We can all exhale now. Jaroslav Halak came off of injured reserve yesterday and started in goal for the Islanders as they welcomed the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin into the Nassau Coliseum on Monday evening. The Islanders had to get back to their winning ways after two losses against Montreal and Buffalo. No need to start worrying about getting Chad Johnson's confidence back just yet. The only line-up change of note was that Frans Nielsen moved up to the second line to center Anders Lee and Ryan Strome. Brick Nelson moved down to the third line to center Mikhail Grabovski and Nickolay Kulemin.
Once they dropped the puck, Grabovski skated in and nearly put the Islanders on top at the seven second mark. Grabo actually skated well in the first period and had a couple of chances. Washington got the first power play of the evening but that was negated when Ovechkin held a stick so no damage done. Anders Lee got the Islanders on the board first with a little over eight minutes gone when he tipped home a short from Thomas Hickey. Strome started the play which led to Lee's 8th goal of the year (three of which have come against the Capitals this year). Washington got one more power play before the period ended but the Islanders were able to kill it off. Good news is that there did not seem to be any negative after effects from the Buffalo game. But it was early. Halak looked sharp. The week off probably did him good. Islanders led the shot parade 11-6 during the period.
In the second period, once again Washington got an early power play but again they could not convert. About midway through the period the Islanders got their first real power play of the game and took advantage when Lubomir Visnovsky launched a shot from the blue line that was going wide, however, it hit one the Capitals' defensemen and skipped past Braden Holby for a 2-0 lead. It was Lubo's 3rd goal of the year from Nielsen and Grabovski. Jaro was not really tested all that much during the period and the shots were pretty even with the Isles having a slight 11-10 edge. New York's defense was stellar as they really did not give Washington that many scoring chances through the first two periods. Right before the end of the period Brock Nelson took a penalty so the Capitals were able to start the third period on the power play on a fresh sheet of ice.
At the start of the third period the Islanders stood tall once again on the penalty kill. Kulemin was impressive as he broke in on Holtby and nearly scored. Then after a quick turnover, Calvin deHaan rocketed one past Holtby for the short-handed goal. It was deHaan's first goal of the year from Tavares and Kulemin. That made it 3-0. It was at this point that it would have been prudent to go find one of my cats for some comfort. Surely, with a confident Halak in net the Islanders had this one in the bag.
Just three minutes later, Washington got one back as Fehr drove to the net and put one past Halak. The play was borderline goalie interference, nonetheless it counted and it was 3-1. It only took Washington two more minutes to get their second goal as Backstrom took a feed from Ovechkin and was in all alone on Halak to make it 3-2. There was not too much concern, because there was no way that the Islanders were going to give up three goal leads in the third period in back to back games. It was at this point that I was looking for a second cat and a much bigger bag.
The game started to wind down. The Islanders had a chance to ice the game with a power play with about seven minutes left but could not convert. There was way too much passing around looking for the perfect shot. It looked like New York was going to escape with a win in regulation, but Red and White #8 made sure that was not the case. Ovechkin scored with a little over two minutes left and Islanders Nation was stunned. It was at this time that both of my cats were not only out of the bag, but they taunted me with it. It was cruel and unusual punishment indeed.
It was the fourth time in December that the Islanders had blown three goal leads. You would think that there would have been a better chance that the Islanders would cancel their lease with the Barclay's Center and remain at the Nassau Coliseum before that ever happened. It was unbelievable and amazing all at the same time.
Right before the end of regulation the Islanders got a gift. Kuzneetsov got tagged with a four minute high sticking penalty and the Islanders were in business. They could not muster anything in regulation, but went into the overtime with almost three minutes of four on three. For most of the power play, they once again stood around still looking for the perfect shot. Then after a timeout, Boychuk finally put the Islander fans out of their misery with a blast past Holtby for the 4-3 overtime win. It was Boychuck's 3rd goal of the year and his first goal since very early in the season. Strome and Okposo had the assists. It was a huge relief. The good thing is that I did not have to penalize my cats before I went off to bed for the evening.
It was tough to watch the last couple of minutes of regulation and overtime, but in the end the Islanders got the two points to move to 24-11-1 which is good for 49 points. The Islanders dominated the shots on goal 39-26 (with five coming in the overtime period). The penalty kill improved very much over the last two weeks. However, the power play is a concern. They simply just need to shoot more.
I could spend quite a bit of time analyzing and hypothesizing why the Islanders gave up multiple three goal leads, but I won't. The reason is because there really is no explanation. It does not matter who is in goal or who is on the ice. It just happens. I do not think they should over react and make any changes. They just need to accept it and move on. If they just ignore it, hopefully it will go away. If they pay attention to it, then it will definitely get in their heads.
It was another sell out in the Nassau Coliseum. That means that there was 16,170 fans in the ole barn. I love saying that number...16,170. It has a certain ring to it. Great to see a sell out during on a weekday, even though it was during the Christmas break. Next up is the start of a seven game road trip starting with a game in Winnipeg on New Year;s eve. It will be a challenge. I'll be watching at home as always, however, the cats will be locked upstairs. As long as they stay out of the bag then three goal leads should be safe.
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