The Biggest Save of All

The New York Islanders started their stretch run for the playoffs against the New York Rangers at the Nassau Coliseum. It was the first of three remaining games between these two teams, with all three games to be played at the Nassau Coliseum. The first two games at Madison Square Garden resulted in Islander wins as they outscored their rivals by a total of 9-3. 

There were many that expected the game to be postponed until Wednesday, due to a blizzard that sethttp://pfigjam23.blogspot.com/ down upon the New York area on Monday evening. Meteorologists touted the storm as the “winter storm of the century" with potential accumulations of two to three feet. But that was a bit overstated. There was significant snowfall in certain parts of Long Island, but it turned out not as bad as advertised. The Rangers had already travelled to the Island on Monday so the teams were in place. The real concern was whether the fans and Coliseum employees would be able to get to the game. However, the roads were cleared for travel by early Tuesday afternoon and the game went on as scheduled.

There was some bad news to be had coming into the game. Kyle Okposo was surprisingly out with a sudden upper-body injury that seemed to come out of nowhere. From what was written, Okposo had contracted some sort of irritation in his eye that got worse during the all-star break. Next thing you know he sees a doctor and is out for 6-8 weeks. As secretive as teams are with injuries there is no real way to find out exactly what was wrong with him. The week prior to the break, Okposo was on fire with five goals and seven points in a just a couple of games. The hope is that he will be out closer to the 6 week target and be ready for the playoffs. 

In a way, Okposo’s injury enabled the Islanders to avoid a tough decision. With Mikhail Grabovski healed and coming back from injury, the question was going to be who would sit to make room for him in the line-up. There really was no one person to point to. With Okposo out it was an easy decision to slot Grabovski right into Okposo’s spot on the top line with Tavares and Bailey. It would be Grabovski's second shot at getting first line minutes this year. However, listening to Head Coach Jack Capuano before the game it seemed that the real reason for his decision was his reluctance in breaking up the other three lines that were playing well.

I missed most of the first period of the game as there was a lot of traffic home from work in time for the puck drop. I listened to the first ten minutes of the game on my iPhone and when I finally got home I went upstairs to get into my "game uniform", which consists of an Islanders royal blue hoodie with orange and white trim along with a matching hat. I have worn the same attire for every game this year, with obviously very good results. However, as I peeled off my sports jacket I noticed that my Islanders hoodie was missing. Thinking that it was in the laundry I went downstairs and asked Kellie where it might be. She went upstairs and sure enough found it buried in between a couple of other hoodies. As I ventured down to the man cave she said to me, "Make sure that when the Islanders win tonight that you give me credit in your blog for finding your Islanders hoodie." If that's what it takes to get a win than so be it.

The home crowd was impressive in the first period. The barn was packed even though there was a pretty bad storm and a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. It was the 12th sellout of the year in 21 games at the Nassau Coliseum. The first 18 minutes were back and forth with a lot of action, but no score and no penalties. The Islanders had the better scoring chances and ended up out shooting the Rangers 17-10 in the period. Henrik Lundqvist was sharp and stopped Michael Grabner and Frans Nielsen on a couple of breakaways. 

It looked like it was going to be a scoreless first period but a beautiful tic-tac-toe play in front of the Rangers goalie gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead. Johnny Boychuk broke up a play and led a four on two break into the Rangers zone. Then in close quarters John Tavares found Josh Bailey who played catch with Boychuk before threading it to Grabovski sitting right in front of Lundqvist. It was Grabovski's 7th goal of the year from Bailey and Boychuk. The Yes! Yes! Yes! chant after the goal was one of the loudest that I have heard this season.

The middle period saw the Rangers start to put more pucks on Halak. You could see the Rangers pick up the play, cycle the puck and spend a bit more time in the Islanders zone. At one point Chris Kreider charged towards the net, however he put on the brakes a little too late and he crashed into Halak for a goalie interference penalty. That Kreider sure has a set of wheels on him, very Grabner-like with his speed. On the ensuing power play, the Islanders moved the puck well but came up short. 

A couple of minutes later the Islander's fourth line, which at this point going forward will now be referred to as the "NHL's Greatest Hits Line", once again made something happen. It was good old fashioned hard work as Casey Czikas and Cal Clutterbuck did the dirty work and Matt Martin was left all alone to the left of Lundqvist to make it 2-0. It was MattyMarts 7th goal of the year. The Rangers certainly had the better of the play in the period as they were able to even up the shot total after two periods at 28 apiece. However, they had nothing to show for it as Halak completed his fifth straight period of shutout goaltending against the Rangers.

Late in the second period Cal Clutterbuck took an interference penalty that bled over to start the third. The Islanders completed the successful kill and did a great job at clogging up the shooting lanes. The Rangers continued to pass the puck on the power play, but could not get it to the net. When they did have an opportunity, Halak was there to stop the shot through traffic in front.

Then at about eight minutes into the period, during a stoppage in play, there was an on ice interview with Ed Mangano who is a County Executive in Nassau County. It was odd, because it is well known that both the Nassau Coliseum and the Islanders were a "political football" that was tossed around for years between the Democrats and Republicans on Long Island. When Charles Wang's Lighthouse Project was eventually shot down and after he had exhausted every single option to keep the team where it rightfully belongs, Wang was forced to blink and move the team. Mangano was a key player and one of the primary reasons that the team is moving to Brooklyn. Why would someone that was so instrumental in the Islanders leaving Nassau County even show up in the Coliseum, let alone show his face on the Islanders broadcast?

Anyway, right at the end of the interview the Islanders scored to make it 3-0. Ryan Strome, who is one of the top players in the league in points per minute as a rookie, chipped one in past Lundqvist for his 9th goal of the year. Frans Nielsen and Calvin deHaan had the assists. After the goal, Mangano was asked if he wanted to lead the "Yes! Yes! Yes!" chant. Then Howie Rose on television cut in and quickly said, "Maybe he should start the Stay! Stay! Stay! chant". That was both very funny and very insightful all at the same time.

At this point the game was all but over. Halak had put up a brick wall in front of the net and was looking at his second straight shutout against the Rangers. Before the period was over, the Rangers got a little frustrated and took a couple of penalties that led to an Islanders five on three power play with about four minutes left. Tavares quickly answered and sniped one past Lundqvist for a 4-0 lead. It was his team leading 22nd goal of the season from Hamonic and Boychuk.

The sellout crowd of 16,000+ started to let out chants of "Henrik" to let the Rangers goalie know how much they loved him. Then there was a closing chant of "You can't beat us!." It was music to the ears. Unfortunately, Carl Hagelin scored a goal with nine seconds left to break the shutout. Halak was very upset with himself and banged his goalie stick off of the goal post in anger. The Rangers ended up out shooting the Islanders for the game 41-38 which was very misleading.

The Islanders win against the Rangers made it a cumulative score of 13-4 in the three games played this year between the two teams. The Islanders moved to 32-14-1 which is good for 65 points which left them three points ahead of Pittsburgh and seven points ahead of the Rangers. The Boston Bruins are next on the agenda with a Thursday evening game at the Nassau Coliseum.

There are many reasons for the Islanders success this year. Many will point to the free agent signings of Halak, Grabovski and Kulemin. Others will point to the brilliant trades by Garth Snow right before the season to acquire Boychuk and Leddy. Some will highlight the emergence of the young players like Nelson, Strome and Lee. A few may tout the great coaching of Capuano and his assistants. Finally, many will probably say the difference has been the sellout and raucous crowds at the old barn during the final year at the Nassau Coliseum. 

However, I know what the true difference is. It all comes down to my Islanders royal blue hoodie with orange and white trim along with matching hat. Without it the Islanders would surely be in a tailspin and probably be on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs. The Rangers and the rest of the NHL should start to fear the power of the hoodie. The Islanders and the royal blue hoodie cannot be stopped. 

So as far as tonight's win goes, Halak had an impressive 40 saves, but that pales in comparison to one save that occurred very early in the game. The Islanders faithful should stand up and thank Kellie by giving her a very loud "Yes! Yes! Yes! cheer" for finding my hoodie. In the end it turned out to be the biggest save of all.