Wednesday night’s game between the New York Islanders and the Vancouver Canucks may seem ordinary at first glance, but it will mean a lot to forward Bo Horvat.
The former captain of the British Columbia team will return to the city where he played for nine seasons for the first time. He visited the Isles on January 30 and quickly got involved, admitting that the atmosphere at Islanders games was much better than at Canucks games.
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“It’s unbelievable,” he said on the UBS Arena rink on April 8. It’s a lot better than Vancouver, I can tell you that.”
Horvat calmed down two days later, not wanting to show respect to the fans. Emotions ran high, he said, but it will be interesting to see if fans are convinced by his apology.
“It’s going to be an emotional night,” the center admitted to NHL.com on Tuesday. I have a lot of good memories from Vancouver, so it will be a little strange to go back, but this time to the visitors’ locker room. I have so many great memories there, it will be a great night.”
The difficult part is ahead
The Ontarian had difficulty acclimatizing to his new team at the end of the 2022-2023 season. After scoring 54 points in 49 games in Vancouver, he was limited to 16 points in 30 games when he arrived in New York. However, things seem to be turning around this season.
“It was difficult,” he admitted. Finally getting established and being able to go to training camp definitely helped me start like that.”
Horvat is second on his team with four goals and 11 points in 13 games.
While things are looking up for No. 14, that’s not quite the case for the Islanders. They are going through a very difficult part, they have lost their last five duels.
It is a completely different situation for their opponents, who have been on fire since the beginning of the campaign. Their 11-2-1 record is good for second place in the Pacific Division.
Several Canucks players simply caught fire in the 2023-24 season. I can especially count on the first NHL scorer Elias Pettersson, the author of 25 points, and the most productive defenseman Quinn Hughes with 23 points.
The showdown will be televised by TVA Sports late Wednesday night.
