It was New Year's Eve and the New York Islanders started their seven game road trip with a game against the Winnipeg Jets (let's face it they are still the Atlanta Thrashers...its more fun to think of them that way). I remember when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, the fans were so upset that about 100 of them showed up at Phillips arena to protest. It was very embarrassing. Atlanta was never really a hockey town to begin with. Unfortunately after losing the Flames to Calgary years ago there will not be a third chance.
The game also represented a homecoming for Manitoba native Travis Hamonic who does not get to visit Winnipeg during the regular season all that often. It was the same line-up for the Islanders with Halak in net again. He was opposed by Ondrej Pavelec for the Jets. Another point to note was that Michael Grabner made the trip with the team and may be able to play on Friday night. That meant that Mikhail Grabovski was put on notice.
The Islanders skated well in the first period. After killing off a Jets power play they got a terrific shift from the third line. They were able to stay in the Winnipeg zone for an extended period of time and got some really good opportunities. However, it was a little bit of luck that got the Islanders on the board. You knew that if a team named the "Jets" were involved that there had to be a bad bounce sooner or later. There was a scrum around the net and one of the Jets hit the puck with a high stick and it first bounced off of the back of Anders Lee and then caromed in the net off of the shoulder of Ryan Strome for his 7th goal of the year. Although it was not pretty, it was well earned with hard work. The goal came at around the ten minute mark. Nick Leddy got the second assist.
The Islanders finally got a power play late in the period and with about thirty seconds left with the man advantage, Dustin Byfuglien (I am still not sure why his last name is pronounced "Bufflin") pushed Brock Nelson to the ice with a forearm shiver and the Isles had a two man advantage. Very quickly thereafter, Johnny Boychuk took a big slap shot and broke his stick. The puck veered off to the right side of the zone near the face off dot and right on the stick of Frans Nielsen who put the biscuit in the basket for his 7th goal of the year. It was the ole break your stick and have everyone stand still and put it in the open net play. Works every time. Ryan Strome got the second assist. As bad as the Islanders power play had been it was about time that they caught a break (of the stick) for once. During the period the Islanders had two penalty kills and were 1-3 on the power play. New York out shot Winnipeg 12-7.
In the second period, the Jets got on the board one second after they failed on a power play with a goal from Ladd (who I think was a Thrasher in the Atlanta days). It was close quarters in front of Halak and the puck was banged home to cut the lead to 2-1. As the period wore on the the Jets started to get a lot more offensive zone time, Halak stood tall.
Right about the time that you thought that the defense was going to break, the Islanders got a break out. Frans Nielsen took the puck across the blue line and dropped a pass to Ryan Strome. Both players criss-crossed and Strome fed the puck back to Fransy for the empty net goal. It was Nielsen's second of the game and 8th goal of the year. It was a very impressive pass from Strome and it was hard to figure out how he threaded the needle. Nice play by the kid to add to his shoulder goal in the first period.
As much as Winnipeg dictated play, the Islanders led 3-1 and also still out shot them 13-11. Towards the end of the period Mikhail Grabovski would take his second penalty of the game. Not a good game for Grabo. I know he is making $20 million over four years, however he is a prime candidate to sit if Grabs40 comes back off of injured reserve. Partly because I cannot see anyone else sitting down at this point. Perhaps there is an unknown injury that is forthcoming?
The first Winnipeg goal was a single second after the power play which enabled the Islanders penalty kill streak to extend to fifteen (give or take one or two kills). However, there was a late penalty in the second period and Winnipeg still had 90 seconds left starting the third period. They were able to convert on another goal by Ladd to make it 3-2. So the kill streak was indeed finally over. The good news is that it was a tight game and the Islanders did not have to worry about a three goal lead. They actually seemed to be a lot more confident with only the slimmest of margins in the final frame. A few minutes later, Grabovski got the puck about twenty feet in front of Pavelec and failed to put it past his five hole (that sounds so wrong). Grabo looked a lot like Grabs40 on that one. Maybe he was just foreshadowing the player that will be replacing him next game.
A little past the mid-point of the period New York got their two goal lead back on a goal by the guy with the that very hard name to remember......who was that....oh it was Anders Lee in front of the net. Where else would you find him? The goal came as he crashed the net. It was Lee's 9th goal of the year from Strome and Nielsen. Ryan Strome notched his fourth point of the game. An amazing accomplishment for a player that has not even played a full season in the NHL. He is the youngest Islander to get four points in a game, not named John Tavares, in over thirteen years. The Lee goal seemed to take the air out of Jet's engines. The Islanders capped off the game with an empty net goal by Josh Bailey. It was Bales' 6th goal of the year from Hamonic an deHaan (I left off a "d" on purpose). Not a lot of shots in the third, but the Islanders had the edge again at 8-5. For the game the Islanders out shot the Jets 33-23.
Great way to kick off the road trip with a solid 5-2 win. The Jets fell short when Nick Folk hit the upright in the third period. New York has to hope that the officials in Toronto do not see the final score and award the Jets three goals and a point to boot. No three goal lead is safe anymore. It was good to beat the Thrashers...er Jets. Somehow I do not think those 100 or so die-hard Thrasher fans will care...in fact I doubt they even know what city their team went to...or if hockey is still a sport anymore.
On to the great province of Alberta with games against the Calgary Flames on Friday and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Kind of ironic to play the Jets and Flames back to back being that I live in Atlanta. If the Isles can get by Calgary then this could be a very good road trip indeed. As the year comes to a close, your New York Islanders will at worst be tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the lead in the Metropolitan Division, most likely lead the lead with wins, and be amongst the leaders in the entire Eastern Conference. They are 25-11-1 after 37 games with 51 points on December 31st, 2014. Let me say that again. 25-11-1 with 51 points. Life is good sometimes.
Happy New Year to all...2015 is going to be a year to remember!!
No comments:
Post a Comment