Noah Dobson’s mistake against Maple Leafs could cost him All Star status

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Noah Dobson’s All Star case, summed up in a single game, could look a whole lot worse than it did on Thursday. Skating on the top pair with Alexander Romanov, Dobson recorded 26:01 time on ice to lead the Islanders. He committed one mistake — a heinous turnover in his own zone to lead directly to an Auston Matthews goal in the second period — then made up for it by netting four assists in the eventual 4 3 overtime win over the Maple Leafs.

That made Dobson just the fourth ever Islanders defenseman to have a four assist game, marked his first career four point game and vaulted him to third in assists leaguewide amongst defensemen with 36. “Just tried to get on the power play, getting pucks to the net. Saw some lanes and then guys did a good job capitalizing,” Dobson said.

“Had an assist on one of their goals, too. Obviously a bad play by me. Liked the response, couple shifts [and] get them back. Big win.” Based on the NHL’s initial release of the top All Star vote getters on Tuesday, it appears that neither Dobson nor any other Islander will join Mathew Barzal in Toronto over the first weekend in February.

That can change by the time final counts are released on Saturday, but no Islander was in the top 15 skaters or top eight goaltenders — a bad sign given that just the top eight skaters and four goalies will make it. By the numbers, there is not much of an argument that Dobson should not be an All Star in the midst of a season that, at the halfway point, is firmly in contention to be on the Norris Trophy ballot.

“Certainly [he should], why not,” coach Lane Lambert said. “He’s played well all year long. He’s put up numbers.” Dobson has played more minutes than any other defenseman in the league, leads the position in primary assists (21) and is behind only Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar in total points (42).

The Islanders, whose season long goal differential is negative 11, have outscored opposition 45 28 at five on five — that’s 61.64 percent — with Dobson on the ice. That is as dramatic as it gets, an indicator of just how valuable Dobson has been this season to a team that has suffered injury after injury on its blue line.

There is a reason Bo Horvat took the opportunity, unprompted, to act as Dobson’s campaign manager Thursday night. “He’s been awesome. He’s making plays out there and not only offensively, but he’s really solid defensively this year,” Horvat said. “And that’s one of the big reasons he should be at the All Star Game in my opinion.

Hopefully everybody goes out there and votes for him so he can get there.” The reality of playing for a team that gets lapped in terms of national attention means that any Islander will be at a disadvantage when it comes to awards decided by fan voting. The Islanders have not been a particularly great team this season, but their stars have performed — Horvat and Brock Nelson have their own All Star cases, which are unlikely to come to fruition.

Those, however, at least fall into the category of debatable. It is hard to say the same about Dobson. Thursday was proof positive of that. “It shows that his resolve and his experience is coming through,” Lambert said. “You have to be able to bounce back when you make mistakes. Everybody’s gonna make mistakes and especially when you have the puck that much and you play that much, you’re not gonna be perfect, that’s for sure.

“For him to be able to come back show the resolve that he did didn’t surprise me at all. It’s good on him.”.