have hit double-digits before the Islanders could rally. He made 40 saves.
“I can’t talk about Jaro enough. He held us in there,” said Nelson.
But even with the small sample size, one sees the difference Halak makes. One sees what Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy, both of whom scored against the Rangers, bring to the team. And one sees the chemistry of Nelson’s line with Mikhail Grabovski and Ryan Strome.
It’s the kind of trio the Islanders have desperately needed to take the burden off of John Tavares’s top line.
“Grabbo’s been around for a while, knows the league. Strome too. High end skill, and I love him as a person. Whenever you’re able to build chemistry, get out there and click, you want to stay on top of it,” said Nelson.
Nelson has particularly good chemistry with Strome, whose quick pass from behind the goal line found Nelson for the goal.
“That was a great play by Stromer. He didn’t have the puck for very long. He just kinda turned and it came off his stick,” said Nelson.
Nelson and Strome developed that chemistry while playing in AHL Bridgeport.
“It’s fun to come up and go through this together. To be able to play on the same line is pretty special. We’ve been able to build chemistry for a while. Some people might not know that, but it helps,” said Nelson.
Coach Jack Capuano said the win over the Rangers was the first time the Islanders played well at 5-on-5 this season, after two wins over the Carolina Hurricanes to start the campaign.
“Play behind the goal line, do the things that we do in practice. Brock Nelson’s goal was a great example of why you want to get pucks deep,” he said.
Nelson’s line helped set the tone for that impressive third period explosion, which had the Islanders faithful in Madison Square Garden mocking Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist with “HEN-RIK” chants after saves.
His seven-point explosion to start the season has helped set the tone for an Islanders team that’s opening eyes early in the Eastern Conference.
Brock Nelson, NHL leading scorer (tied).
Would Nelson’s parents print out last night's NHL.com stats leaders page to hang on the fridge?
“I don’t think so,” he said, with a chuckle. “Like I said, the team’s done well. Whenever the team’s doing well, guys are going to have some success and some guys are going to get noticed.”
“But it’s a little bit surreal,” he admitted.
