Julien Gauthier returns to Islanders lineup with first career multi-goal game
It’s been a frustrating start to his time on the Island for first-year Islanders winger Julien Gauthier.
The 26-year-old has been limited to just 15 games to this point after missing time due to an undisclosed upper-body injury, and entering play Friday night he’d posted just five points over that span.
Gauthier’s been healthy but he’s been serving as a healthy scratch over the past few games, but in Friday’s matchup with the Washington Capitals he was sure to take advantage of his opportunity back in the lineup.
The speedster was buzzing playing alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom on the Islanders’ third line.
Gauthier picked up an assist on Pageau’s second-period goal, which opened the scoring. Then later on in the game, he found his way to the scorer's sheet two more times, netting a pair of goals in a span of 18 seconds.
Overall, he finished with three points and the first multi-goal game of his career in a commanding 5-1 win.
“It feels awesome,” Gauthier said postgame. “It was fun to see our line get going like that. I thought we finally got rewarded because a lot of games we were playing really well, but it just wasn’t really going in. It was fun tonight.”
Gauthier’s game-changing speed proved to be a difference on both of his goals, as he found a juicy rebound on the first one, and then made a pretty move to the backhand alone in front of the net off an odd-man rush on the latter.
His linemate offered some high praise of Gauthier's skillset following the win.
“He’s a very fast and skilled player. He sees the game very well,” said Pageau, who posted four points of his own. “When he uses his speed like that, I feel like he’s a very dangerous player and that’s how he was able to get on the rush both times.”
Friday’s breakout performance was a big one for Gauthier, but it was also a much-needed one for the Islanders as a whole after their 7-0 shellacking at home ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the week.
Head coach Lane Lambert was happy with the effort, not just from the third line, but from the team as a whole.
“That line plays well together for the most part, so it was getting Gauthier back in there and seeing what he could do with his speed and size against a bigger opponent, and it worked out well. That line played really well for us tonight.
“Overall, I thought we had a good character response all night long. That game the other night none of us were happy with it, sometimes these things do happen though, I knew we’d come out tonight and play a good game and we did.”
