Finally back home from the Rhine river in Germany, however I returned with an upper-body injury and listed as day-to-day. There were a bunch of people on the cruise that caught some type of bug. There was lots of indiscriminate coughing going on. Kellie caught it during the first couple of days and passed it to me right before we boarded the plane flight home. I rested all day yesterday but need to have at least one more day before I go back to work.
Tonight I got to see the Islanders play a game for the first time in a long time against the New Jersey Devils at the Nassau Coliseum. I still had a bit of jet lag and due to my injury it took all my strength to stay up for this one. For tonight's game, Casey Czikas returned and Michael Grabner sat (lower-body injury and is day to day). The hope is that Grabner's ailment is not related to his sports hernia. Same defense and forwards as last game. Also it looks like Travis Hamonic and Johnny Boychuk are getting close for a return. Halak got the start against Keith Kincaid. Who is that you say? Turns out he is a Sachem grad and grew up an Islanders fan. Playing at the Coliseum was his dream. He got to live that dream tonight.
In the first period, the Devils showed up and the Islanders did not. New York did not play with any emotion and as a result the fans had nothing to really cheer about. It seemed like a typical Monday evening game that could go either way. It was also very surprising how invisible John Tavares was. The Islanders top line has not been as dominant as it had been in the past. Kulemin seemed to be a good fit on the top line, however I think there is new blood needed there to spark both Tavares and Okposo.
The Devils got on the board first with a power-play goal from Zidlicky that Halak never saw. Then a couple of minutes later Gomez (who just recently returned to New Jersey and is trying to resurrect his career) threw one at the net and it caromed in off of Visnovsky's skate to give the Devils a quick two goal lead. The Islanders had one power-play but could not put one past the Sachem kid. However, Jagar took a penalty at the end of the period to give the Isles another shot on the power play to start the second period. The Devils out shot the Islanders 12-7 in the period.
To start the second, the Islanders failed to convert on the power play and were passing too much instead of shooting against the rookie goaltender. Kincaid was not being tested. Right after the man advantage ended, the Islanders started to cycle the puck behind the Devils net and Ryan Strome found Josh Bailey in front for his 5th goal of the year to cut the Devil's lead in half at 2-1. Grabovski got the second helper. The Islanders played a little better for the last ten minutes of the period. They out shot the Devils 11-7. There was a strong feeling amongst the broadcast team that the next goal would win the game. They turned out to be right.
The first half of the third period saw the Islanders pick up the pace a bit. Then with about nine minutes left, Czikas feathered a pass ahead to Matt Martin who wristed it into the far corner of the net to tie the game at two apiece. For Martin it was a goal scorer's goal and his 4th of the year. Every once in a while he flashes some skill that makes you go "Hmmm." Calvin de Haan got an assist as well. Right after Martin's goal the crowd started to get back into the game. All of a sudden the Islanders responded and seemed to get a lot more chances the rest of the way.
With a little less than two minutes left in regulation, John Tavares got caught for spearing (bad play by the captain) and the Islanders had to kill off a penalty right before the end of the period. In overtime, Tavares came out of the box and he looked like he wanted to make up for his mistake. He was all over the ice and came close to winning it. Then the tables were turned as the Devils had to kill their own penalty to end the overtime period. In the shoot out the Islanders got goals from Okposo and Bailey. Halak was Halak and kept the Devils off the board when it mattered most. The Islanders got the extra point on a night when they probably did not even deserve one point.
The Islanders did not play very well. However, they turned on the switch in the last period for the second game in a row to get a win. That was evidenced by the 13 shots vs. the Devils 7 in the period. For the game the Isles out shot the Devils 33-28. Not a dominating performance at all. This was another perfect example of a game that they would have lost last year. The Islanders remain a perfect 9-0 in overtime/shootout games which will reap big dividends going down the stretch run next year.
Now its a well deserved three days off before going to Detroit on Friday. The good news is that the Islanders only have six more games over the balance of the year which spans 16 days. That means players can get healthy and the team can get in some well needed practice time. If they can go 4-2 the rest of the month then it bodes well going into the new year. I need to overcome my own upper-body injury in time so that I can rejoin the team. I hope when that happens I can crack the line-up because there is no way I want to be a healthy scratch.
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