Cat Five Hits Island

It was back to a back-to-back.  About 12 hours removed from a very bland 2-1 win over the Calgary Flambes, the Islanders took on the Carolina Hurricanes at the Nassau Coliseum.  The Islanders had won the first three contests this year and were forecasting a sweep.

Carolina came into the game with a record of 23-30-7 and on the outside looking in as far as the playoff race was concerned.  With the trade deadline fast approaching on Monday, it was not certain who would show up on the ice for the Hurricanes.  A perfect example was former Islander Jack Hillen who was traded earlier in the day to the Hurricanes from the Washington Capitals for Tim Gleason and a fourth round draft pick.  Hillen made it in time for the opening face-off.

Cam Ward was back in the net for the Hurricanes against Chad Johnson, who had played his way back into a regular goalie rotation.  Last night, Jaroslav Halak set a club record for the most wins in a regular season by an Islanders goaltender with 33, erasing Billy Smith's old record.  However, Johnson has been very hot, stopping 89 of 93 shots (.957 Save Percentage) in his last three games going 2-0-1.  The only other change was Brian Strait back in the lineup replacing Lubomir Visnovsky.

For the first ten minutes of the game the Hurricanes had the Islanders on their heels.  It natural for Islanders to be afraid of Hurricanes, but this far more than expected.  Carolina went out to a 10-1 lead in shots and if it had not been for Chad Johnson, New York would have been down a couple of goals early on.  The Islanders had a power play opportunity that went nowhere.  But that was nothing new for the Canes as they came into the game with the #1 rated penalty kill in the league, overall and on the road.

Before the game I wrote a in-depth story on Michael Grabner, hoping that by repairing his bobblehead that it would also spur him on.  Right on cue Johnny Boychuk fed a pass to Ryan Strome that found Michael Grabner on the wing.  Grabs40 sprinted past the defenseman and rifled one past Cam Ward who could only bobble his own head as the puck got past him for a 1-0 lead.  It was Grabner's 7th goal of the year, which was a welcome site indeed.

Towards the end of the period, the Hurricanes got a break when they drove to the net. Jay McClement kicked the puck in and it tied the game at one apiece.  It was reviewed by the war room in Toronto but was not overturned.  It was not a distinct kicking motion, but it was clearly directed in.  Nonetheless, the game was tied at the end of the first period.  Chad Johnson was strong as Carolina outshot the Islanders 18-9.

At the beginning of the second period, Thomas Hickey took a two-minute penalty for interference.  You can guess what happened next to the 30th ranked penalty kill in the league.  Johnson stop a couple shots, however, as the puck moved from one side of the ice to the other Johnson couldn't get back to stop a shot from Justin Faulk who snuck one past his right pad for a 2-1 lead.  

The Islanders would get some life back in the Coliseum off a great individual effort by Nickolay Kulemin.  He chipped the puck ahead to himself at center ice and then got through a hip check.  Kulemin willed his way to the net and roofed one past Ward to make it 3-2.  It was Kulemin's 12th of the year and his first goal in more than a month from Clutterbuck and Hamonic.  At that point the hurricane warning was temporarily downgraded to a tropical storm.

However the Islanders could not maintain the momentum.  There was only three minutes left in the period, but that was enough time for the Hurricanes to blow the game open.  Off a three on two break, some guy named Nestrasil (which really sounds like a combination of a hockey player and a decongestant) shot one towards Johnson.  It got through a hole in Chad's underwear and crawled towards the goal line.  Brad Malone tapped it in for a 4-2 lead.  That one was a very poor goal against by Johnson.

Then about a minute later Ryan Strome took a high-sticking penalty and the Islanders made matters worse by giving up their second power play goal of the game to Jay McClement who got his second of the game to make it 5-2.  After outshooting the Islanders 18–9 in the opening period, The Hurricanes followed it up by outshooting them again 18-10 in the second period.  Johnson look good early in the game, however at this point in time all bets were off.  

Through two periods, Carolina looked to be the much better team.  The Islanders went into the break thinking comeback, but that went by the wayside when Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel stepped in and said that the Hurricane hovering over Long Island was named Carolina and it was not going anywhere anytime soon.

The third saw John Tavares take over the NHL scoring lead with his 30th goal of the year.  However, there was little else to report on during the period as the Hurricanes laid a good ole fashion ass whooping on New York.  There have not been too many games this year where the Islanders have been dominated, but this was one of them.  Islanders lost 5-3.  A game that saw the Islanders out shot 41-24.  

Hard to believe that the Islanders have 84 points and the Hurricanes have 55.  Guess you have to chalk it up to the back-to-back games, the fact that it was only a matter of time before Johnson's play came back to reality, and that on any given night any team can beat any other team in this league.  

I think that the one disappointing fact is if you look at this recent four game stretch, all of which were at home, it started with a bad loss against Vancouver and ended with a bad loss against Carolina.  Those two bad one-sided losses were sandwiched between two wins.  However, one of those games the Islanders had to turn it on in the last period and in the other game they barely hung on.

Its time to go on a road trip.  That usually is the panacea.  Tuesday the Islanders travel to Dallas, then Thursday it is on to Nashville, before a weekend game against Florida and a win against Toronto (I am already counting that one as a win against a terrible Maple Leafs team).  

That being said, it will not be easy.  The Islanders need to get their "A" game back quick.  They cannot wait for Okposo and Czikas to return.  If they want to win the division they have to show a bit of urgency. 

After New York had beaten Carolina three times the Islanders should have seen this storm coming.  On Saturday night, Carolina's Cat Five Hurricane parked itself over the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.  It was a high pressure system that rained goals from the start.  The Islanders never had a chance.  

Next time Carolina comes to town someone on the training staff will need to turn on the Weather Channel before the game in the locker room. As much as a team can prepare for a game there is one thing that they cannot control and that is the weather forecast.  If Jim Cantore says that a storm is a coming, don't wait for him to show up with his baseball cap.  Just take his word for it, otherwise it will be too late.

Back Where We Belong

Welcome to the last twenty games to the season.  The Islanders came into a Friday night home game at the Nassau Coliseum tied in points with the Rags.  New York has been a little above average the past couple of weeks while the other New York team has been pretty hot, which has allowed that New York team to draw even with the other.  Speaking of hot, the Flames of Calgary were on the docket as the Islanders opponent.  Yes, the same Flames that years ago in Atlanta called the Omni home.  Calgary is having a pretty good year in the Western Conference with a 33-24-4 record for 70 points. 

The Islanders went with the same lineup from the home win against the Arizona Coyotes.  There was some concern that Frans Nielsen would not be able to go after a hit that he took last game, but he gave the thumbs up to Head Coach Jack Capuano before the game.  Jaroslav Halak was back in net for the surging Chad Johnson.  It was going be interesting to see how he played after a poor performance against the Vancouver Canucks.

Right out of the gate the Islanders were all over the Flambes with good pressure by the Bailey-Tavares-Lee line to start the game.  Anders Lee almost had a goal off of a rebound in the first minute, but Josh Bailey knocked the Calgary net off of its moorings.  The Islanders would get the first power play of the night and towards the end of the man advantage they were able to convert to take a 1-0 lead.  

After Tavares made a good play to keep the puck in the Calgary zone, there was a scrum in front of Karri Ramo and Ryan Strome stampeded in to knock it in the net for his 14th goal of the year.  Tavares got his 64th point of the year to tie him for the league lead in points and Hamonic got the second assist.  The Islanders out shot the Flambes 15-7 for the period.

In the second period the teams traded power plays.  However, Calgary also got a penalty shot when Johnny Boychuk had to hustle back after giving the puck away and got his stick between the legs of Michael Ferland.  Halak came up big with the one on one save to keep the game at 1-0.  Towards the end of the period Lubomir Visnovsky committed a penalty that carried over to the third period.  The Islanders once again had the edge in shots 11-8.

The last frame was going to be a challenge because all year long the Flambes have made a habit of coming back from deficits to win hockey games.  To start, the Islanders were able to kill off the bifurcated power play.  Then after a couple of good shifts there was some traffic in front of  Ramo when Cal Clutterbuck knocked the puck into the net.  However, the goal was waived off because of goaltender interference.  It was a horrible call as Brock Nelson was shoved into Ramo by another Flambe.

There was not much action the rest of the way until the last minute.  Halak tried to score a goal with an empty net.  Then the Islanders were able to skate out of their own zone and Clutterbuck tried to put it in an empty net only to hit the post.  The puck bounced into the corner where Clutterbuck corralled it and flung it towards the net only to have it bounce in for the goal and a 2-0 lead.  

Only fair that Clutterbuck got the goal after one was taken away from him earlier in the period.  It was Clutterbuck's 6th goal of the year from Nickolay Kulemin and Thomas Hickey.  The Flambes got a late goal to make the final 2-1 to ruin Halak's shutout.  With the shots being pretty even in the third period the Islanders were able to stay ahead for the entire game at 39-27.

It was not a very entertaining game.  No one really stood out at all for the Islanders, but you know what they say, "a win is a win."  The Islanders certainly will not send back the two points.  Tomorrow in the late afternoon the Carolina Hurricanes come to town so the Islanders will have to come back with a much better effort to win back to back games.

With the two points the Islanders moved to 41-20-2 which was good for 84 points to launch them back atop the Metropolitan Division.  That meant that New York was no longer tied with New York for first place.  It was the Islanders that were back on top.  In other words, they were back where they belong.

Coyote Beautiful

The Islanders looked to bounce back in a big way against the Arizona Coyotes at the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday night.  New York was coming off of a horrid 4-0 shut out loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.  The Yotes were on an east coast road trip and were coming off of their own 3-0 shut out loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils. Arizona came into the game not having a banner year with a record of 20-33-7.  

Head Coach Jack Capuano stayed with the same lineup as Sunday but switched goalies, giving Chad Johnson the start over Jaroslav Halak.  Johnson had earned it with his confident yet stellar play the last couple of weeks.  Johnson would be facing Mike Smith in net for Arizona which left us with the very un-Canadian like matchup of Johnson vs. Smith.  The only thing that could have made it better is if their first names were Bob and John, respectively.

Before the game, the Islanders announced that they signed defenseman Nick Leddy to a seven year extension which keeps him in the fold through the 21-22 season.  So far this year Leddy has accumulated 25 points (8 goals and 17 assists) and has been a steady contributor night in and night out paired with  Johnny Boychuk.  It was great that Leddy committed to the team long term and is certainly a good sign for the future.  Perhaps Johnny Rocket is up next.

The first period was rather fast paced without a whistle for almost six minutes after the drop of the puck.  Both teams had some jump from the start, most likely because both teams were coming off of shut out losses.  Bob Johnson looked very sharp during the period.  He looked so much different than he did just a couple of weeks ago.  It is amazing what confidence can do for a professional hockey player.  Capuano shook up his lines early in the game as he must of not been very happy with what he was seeing.  The first period ended without any scoring and without any penalties.  The Islanders out shot the Yotes 12-6, but outhit them 27-13.

The Islanders got on the board early in the second period after Capuano reunited the Kid line of Lee-Strome-Nelson.  Right off of the face-off Travis  Hamonic rushed into the Arizonazone and found Anders Lee all alone in front of the net.  Lee backhanded the puck past Smith for a 1-0 lead only 37 seconds in.  After the goal Lee looked at his teammates and had a weird "That's how you do it" look on his face.  It was Lee's 20th goal of the year with helpers from Hamonic and Nelson.

The Yotes' Ekman-Larsson drove Brock Nelson into the boards after he was already falling towards the ice in the corner and got two minutes in the sin bin.  Nelson skated away without injury, but it was a dirty play nonetheless.  The Islanders had some pressure on the ensuing power play but could not convert.  Immediately thereafter, the Yotes had a number of great scoring chances including one puck that straddled the goal line that was whisked away by Thomas Hickey.

Arizona was eventually rewarded for their effort.  John Tavares turned the puck over in the Arizonazone and that led to a three on two break.  Mark Arcobello (sounds like a group of islands...oh that would be archipelago) received a drop pass and wristed one past Johnson to tie the game at one apiece.  The Islanders won on the shot clock 13-12 for the period, however most of Arizona's shots came in the last ten minutes of the period.

The third period was not pretty...in a good way.  Between the three and ten minute mark it got Coyote Ugly very quickly.  Matt Martin collected a rebound off a Josh Bailey shot and a mini scrum to roof one over the shoulder of Smith to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.  It was MattyMarts 8th goal of the year and first in fifteen games.  Then just a minute later the Islanders got a four on two break and Tavares found Johnny Rocket who wristed one by Smith for a quick 3-1 lead.  It was Boychuk's 7th goal of the year.  But there was more to come.

Three minutes later, Colin McDonald and Nikolay Kulemin worked the puck off the end boards to Kael Mouillierat, and Mole Rat roofed one like Martin for his first NHL goal of his career to make it 4-1.  But hold on...two minutes later, Brock Nelson got his 17th of the year when he batted a puck past Smith to make the final score 5-1.  The Islanders were able to cruise for the remaining ten minutes of the game knowing they had two points in the bag.  The Islanders out shot the Yotes in the third 14-8.  Lost in the shuffle of the goal outburst was another strong effort from Chad Johnson who had 27 saves and was solid throughout.

The Islanders remained in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 82 points, and if the St. Louis Blues won at home against the Montreal Canadiens overnight, then the Islanders could wake up in the morning on top of the Eastern Conference.  All of the teams are grouped very tightly at the top and the Rags are matching the Islanders win for win.  It will be close all the way to the end of the season.  Next up this weekend are back to back home games against the Calgary Flames and the Carolina Hurricanes.

New York did not play all too well for the first two periods, but turned it on during the final twenty minutes,  Actually, all they needed was a strong seven minute stretch to put the game away.  For Arizona the game ended up Coyote Ugly, but thanks to four third period goals the game for the Islanders ended up Coyote Beautiful

Blame It On Me

The Islanders were set for a late Sunday tilt at the Nassau Coliseum after an early Saturday game at the Verizon Center in Washington. The Vancouver Canucks with the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, along with Ryan Miller made their way to Long Island. The Canucks came into the game at 33-22-3 and in the midst of a five game road trip. Vancouver was certainly the more rested team as they had a day off on Saturday after playing a couple of games against the Rags and Devils.

The Islanders came home very late after the Washington game on Saturday due to inclement weather. In fact, they probably didn't get back to their own beds until about 10:00 AM. Head Coach Jack Capuano went with the same squad on Sunday except for the fact that Halak was in goal and Lubomir Visnovsky replaced Brian Strait. This also represented a string of four straight games at the Coliseum that will give the Islanders a chance to improve on their 21-7 home record at the Nassau Coliseum and create some distance between them and the Rags, Capitals and Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.

The first period had a little bit of action and a whole lot of nothing. No one scored for the first twenty minutes. The Islanders had a lot of jump at the start which was interesting considering how late they got home in the morning. In a surprising development, the Islanders failed to score in the first 71 seconds, which they have done in the past for games. Furthermore, it was the first time they were held scoreless in the first period in their last ten games.

The Islanders got a power-play opportunity when John Tavares drove to the net and got sandwiched between two Canucks. The power-play actually looked pretty good, however they couldn't get one past Ryan Miller. Vancouver got their own power-play chance very late in the period when Kael Mole Rat tripped a Canuck off of a face-off in the Vancouver zone. However, the good news was that the penalty was so late in the period that it was bifurcated and had to be finished at the start of the second. Shots on goal were virtually even with New York having a 9-8 edge.

As much as I like the bifurcated power-play going into a period, it didn't work out to the Islanders advantage. That was because within the first minute of the second frame, Vancouver was able to convert on the power play when Zack Kassian came in on the right wing unabated and was able to throw a Wild Chinook Salmon past Jaroslav Halak. The puck actually hit the post and then Halak before going back into the net to give the Canucks 1-0 lead.

A couple of minutes later Vancouver tried and succeeded in taking out their own goaltender. Ryan Miller had to come out of the game with what looked like to be a leg injury. Eddie Lack (of confidence) came in off of the bench and was immediately greeted with back to penalty kill situations. However, the Islanders weren't able to mount much of an offense of threat for almost four straight minutes.

Soon thereafter, Mole Rat committed his second penalty of the game giving the Canucks another chance on the power play. All it took was a quick swing of the puck around the zone to an open Radim Vrbata who threw a Coho Salmon past Halak for a 2-0 lead. Not for nothing but it was sure looking like the Islanders were the ones swimming upstream in the game. Then in a blink of an eye the Canucks broke the Capilano Dam. A simple dump-in enabled Bo Horvat to beat Halak with a smoked salmon. The Islanders were caught standing around in their own end. As if that was not a challenge in itself, they had to kill off another power-play before the end of the perio

To add insult to injury, Frans Nielsen was sent into the boards and had to be helped to the dressing room. Vancouver took a penalty late in the second frame which carried over to the third period. Shots on goal for the period through two periods ended up being even at 18 apiece.

At the start of the third, there was a bit of good news in that Frans Nielsen was able to make it out of the locker room and give the power player a try. But nothing was doin' on the bifurcated man advantage. The Islanders did not give up though, as they were able to start applying some pressure in the Vancouver zone. However, it was way too little way too late.

The Canucks got an empty net goal to make the final 4-0. When you give up a couple of power play goals and fail on five power play opportunities you cannot expect to come close to winning. It was a shame to play so poorly in front of another sell out crowd.

The Islanders fell to 39-20-2 and remained in first place, but the Rags remained right on their tail and got a little bit closer over the weekend. The Islanders have done a good job forgetting about bad losses all year and this was one that they needed to forget probably faster than any other loss this year. Next up is the Arizona Coyotes at the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday night. It cannot get here quick enough.

Not only did the Islanders not come to play on Sunday afternoon, I followed suit and also did not come to play. Earlier in the day Kellie had asked me why I had not put on my Islanders garb for the game. I told her that she did not have to worry about reminding me. In fact, I told her that when I am old and in a nursing home if she wants to know if I am still sane all she needs to do is put an Islanders game on the television and I will go run and get my Islanders hoodie and hat. If I ever fail to do that then it is time to start worrying.

With the game still 3–0 in the middle of the third period, I was sitting in my chair downstairs wondering why the Islanders were playing so poorly. Then I looked down at myself and noticed there was no Islanders hoodie or hat to be found. Funny how your own words can come back to bite you. As well as Eddie Lack played in relief of Ryan Miller and as bad as the Islanders special teams were, this loss was squarely on my shoulders,

Playing Politics

Early Saturday afternoon the Islanders were in Washington to take on the Capitals. The Caps came in to the game 32-17-10 which was good for 74 points, only five behind the first place Islanders. It was weird to get ready for such an early contest. I could not remember the last time the Islanders played a game as early as 12:30 PM. It would be interesting to see how they would respond.

With Mikhail Grabovski placed on injured reserve with an upper body injury (most likely his second concussion this season), the Islanders called up Kael Mouillerat from the Bridgeport Soundtigers. “Mole Rat” was Bridgeport's leading scorer with 18 goals and 40 points. He is a undrafted journeyman who started his hockey career in the 04-05 season. Mole Rat was scheduled to center the fourth line between Matt Martin and Colin McDonald. One item to note, with his beard Mole Rat could easily have passed as Michael Grabner's doppelganger. Grabner, by the way just became a father for the second time so a breakaway goal was definitely in order to honor his new daughter.

Calvin deHaan was back in the line-up for Lubomir Visnovsky. Head Coach Jack Capuano seems to be shuffling his defensemen in and out of the line-up to keep players fresh and also to give his team better match-ups depending on the opponent. Another thing that is probably factoring into Capuano's decision making is that ever since inserting Brian Strait into the mix, the defense has played a lot better. It is a good problem to have, because the players know that no matter who they are that their spot is always up for grabs. The increasingly confident Chad Johnson was back in net after his stellar performance against Carolina earlier in the week. On to the game.

The first period was all about defense as there were not very many shots on goal. In fact there were only ten shots total, with the Islanders getting six of them. Chad “Lyndon” Johnson looked solid in net even though there was not a lot of rubber thrown at him. About eight minutes in, Travis Hamonic joined the rush after a great feed from Josh Bailey and came in on the conservative side of Braden Holtby to wrist one into the net for a 1-0 lead. It was Hamonic's 4th goal of the year and the 100th point of his career. Lee got the second assist.

After the teams played some politics they traded penalties. Both teams came up short with the man advantage. However, some last minute lobbying got the Capitals a goal in the last minute of the period when Matt Niskanen filibustered one past Johnson off of a Backstrom feed to tie the game at one apiece. Unfortunately, that continued the Islanders trend of giving up late goals in periods. Overall, a very good road first period for New York.

The middle frame saw both teams exercise detente which ended up with no goals or penalties. It was a pretty clean period. Chad Johnson saw the puck well and did a great at covering up on his rebounds. Not a lot of really good chances for either team during the period. The Capitals had 10 shots to the Islanders 7 to pretty much draw even at the end of the second period.

In the third period it was more of the same. Both teams were very diplomatic and played very tight not wanting to give up the deciding goal. The only highlight came when John Tavares drove the net and tried to pass a bill past Holby. However, Governor Tom Wilson pushed the Captain hard into the end boards after the puck was out of play. There was no penalty on the play while Tavares took some time to get up off of the ice. A couple of minutes later Matt Martin tried to extract some justice which ended up just being a short dance with Wilson. It was brave for MattyMarts to do that only a week or so removed from a broken nose.

With less than five minutes left, Johnny Boychuk took a huge slap shot which ended up bouncing out to the blue line, starting a Capitals breakaway. Brooks Laich was able to feed Eric Fehr who rifled a shot past Johnson before it could be vetoed to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. It certainly looked like a heartbreaking road loss was in the works.

The Islanders impeached Johnson and took him off the ice with a minute and a half left in the game. With the President in hiding, the Islanders exerted a tremendous amount of pressure with the extra attacker. Tavares had a golden opportunity to stuff in the tying goal, but missed by inches.

The Islanders then got a face-off in the Washington zone and Ryan Strome took over by moving the puck across to Tavares who fired a quick shot that rebounded to the right of Holby. Strome was Johnny on the spot by burying the puck from a sharp angle into the net to tie the game at two apiece with 48 seconds left. It was Strome's 13th goal of the year from Lee and Tavares. A collective sigh of relief could be heard across Long Island.

The game went to overtime for the third time in the four meetings between these two teams. Previously the Islanders won two of those games with an overtime power play goal. However, with only two penalties being called the entire game, there was little chance either team was going to get that opportunity on this Saturday afternoon.

With each team having a point in their back pocket, both teams opened up a bit which resulted in more end to end action and more scoring chances. Both goalies came up big and it eventually went to a skills competition. When the ever sure Frans Nielsen flubbed his chance you knew it was not meant to be. The Capitals ended up winning in a shootout.

This was a good road loss if there ever was one. The Islanders stole a point to make it to the 80 point mark to extend their lead to four points over the Rangers and Capitals and seven points over the slumping Penguins. Chad Johnson had a very strong game and seems to have regained his confidence as evidenced by the 91 saves he has made in the last 96 shots against over the past three games.

Next up is a short flight home for a late Sunday afternoon game against a very good Vancouver Canucks team. It won't be easy, but a win tomorrow will make it a very good weekend indeed.

The Islanders escaped without having to play politics. Their defense enabled them to steal a point to keep their momentum going. It was not “Mission Accomplished”, but sometimes you have to settle for the next best thing. Just like everything else in life, on a snowy day in February, we just have to sit back and accept the news that comes out of the nation's capital…whether we like it or not.

A Preview Of A Fitting End

Tonight was a very bittersweet as the New York Islanders (my favorite team) hosted the Nashville Predators (my second favorite team) at the Nassau Coliseum.  Of course I have been an Islanders fan my whole life, however a brief five year stint in Knoxville, Tennessee led me to become a Predators fan.  Starved for live hockey, Kellie and I would trek from Knoxville to Nashville to go to Preds games.  In fact, we went to the first ever hockey game in Nashville when the Predators took on the Florida Panthers (also playing in their first ever game) in 1996.  

The Predators made it very fun to go to hockey games in the city that is arguably the home of country music.  Back then the Preds always had competitive teams under the tutelage of Barry Trotz.  Nowadays, the Predators lead the entire NHL with 84 points (39-12-6) and have Peter Laviolette behind the bench (former Islanders head coach).  It is potentially a preview of Stanley Cup Final that would make this Islanders fan very happy.

The Islanders came into the game off of a gritty road win in Carolina and in first place in the Metropolitan Division.  Casey Czikas was placed on injured reserve with a lover-body injury, which meant that Head Coach Jack Capuano did not need to make any tough decisions on his forwards for the game.  

On defense, Lubomir Visnovsky was back in for Calvin deHaan (it was supposed to be Brian Strait sitting out but there was a last minute change) and Jaroslav Halak was back in net after Chad Johnson’s impressive 37 save performance against the Hurricanes on Tuesday evening.  This one was going to be a good test for the Islanders and would be a good measuring stick to see how they would fare against the best in the west.

Exactly one minute into the first period the Islanders took the lead when Brian Strait activated from the blue line and took a neat pass from Frans Nielsen to make it 1-0. It was Strait's 2nd goal of the year.  Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner got the assists.  It was a bit ironic that Strait was the one that scored so quickly because he was a last minute substitution for deHaan.  Also, it was the fifth straight game that the Islanders got the first goal of the game and the fourth time inside of  71 seconds.  The Islanders dictated the play for the entire period and had numerous opportunities. Colin MacDonald had a point blank chance and John Tavares hit a post.

In the Islanders zone, Mikhail Grabovski took a clean shoulder hit from of all people Eric Nystrom, however when he fell to the ice he hit his head hard.  At first, Grabovski did not move and his limbs were stretched out on the ice.  They brought out a stretcher but Grabovski was able to get to his feet and skate off under his own power.  It was interesting that the fans were booing Eric Nystrom, who is the son of Mr. Islander Bobby Nystrom. I guess even a Nystrom does not get a pass when it comes to these Islanders.

New York continued the pressure.  Nielsen won a face-off in the Nashville zone, Nick Leddy drove the net and snuck a pass back out to Johnny Boychuk who took a slapshot around a screen from Michael Grabner.  The puck got by Pekka Rinne for Boychuk's 6th goal of the year.  Leddy and Graber got the helpers, the later with his second assist of the period.

The two teams traded unsuccessful power plays.  Then the Islanders got another chance when McDonald hit Gaustad hard. Gaustad wanted to fight but McDonald showed restraint and was rewarded by getting his team a power play.  On the man advantage, Boychuk took a slapper that took a weird bounce to the right of Rinne.  Unfortunately for Rinne, John Tavares was waiting and he put it in the net for a 3-0 lead.  It was Tavares' 29th goal of the year from Leddy and Boychuk.

Just when it looked like the Islanders would escape the period with a three goal lead, Forsberg scored for Nashville.  After a blocked shot the puck found him in the high slot to make it 3-1 with 17 seconds left in the first period.  Overall the Islanders had a strong period even though they were out shot 17-15.

The second period did not have too much action.  Both teams traded a power play opportunity and that was about it.  The only goal came after Thomas Hickey blocked a shot from Weber.  The Predators worked the puck around the Islanders zone and the former Penguin Neal scored from from the wing to make it 3-2.  The Islanders picked up the pace on shots 14-8 during the period.

In the final frame, the Predators tried to get back into it but could not pull the trigger.  The Islanders took advantage and extended their lead.  After Martin chipped out the puck from the Islanders zone, McDonald threaded the pick to Leddy who hit iron and then net to make it 4-2 with about thirteen minutes remaining.  It was Leddy's 8th goal of the year which was in addition to the two assists he had in the first period.  That gave the Islanders a comfortable lead.  However, that lead would get a lot more comfortable a couple of minutes later.

After a Strait check on Jarnkrok, the Islanders broke out and got the puck to Bailey who drove towards the goal and tried to jam it in the side of the net.  Rinne stopped it at first, but his momentum carried the puck in the net to stretch the lead to 5-2.  Tavares and Lee got the assists and that was the ball game.  The Islanders out shot the Predators 11-7 for the third period and 40-32 for the game.  New York was only 1-5 on the power play, but killed off three penalties in the process.  Their overall effort was evidenced by 28 takeaways vs. the 12 that the Preds had.

The Islanders moved to 39-19-1 which was good for 79 points and a five point lead on the Rangers and Capitals.  The Penguins fell to fourth place and six points behind the Islanders.  Next up are back to back games on the weekend.  On Saturday afternoon, the Islanders go to Washington to play the surging Capitals and then it is a quick turnaround for a later Sunday afternoon back home against the Vancouver Canucks.

This game was a great test against the best team in the NHL.  It was hard to root against Nashville, because they still have a place in the corner of my heart.  It would be great if these two teams met in the Stanley Cup for a number of reasons. First, it would be a great series that I think would give the Islanders a good chance to win the cup.  Secondly, The proximity of Nashville would enable me to go to multiple games in Nashville and New York.  Lastly, it would be a fitting end to the season to see my original home play against my adopted home to close out a very memorable and special season.  Hopefully the dream will become reality.

Back In The Saddle

Sometimes when you fall off of your high horse the best thing to do is to get right back on. That was the good news for the New York Islanders on Tuesday evening. Fresh off of a disappointing loss at home against their hated rival, the New York Rangers, the Islanders traveled to Raleigh to take on the Hurricanes.

While the Islanders were giving up three two goal leads in their loss on Monday night, the Hurricanes were overcoming three one goal deficits in their win over Ottawa at the very same time. Carolina has struggled this year as they came into this contest 20-28-7. The Islanders swept a home and home against the Hurricanes at the start of the season and have not looked back since.

Head Coach Jack Capuano made a number of changes for this game. Michael Grabner came off of the injured reserve list to spell Casey Czikas, Calvin deHaan returned and replaced Lubomir Visnovsky and Chad Johnson got the start in place of Jaroslav Halak who gave up a six spot against the Rangers. The lines were mixed up as well. Grabner-Nielsen-Strome got 2nd line honors, Grabovski centered Kulemin and Clutterbuck, and Nelson was demoted to play with McDonald and Martin.

There is always the fear of an emotional letdown after an Islanders-Rangers game. At least for the first period that was not the case. The Islanders had good energy coming out of the gates and had numerous scoring opportunities, but Anton Khudobin was able to bail out the Hurricanes. Michael Grabner looked good coming back from injury, even getting his normal allotment of breakaways. Perhaps he is coming into form for the stretch run,

With about four minutes left in the first period the Islanders went on the power play after a Hurricane hooking call. After winning the face-off, Frans Nielsen walked the puck to the blue line and went down to the right face-off dot. There he met John Tavares and the two of them started a mini cycle. The Hurricanes defenseman seemed more concerned with Tavares than Nielsen. That gave Frans some daylight to take a quick shot. Anders Lee tipped it in front and then got his own rebound which he slid through Khudobin's five hole for a 1-0 lead. It was Lee's 19th goal of the year. The Islanders doubled up the Hurricanes in shots on goal 14-7 in the period. A late delay of game penalty against Hamonic gave Carolina a power play that carried over to the second period.

The Islanders were able to kill off the power play to start the second period, thanks to Michael Grabner. He is definitely starting to look like his old self. He chipped the puck out of the zone a couple of times and even had a breakaway but shot it wide of the net. Chad Johnson also played well and you could tell he was gaining confidence as the game wore on.

The Islanders eventually took a 2–0 lead on a goal from Brock Nelson. The Islanders put on some pressure and Colin McDonald distracted the goalie and may have gotten away from spending a bit too much time in the crease. It was Nelson's 16th goal of the year and his first in over a month. Martin got the second assist. The Hurricanes turned the tables on the Islanders and out shot them in the second period 18-8.

In the third period the Islanders just did not let up. The only concern was if a bad bounce would cut the lead in half. The Islanders desperately needed to get that backbreaking goal to put the game out of reach. That goal would come from the stick of Michael Grabner. It was justice well served as Grabs40 was clearly the best player on the ice. Grabner was able to get a short breakaway off of feeds from Hamonic and Nielsen for his 6th goal of the year to make it 3-0 with eight minutes to play.

The Hurricanes got one back on a goal from Jiri Tlusty to make it 3-1 and nearly got a second goal from Nathan Gerbe but it was waived off because the midget played the puck with a high stick (of course he had to use his stick…after all he is height challenged). Chad Johnson came up big with a number of saves. Then for some inexplicable reason, Carolina pulled their goalie with over four minutes left in the game. All that did was give John Tavares the opportunity to get his 28th goal of the year to make it 4-1. That is where it ended.

It was interesting that the Hurricanes out shot the Islanders 38-30 for the game even though the Islanders pretty much dictated the play. Overall, Chad Johnson was solid (which was nice to see) and Michael Grabner was all over the ice. If Grabner can get hot it will mitigate the loss of Kyle Okposo who is still a couple of weeks away from returning to the lineup. Travis Hamonic had a great defensive game. You could clearly tell when he was and when he wasn't on the ice.

The Islanders moved their record to 38-19-1 which was good for 77 points and first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers and Penguins remained two points behind with a couple of games in hand. Next up is a tough home game against the Nashville Predators which could be a preview of a great Stanley Cup Final. Then the Islanders travel to Washington on Saturday afternoon to take on the Capitals.

Solid win by the Islanders after falling off of the horse just 24 hours earlier. There must have been a lot of disappointment as the team flew to Carolina. However, It showed a lot of character to get right back on the very same horse. Hopefully they will stay in the saddle for a couple more weeks and solidify their position at the top of the conference.

Precedent's Day

President's day was more special than normal, because the Rangers were on tap for what was to be a great hockey game at the Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders came into the game 3-0 vs. the Rangers for first time since the 07-08 season. This year the Rangers have been dominated by the Islanders who came into the game having won the previous three games by a combined score of 13-4 (which includes outscoring them 11-2 over the last 7 periods). Jaroslav Halak almost had shut outs over the Rangers in the last two games, but Carl Hagelin prevented that from happening by potting a goal with 10 seconds to play in their previous meeting.

The Islanders went with the same line-up once again with Halak in net. Calvin deHaan had recovered from the skate he took to the forehead, however, Head Coach Jack Capuano wanted to stay with the hot hand at this point. The Rangers have kept in step with the Islanders winning ways over the past month, even though they have been without Henrik Lundqvist due to an upper body injury. Instead, they went Cam Talbot, who has played well in Henrik's absence.

The game started innocent enough. Right off of the face-off the Islanders moved the puck into the Rangers zone. Cam Talbot went behind his net and played the puck to his defenseman in the corner. However, the pass was a bit wide and John Tavares happened to be sitting right there to put it in the empty net from a sharp angle at 11 seconds. Talk about starting off on the right foot. It was Tavares' 27th goal of the year. Big mistakes in big games usually make a big difference between winning and losing.

From that point forward the sell out crowd got into it and the Islanders responded. They had 14 shots and won all five face-offs in the first ten minutes of the game. They had a number of point blank chances right in front of Talbot. Then with about eight minutes left in the period, Mikhail Grabovski had the puck on the end boards and fed a pass out to Travis Hamonic out by the blue line. After Travis took a slap shot, Frans Nielsen cleaned up the mess on the rebound to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. It was Fransy's 11th goal of the year.

At that very moment the lights went out. Not in the Nassau Coliseum but in my house. An ice storm hit Atlanta and the neighborhood went completely dark. I thought about just watching the game the next day, but then I realized that nothing was being recorded because…duh, there was no electricity. Not knowing how long it would be, I resigned myself to use twitter to get the play by play for the rest of the game.

From what I read it was a back and forth game the rest of the way. Without seeing the action it was impossible to know how the team was playing. It certainly was not a game for the faint of heart. From all accounts it was playoff atmosphere throughout the game. The Rangers came back to cut the lead in half before the first period was over on a goal from Ryan McDonagh.

In the first eight minutes of the second period all hell broke loose. It all started with Johnny Boychuk who came off the bench and got one past Talbot for an unassisted goal to reinstate the Islanders two goal lead at 3-1. However, the Islanders just could not pull away. Chris Kreider got a screen from Boychuk and clanked one off of the post and in past Halak's glove hand. Then McDonagh got another goal from the point. However, Ryan Strome got his 11th goal of the year when he stuffed the puck in the net on a power play. Nelson and Hamonic got the assists on the goal that gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead going into the last period. It certainly read like it was a very exciting game.

Strome was not finished on the night. Just a couple of minutes into the last period, Boyle turned it over inside the Islanders blue line to create a three on one break. Strome to Nielsen, back to Strome, who went top shelf for the Islanders third two goal lead of the game. It was Strome's 12th goal of the year. After reading that, it certainly seemed like the Islanders had control of the game. However, the Rangers would not be denied. They got goals by Derek Stepan, Marty St. Louis and Kevin Klein to take a 6-5 lead with five minutes to play in the game.

There was a controversial non-tripping call against Johnny Boychuk that seemed to push the momentum in the Rangers favor. However, the Islanders had one last chance to tie it, but Josh Bailey hit the post to preserve the Rangers win in the Coliseum. You could tell after the game that the Islanders were disappointed, but they also made reference to the fact that it was just a single game in a very long season. Still, to lose to the Rags definitely hurt. The Metropolitan Division got pretty tight all of a sudden.

In a way I am glad that I did not see the game, because I would have been pretty upset about how it ended. When the Islanders gave away a two goal lead in the first period it set an ominous precedent for what was to come. In fact, there was another precedent in the the second period when they gave up their second two goal lead. Then there was that third two goal lead in the last period. The Islanders should have seen it coming. After all, that is why they call it Precedent's Day.

Mission Accomplished

It was Saturday night in the ole barn as the New York Islanders took on the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Nassau Coliseum.  The Jackets have had and up and down year as evidenced by their 24-26-3 record.  The Islanders won 5-2 on the road in early January in the only previous meeting this year between the two teams.  Columbus beat the Flyers on Friday to start their current five game roadtrip.  Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky was out with an injury so Anton Forsberg got the start against the Islanders.  Forsberg is a rookie from Sweden with a 0-2 record and a 4.35 GAA and a .861 save percentage so far this year.  The Islanders needed to jump on him early in order to shake his confidence.

This was the fourth straight game for the Islanders against an inferior opponent (that sounds funny to say but for this season it is really a very true statement) with the three previous wins coming by a 3-2 score. The Islanders went with the same lineup from Thursday's win and Halak returned to the net.  It was important not to lose focus and look past Columbus with the Rangers coming to the barn on Monday evening.  The focus had to be completely on the Blue Jackets.

At the drop of the puck the Islanders meant business.  They fed off of the energy from the sellout crowd and had the Blue Jackets on their heels (which may or may not be possible with skates on, but I will go with it).  It was just a matter of time before the puck was in the back of the net.  The BLT line got-r-done just a minute in.  John Tavares sent a pass in front of the net to Lee, Bailey picked up the puck out of Lee's skates and beat Forsberg for a quick 1-0 lead.  It was Bails' 10th goal of the year. 

The Islanders did not let up the pressure.  A couple of minutes later Tavares had the puck in back of Forsberg and held his defender at bay, switched directions and sent a crisp pass to Josh Bailey waiting on the goal line.  Bailey quickly roofed one from a sharp angle and it got by Forsberg before he knew it for a 2-0 lead.  Bails had his 11th goal from Tavares and Leddy.  The Islanders evil plan worked.  They jumped on Forsberg which is exactly what they needed to do.

New York got the first power play of the game when Hartnell knocked down Travis Hamonic along the wall.  Colin McDonald stepped in to stick up for him and the entire pile fell to the ice.  The Blue Jackets got the extra two minutes.  The Islanders were like a shark circling its prey.  They had a number of good chances but in the end could not convert.  

Columbus got their first power play soon thereafter and exerted a tremendous amount of pressure in front of Halak.  The Islanders failed to clear the puck on three attempts, but were able to get through the two minutes unscathed.  Nickolay Kulemin even had a short-handed chance right as the penalty expired.

Similar to Thursday's game against the Maple Leafs, the Islanders dominated play early only to let up for a short stretch which allowed the Blue Jackets to get some momentum.  Johnny Boychuk misplayed the puck and Brandon Dubinsky (ex-Rag) roofed one past Halak on a two on one.  That goal seemed to energize the Blue Jackets and all of sudden the Islanders started to give the puck away.  

The next faux pas belonged to Brian Strait who whiffed on a bouncing puck, which enabled Cam Atkinson to swoop in and beat Halak to tie the game at two apiece.  It was hard to fault Halak with all the giveaways, but that was one that he probably wished to have back.  It was not the way to end the period after starting out so well.  Islanders out shot Columbus 17-11 in the first frame.

In the second period, the Islanders continued to pepper the Swede.  At one point the Islanders had 16 of the first 17 shots of the period.  At around the seven minute mark, Ryan Strome picked up a loose puck after Lubomir Visnovsky failed to score in the slot and put it in the open net to re-claim the lead for the Islanders.  It was Strome's 10th goal of the year.  Afterwards things started to get a bit nasty.  Hamonic and Hartnell dropped the gloves after Nick Foligno got a penalty.  

Columbus scored right as their second power play expired (which was a defacto power play, it just did not count in the statistics).  Casey Cizikas could not contain Jack Johnson on another odd man Columbus rush and took a hooking penalty.  After the power play, the Blue Jackets entered the New York zone and after a nifty game of pass and catch, Hartnell found Foligno to make it 3-3 with about thirty seconds left. It was the straight period where Columbus scored in the final minute.  

As the Islanders started the final stanza, it was important for the team to find a way to win so they could have some momentum going into the Rangers game on Monday.  After the bad taste that they had in their mouth at the end of the second period, they needed to cleanse their palate to start the third period.

Just two minutes in, Mikhail Grabovski went cross ice in the Columbus zone to Thomas Hickey and Fish Oils threaded a hard pass to Frans Nielsen who was standing by the side of he net.  Fransy almost whiffed on it, but had enough juice to squeeze it by Forsberg to give the Islanders a 4-3 lead.  It was Nielsen's 10th goal of the year (that sounds very familiar).

The taste would get even sweeter.  John Tavares was in the back of the Blue Jackets net where he set up shop.  He fed the puck out to Brian Strait at the blue line.  After a shot on goal, Tavares picked up the loose puck in front, wheeled around and wristed it past Forsberg for a 5-3 lead.  It was the Captain's 25th goal of the year and third point of the game.  

Soon thereafter, Tavares grabbed Dubinsky's stick while he was sitting on bench and got caught by referee which sent the Blue Jackets to the power play.  After killing the penalty off, Tavares jumped out of the box and into the play.  He was upset with the penalty call and wanted to take it out on Forsberg.  A two on one quickly developed with Josh Bailey and it ended up with Tavares netting his 26th goal of the year.  The game was 6-3 and that is how it would end.  For the game the Islanders out shot the Blue Jackets 46-37.

For the second game in a row it was a good effort.  The only thing to be critical of is a couple of five minute stretches where the Islanders have allowed the opposition to get back into the game.  Primary contributor to that were the 21 giveaways the Islanders had vs. the Blue Jackets which had 9.  Tavares had a four point night with two goals and Josh Bailey had three points with two goals.  Three Islanders got their 10th goal of the year (Bailey, Strome and Nielsen).  The Islanders were also kinda perfect on the penalty kill (0-4) but were scoreless on the power play (0-4).

The Islanders moved to 37-18-1 which was good for 75 points.  Good teams do not overlook any opponent.  They don't play down to the competition and they dictate the flow of the game.  The Islanders beat who they were supposed to beat this week (Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto and Columbus).  Mission accomplished.

Islanders Bag Leafs

The Islanders played the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday evening at the Nassau Coliseum which meant only one thing. That the Leafs had a front row seat to watch John Tavares and his first place Islanders.  Oh what could've been. Toronto had their eyes all over John Tavares the year that he was drafted.  Islander fans won't soon forget all of the vicious rumors that emanated from north of the border that "Tavares did not want to go to New York" as the number one pick.  It was never true.  Toronto wanted Tavares to be the face of their franchise and carry on their storied tradition.  However, it was the Islanders tradition that Tavares wanted to uphold.  He made the right choice.

Coming into the game the Maple Leafs were 22-29-4 and had not had a  win in their previous 11 road games.  There was no reason in the world to worry about a harmless leaf, especially leaves that are on a losing streak.  The Islanders went into the game with almost the same team from the Oiler game.  The only change was that Cal Clutterbuck returned to the lineup and was penciled in on the third line so that Colin McDonald could stay on the fourth line.  Halak was in net again going for a career high of 30 wins.  The only thing that stood in his way was a bunch of leaves.

The Islanders came out flying and kept flying for the entire period.  It was a much better team effort than the previous game against the Oilers. It was almost as if the Islanders had something to prove to Toronto. A little over a minute into the game and the Leafs gave away the puck in their own end.  Anders Lee broke up a pass from Franzen and went in all alone on Jonathan Bernier.  It appeared that Bernier stopped Lee with his right branch but it ended up sneaking in for the goal.  It was Lee's 17th goal of the year.  

Just a couple of minutes later it was the fourth line again that made a contribution. Casey Czikas bounced a puck off the sideboards to Colin McDonald who took it deep into the zone and drove towards the net.  Bernier stopped the puck, but Czikas followed the play and chipped it past the goalie for a quick 2-0 lead.  At that point it seemed that the Toronto was about to fall and the game was going to be an autumnatic loss for Leafs.

Before the period was over the Islanders fourth line had another opportunity when a two on on quickly developed. Czikas fed Matt Martin who tried to backhand it past Bernier, but the goalie made a great save.  Both teams traded power plays during the period.  The Islanders looked good on both ends.  Overall, the Islanders effort during the first period was off the charts.  The Leafs did all they could just to survive. Sometimes shots on goal do not reflect which team had the better of the play. This was not one of those times.  The Islanders had18 shots versus the Maple Leafs 8 and the Islanders out-chanced them by a wide margin.

In the second period, Toronto came out with a much better effort. Their coach must've lit into them between periods because it seemed like spring had arrived for the Leafs.  Two minutes into the period, a slapshot from the blue line bounced off the end boards behind the net and came out the other side where it found the stick of Richard Panik to make it 2-1.  

Subsequently, Toronto took a high sticking penalty and had to kill off an Islanders power play which never really got any good looks on Bernier.  Right after the penalty expired the Leafs got a breakout and Panick drove the net.  However, Trevor Smith knocked in the rebound to tie the game at two apiece.  The Leafs continued to push the play for most of the period.   It was hard to believe that it was the same team that gave up two goals in the first.  They threatened to take the lead on numerous occasions, but the Islanders were not about to panic even though Panick had been effective for the other team.

he Islanders would respond. They started to apply some pressure in the Toronto zone.  John Tavares worked the puck while setting up shop at the back of the net.  He found Travis Hamonic who took a shot from the blue line that ended up being deflected in front by Josh Bailey. It bounced right to the stick of Anders Lee who got his second goal of the game and his 18th of the year.  The goal gave the lead back to the Islanders with eight minutes left in the period.  That seemed to give the Islanders their mojo back as they reverted to the form that they had in the first period.  Much of the last five minutes was spent in the Toronto zone.  Time ran out before the Islanders could score again.

In the third period, the Islanders continued their strong play, however things got a little dicey when Halak came way out of the net to play the puck and ended up falling down outside the face-off circle.  As he scrambled to get back, Islanders defensemen covered the net.  It was a golden opportunity for the Leafs to even the score, but they could not even get a shot on goal.  The Leafs never got another good scoring opportunity and the Islanders hung on for a 3-2 win.  It was their third straight 3-2 win in a row.

Overall, the Islanders played very well with only a couple of miscues that led to the two Toronto goals.  Anders Lee obviously had a strong game and has found a spot on the top line.  The fourth line gave a great effort and chipped in with a goal.  However the second and third lines were pretty quiet the whole game.  The Islanders ended up out shooting the Leafs 41-36 for the game while both teams were 0-2 on the power play.  The key statistic in the game was the fact that the Islanders doubled up the Leafs in takeaways, 14-7.  Those extra takeaways led to all three Islander goals.

The Islanders improved to 36-18-1 which was good for 73 points.  They remained ahead of Pittsburgh who won in overtime against Ottawa.  Next up is a Saturday evening contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  A win on the weekend will give the Islanders a lot of momentum against the New York Rangers on President's Day.

The Leafs came to play for about 20 minutes which was not good enough, because the Islanders played almost a full 60 minutes in front of a loud crowd.  It was a cold evening on Long Island in the middle of winter which meant that there were no leaves to be found outside the Nassau Coliseum.  It turned out that all the Leafs were inside the arena being bagged by the Islanders.

Fourth Line Brings It

The Islanders started a four game home stand against the Edmonton Oilers at the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday night.  When I think of Edmonton I always think about how their team history is somewhat tied with the Islanders.  In the 1980s the Islanders started out the decade winning four straight Stanley Cups, the last one coming as a result of beating a young Edmonton Oiler team that had some player named Wayne Gretzky (I hear he had a good career).  The following year, the Oilers returned the favor and beat the Islanders during their "drive for five"  The Oilers would then go on to win five Stanley Cups in the next seven seasons. The two teams together dominated the 1980s.

Since then, both teams have struggled for the most part and in particular over the past ten years.  Both teams also have stockpiled a number of young prospects, many of which have been top five picks in the draft.  However, the Islanders have seem to have done a better job at developing their talent and picking up players on the waiver wire mixed in with some timely trades.  Edmonton, which has showed some promise is just not as far down the rebuilding path as the Islanders.  The evidence being that the Oilers came into the game with a 15-30-9 record vs. the Islanders 34-18-1.  Still, seeing the Oilers one last time in the Nassau Coliseum brought back great memories of the Stanley Cup runs 35 years ago (I cannot believe it has been that long).

Head Coach Jack Capuano went with the same lineup from the Buffalo win on Sunday.  That meant that Colin McDonald and Harry "don't call me Ziggy" Zolniercyk were in for Cal Clutterbuck and Michael Grabner (both day to day with upper body injuries), respectively.  Calvin deHaan was still out after getting ten stitches in his noggin after a scary play which saw a skate blade crack his visor.  Brian Strait got another start on the blue line.  Halak was back in net after his weekend vacation between the pipes in Buffalo.

The first ten minutes of the game were pretty boring. The crowd seemed quiet. It was probably partly due to the fact that the Islanders were playing the Edmonton Oilers but also because it was a Tuesday evening in February. The Oilers got on the board first on a power play goal after Anders Lee got called for hooking.  It only took about 30 seconds to put one past Halak.  It was Ryan Hamilton's first goal of the year, a Slapshot off of a rebound that trickled through Halak's five hole.  Its funny because as far as the terminology goes there are no other "holes" other than the five hole.  If there were, I am sure that the Islanders penalty kill would let more goals in.  The goal was kind of surprising, because it looked more like one that Chad Johnson would have given up a couple of weeks ago.

With about six minutes left in the first period the Islanders finally woke up.  It was the fourth line that did it once again.  After some pressure around the net, Colin McDonald got his second goal in two games.  Travis Hamonic sent the puck down low to McDonald who fed Matt Martin in front of the net.  Viktor Fasth made the save on Martin point blank, but McDonald remained right next to the net and was able to knock it in.  After being a grinder on the fourth line the last couple years, McDonald has had to play in the American hockey league this year because there has been no room for him with the big team.  His time at Bridgeport has paid dividends as he has been able to add a little bit more offense to his game.

The second period was very similar to the first in that the first ten minutes were pretty boring.  However, the Islanders were able to snatch the lead with about eight minutes left, when Thomas "Fish Oils" Hickey let go an innocent slap shot from the blue line.  Somehow it found its way through a maze of players which included Josh Bailey and it got by Viktor "So" Fasth he did not even have a chance to see the puck.  The goal was original given to Fish Oils, but it was changed to Josh Bailey who apparently tipped it in.  It was Bailey's 3rd goal of the year.  Hickey got the assist along with Lee.

With about five minutes left in the period, John Tavares got bordered by Matt Hendricks and Josh Bailey took exception and stuck up for the captain.  It was the right thing to do.  There really wasn't much of a fight, but Bailey did get an extra two minutes for a crosscheck in the back. The Oilers made the Islanders pay with another power-play goal in the slot from Anton Lander.  The Islanders continued to struggle on the penalty kill.  Through two periods the shots were almost even with the Islanders having a slight 23-21 lead.

The Islanders finished up a power-play at the start of the third period but could not convert. Afterwards, the pace of play slowly picked up as the period wore on.  With about seven minutes left the Oilers started to apply tremendous pressure in the Islanders defensive zone. They were passing around the puck and the Islanders could not do anything to clear the zone.  It almost looked like a five on three power-play. It seemed that the Oilers were going to score at any moment. However, the Islanders were able to eventually clear the puck and get a line change.  

When the Islanders finally had a chance to compose themselves, the fourth line struck again. This time they came across the blue line and Colin McDonald fell down but still was able to get the puck over to Casey Czikas in the slot to give the Islanders the 3-2 lead with just under five minutes to play.  It was Czikas' 5th goal of the year from McDonald and Hickey.  The Islanders were able to buckle down and close it out for the win.  Islanders dominated the shot clock in the final period 15-5 and were able to escape with a win against an inferior opponent.

The Islanders stretched their Metropolitan lead of the Penguins to three points and remained four points up on the Rangers.  Next up on the homestand are the Toronto Mapleleafs at the Coliseum on Thursday night.  Another game that the Islanders are supposed to win.  They cannot take the Leafs lightly just because they are struggling.  If they want to get another two points they will need a better effort.  If players want to see what that looks like, all they need to do is look at the fourth line.  They bring it every night.

Another Day Off

The Islanders traveled to upstate New York to take on a terrible Buffalo Sabres team.  The game all of a sudden became a big one for the Islanders.  They needed to make sure that they ended the short road trip 2-1 and get back to their winning ways.  Perhaps the Dads and Mentors could send off the team with a win.

The injuries ares starting to mount  for the Islanders. In the game last night against the Bruins, Michael Grabner went down again, Cal Clutterbuck could not stay on the ice, and Calvin deHaan received a nasty cut on the forehead.  All three had upper body injuries.  So it was no surprise on Sunday when the Islanders announced that Michael Grabner had been placed on the team's injured reserve list and that once again Colin McDonald was recalled on an emergency basis.  However, this time he brought Harry Zolniercyk with him.  Harry had the nerve to wear Ziggy Palffy's #16.  Oh well...perhaps he had a goal or two in him.

Jack Capuano inserted Jaroslav Halak back in goal.  As expected McDonald and Zolnierczyk were in for Grabner and Clutterbuck and Lubomir Visnovsky was back in the lineup for de Haan.  One item of note, tonight's game represented Frans Nielsen's 500th NHL game which made him the 25th Islander to reach that milestone.

The Islanders started the first period with a lot of time in the Buffalo defensive zone.  They certainly pushed the play. Offsetting penalties to Matt Martin and Tyler Myers early on in the game created a little four on four action.  The Islanders continued to dominate during the period.  They ended up out shooting the Sabres 9-5, but had many more chances and controlled the puck the whole way.

The Islanders were able to get on the board first when Casey Czikas made a great play in the Buffalo zone.  It looked like the Sabres were going to get out, but Czikas would not let them.  He fought hard for the puck and turned around to head towards the net.  He sent a pass over to the hard charging Colin McDonald who was able to tap the puck by Michael Nuevirth for a 1-0 lead.  Good for McDonald who has been trapped in Bridgeport all year.  In the past two weeks he had been back and forth between the Islanders and Soundtigers but had not had a chance to play his first game of the year until today.

In the second period the Islanders maintained the pressure and then got a power play opportunity when Tyler Myers slashed Harry (I like his first name better than his last name) in the back.  the Islanders set up their power play and showed some crisp passing and maintained control in the Buffalo zone.  Anders Lee then took the puck off of the end boards and tucked it past Neuvirth for a 2-0 lead.  It was a nice play by Lee who got his 16th goal of the year from John Tavares and Travis Hamonic.  

Shortly thereafter, the Islanders stuck again off of a face-off win by Nielsen.  He slid the puck to Hamonic who then found Mikhail Grabovski in the slot for a 3-0 lead.  It was Grabo's 9th goal of the year.  Last time the Islanders were in the Nickel City they got out to a similar three goal lead only to lose in a shootout.  However, they were very much in control of this game so another collapse seemed unlikely.  

Well maybe not that unlikely.  Ted Nolan called a timeout to rip into his team that up until that moment had not done anything positive in the game.  The Sabres responded by coming out hard and driving to the net which resulted in a quick goal by Marcus Foligno.  Then before you could order any chicken wings from the Anchor Bar, Drew Stafford beat Halak to make it 2-0 with about five minutes left in the period.  

The Sabres got a late power play when Hamonic held one of the Buffalonians and got two minutes in the box.  The Islanders were able to kill it off setting up the power play for a third period completion.  The Islanders dominated play by outshooting the Sabres 14-3.  Unfortunately two of those shots found the back of the net.

Normally when you have a penalty that carries over to another period, its not that big of a deal. However, when you commit a second penalty just 18 seconds into that period it turns into a five on three situation.  That is exactly what happened when Nickolay Kulemin got caught holding a Sabre.  The Islanders were able to kill it off so there was no damage done.  Right at the end of the penalty kill, Czikas laid himself out and swept the puck out of the zone.  It was a great individual effort.

The Islanders controlled the rest of the period just as they had done the first 40 minutes of the game.  Buffalo never came close to the net and ended up with only 10 shots in the entire game vs. the Islanders 31.  It was a game that the Islanders needed to have.  Halak really did not have to put forth any sort of effort so it was almost like another off day.  Overall, it was a very good, albeit quick trip with two wins in three games.  The Dads and Mentors did their job.

The Islanders regained first place in the Metropolitan Division at 34-18-1 which was good for 69 points.  Now they go home for four straight games against Edmonton, Toronto, Columbus and the Rags.  They are dinged up, but they should be able to go on a run and create some space between themselves and the other teams in the division.  

The Islanders in the end beat a team that they were supposed to beat.  In fact it was such a mismatch it almost seemed like another off day.  Hopefully, there are few more of these coming up this week back at the Nassau Coliseum.

Hanging Chad

Things are getting very tight in the Metropolitan Division.  After the New York Rangers lost to the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon the standings had the Penguins in first place at 68 points (52 games) followed by the Islanders at 67 points (51 games), the Capitals at 66 points (53 games) and then the Rangers at 64 points (50 games).  A good weekend and the Islanders will be in good shape because a boat load of home games at the Nassau Coliseum are coming up for the rest of February.

First order of business was a road game against the Boston Bruins.  The B's beat the Islanders pretty soundly at home last week, so the Islanders were looking for a bit of revenge. The game was also another opportunity for the Boston media to let Johnny Boychuk know how much his presence is missed.  However, I got news for them...he ain't going back.  Considering that the Islanders are now one of the better teams in the league, Boychuk's leadership role on the team, and the fact that Garth Snow is going to open his checkbook, there is a really good chance he will be back in New York next year.

The "Oh and by the way" fact of the game was that another former Bruin made his return to Boston.  Chad Johnson got the start in goal in the Garden.  Johnson had a decent game last week, however his numbers are still not very good.  The gut feeling was that he was ready for a big performance against his former team.  The key statistic in the Islanders favor is that Johnson was 9-0 in the TD Garden with a 1.46 GAA coming into the game.   The rest of the line-up stayed the same from Thursday's win in Philadelphia.  Final pregame note, the Dad's and Mentors were in attendance again as they were in the middle game of their road trip.  

The game started with a belated Super Bowl celebration.  A number of New England Patriots were at center ice for the ceremonial puck drop.  Afterwards Rob Gronkowski spiked the puck at center ice, which was probably not the smartest thing to do.  Less than two minutes into the game there was a very unlikely tussle between Ryan Strome and Torey Krug.  Strome held his own in what had to be the first fight of his career.  The Islanders looked pretty good in the first period.  They had a number of great chances right in front of Tuuka Rask but could not push it across the goal line.

A little past the eight minute mark the Islanders had the first power play chance of the game.  Johnson almost misplayed the puck behind his own net, but the Islanders got out of the zone and then on the breakout, Marchand tripped Anders Lee.  The Islanders quickly took advantage by getting right in front of Rask.  After pressure by Frans Nielsen and Travis Hamonic, the puck bounced right to the stick of John Tavares who knocked it in the net for his 24th goal of the year to make it 1-0.

Ryan Strome must have liked the feeling of being in the penalty box, because after spending five minutes in the sin bin for fighting, he took a hooking penalty that enabled Boston to tie the game at 1-1.  I intentionally skipped over the fact that the Boston Bruins went on the power play and went straight to goal that was sure to come.  Patrice Bergeron scored off his own rebound with about seven minutes left in the period.  Johnson tried to flop on it but could not recover in time.  There was a whopping 28 shots in the period with the Islanders getting 13 of them, most of which were good scoring opportunities.

The second period was much like the first, with lots of chances for both teams, with the only difference being that there were no goals.  A strong move to net by Brock Nelson drew a hooking penalty which sent the Islanders to their second power play of the game.  The Bruins were able to kill it off and then had their own chance as Matt Martin was called for holding right before the ten minute mark.  It seemed that the score was 2-1 at that time because I assumed that the Bruins would score immediately.  But that was not the case as the Islanders surprised with an effective penalty kill of their own.  It remained tied at one goal apiece.

Mikhail Grabovski drew another penalty when he was held as he was on his way to Rask.  Islanders looked very good on the man advantage.  The game remained tied solely due to the fact that Rask was standing on his head.  Johnson actually played well at the other end of the ice.  The only concern were the long rebounds he gave up.  He was fortunate that the Bruins did not take advantage.  The Islanders out shot the Bruins in the middle frame 16-9.

The third period was much like the second which was much like the first.  Lost of play up and down the ice.  The Islanders had two chances on the power play but could not convert.  The only goal came with seven minutes or so left in the game.  Right off of a face-off, the Bruins drove the net, and Louie Eriksson swept in his own rebound to make it 2-1.  The Islanders applied some pressure the rest of the way, but they could not force overtime.  

Disappointing that the Islanders could not get at least a point in this one as they played a pretty solid game. The top line of Bailey-Tavares-Lee continued to play well.  Grabovski  was all over the ice even though he did not get a shot on goal.  The defense even fired quite a few shots from the blue line led by Johnny Boychuk.  Michael Grabner has been silent and is not giving the Islanders anything.  He needs to get hot with Okposo on the disabled list.

For the first time this year, Chad Johnson had a pretty solid effort with 34 saves.  He finally seemed to get into a rhythm.  You have to wonder if they will go back to him on Sunday late afternoon to give him a little more confidence or switch back to Halak.  My guess is the Islanders want to go home winners so they will bring Halak and their "A" game to Buffalo.

The Islanders stayed in second place in the Metropolitan Division at 67 points going into the road trip finale against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.  Tomorrow is a game that they should win before heading home.  It is not a must win, but it is two points they simply cannot give away.

Can't fault the Islanders on this one.  It was just a game that Rask stole.  They should have had at least three goals.  They simply could not get anything past the Boston goaltender.  The Islanders played well but just did not get any bounces.  I guess without any support you could say that the Islanders just left Chad hanging.

Dads In The House

Desperate times call for desperate measures. It was time to turn the ship around. That only meant one thing…it was time to bring the Dads on a road trip. Each year the Islanders pick a road trip and let the players bring their Dads and Mentors.  It is a great way for them to bond an say thank you for all the years of support during their hockey career.  The New York Islanders had lost three games in a row for the third time this season and looked to get back on the right track with a game in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

The game represented the start of a quick three game road trip that sees the Islanders visiting the Boston Bruins on Saturday night and the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon. Considering how they had played recently, including a very poor performance at home against a struggling Florida Panthers team, it probably was a good idea to go on the road for a couple of games.

The Islanders had won the first two games between the two teams this year. They won a 1-0 shootout earlier in the year and a wild 7-4 matinee game, both at the Nassau Coliseum. The Flyers came into the game on a four game win streak and were starting to flex their muscles. It was not a must-win game for the Islanders, however it was imperative to get the road trip off to a good start. Especially with all the Dads watching closely.

Kyle Okposo, who has been out with a detached retina (or what they call in the trade an upper body injury), has had a sobering affect on this team. Taking him out of the line-up has created a void on the top line, but more importantly a bigger void in the locker room. Anders Lee has stepped up in his absence, but truth be told there needs to be a much bigger effort from the other three lines. The Islanders have shown depth and balance all year, but now it will be truly tested over the next couple of weeks.

The Islanders came into the game a single point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, a single point ahead of the New York Rangers, and only three points in front of the Washington Capitals. Now was not the time for a losing streak. A few more loses and the media will be jumping off the bandwagon as fast as they got on. It they can get by this little stretch they should be in good shape as they have a slew of home games coming up the rest of the month.

Head Coach Jack Capuano had Jaroslav Halak in net and Brian Strait in for Lubomir Visnovsky, who was a healthy scratch. That was a mild surprise and when asked Capuano said, “Well, the last time we won against Philadelphia Strait was in there.” Not sure if it was a slight against Lubo, a reward for Strait, or if Capuano was trying to send a message to his team after a few bad losses. One thing for sure, Colin MacDonald was not on the trip after being yo-yoed back and forth between Bridgeport and Long Island a couple of times in the past week.

The Islanders came out in the first period with a little bit of fire as they immediately pounced on the Flyers goaltender, Steve Mason. It really was not much of a first period. Matt Martin tussled with Ryan White just two minutes in and both had to go off the ice for repairs. MattyMarts broke his nose in the process. The Islanders spent the majority of their time in the Philadelphia zone but Mason was standing on his head and blocked everything the Islanders threw at him. The only score came off of a turnover at the Islanders blue line. Vinny Lecavalier had his shot blocked, but Nick Schultz cruised into slot and beat Halak high glove to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Halak made a couple of key saves to keep his team within shouting distance. Islanders had the edge in shots 11-6.

For the first half of the second period the Islanders held the Flyers without a shot on net while they continued to put pressure on Mason. Former Islander Mark Streit went off the ice on a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing power play the Islanders spent a lot of time in the Flyers zone but never had a good look at the net. Even though they could not convert, you could sense that they were just being patient and waiting for their opportunity to cash in. However, the Flyers would be the ones to cash in to get a 2-0 lead. Just past the halfway point of the period, Thomas Hickey could not keep the puck in at Flyers line. That created a two on one which ended up with Chris VandeVelde beating Halak with a wrister.

The Islanders were down by a deuce and it was not looking good. Then injuries started to mount. It felt like it just was not the Islanders night. Matt Martin returned to the game wearing a full face shield to protect the nose he broke during his fight in the first period. Then later in the period Johnny Boychuk took what seemed to be a harmless wrist shot in the back of the knee and he went down immediately in pain. It looked like he twisted his knee as he fell. Boychuk had to be helped off the ice as he could not put any weight on his leg. If that was not enough, Halak took a shot which caught him on the neck. Fortunately, he was able to shake it off and stay in the game. The Islanders did not look like the team that had become division leaders. They started to look more like last year's team.

All of that seemed to spur on the Islanders however. Mikhail Grabovski, who had been flying around the entire evening and by far the best player on the ice, finally got the Islanders on the board with an unassisted goal with less than four minutes to go in the period. It was his 8th goal of the year and cut the lead in half. That would have been good enough, but the Islanders did one better. Just two minutes later Brock Nelson tossed one on net and Cal Clutterbuck banged in rebound to tie the game at two apiece. It was Clutterbuck's 5th goal of the year from Nelson and Hickey. Right after the goal, the newly minted Assistant Captain skated down to Halak and tapped him on the pads. It was as if he was saying “Don't worry we got the two goals back.” Somehow the Islanders had overcome adversity and got back into the game.

The momentum carried over to the third period as the Islanders finally started to look like themselves again. It was as if they sleep walked through the first half of the game and finally woke up. They started to push the play. The good news was that Boychuk came back out to the ice and seemed to be ok. Even better news was that the Islanders killed off a power play to keep the game even. As the period wore on the Islanders seemed to get their swagger back and played solid defense while generated good scoring chances. The game eventually went to overtime which meant that the Islanders got a well deserved point on the road. The Islanders out shot the Flyers for the game 30-18.

In the overtime both teams had chances, but a mistake by John Tavares almost cost his team the game. The Captain gave away the puck at his own blue line and Couturier walked in all alone on Halak, but Jaro made a huge save to keep the alive. The game was settled in the skills competition. The Islanders started off with Frans Nielsen's Danish Backhand of Judgement to take the early lead. The Flyers countered by tying things up on their final chance. But Cal Clutterbuck came through again in the 8th round by getting the game winner as Halak closed the door with a final save.

The Islanders moved back into first place in the Metropolitan Division at 33-17-1 which was good for 67 points. It was a huge character win. If the Islanders can get a good effort and beat the Bruins on Saturday they could possibly sweep the trip in Buffalo before going home for a while. It might be the boost they need to get back to where they were a couple of weeks ago.

This was a very gritty win by the Islanders. It really showed their resolve. They were down 2-0 in the middle period. Martin broke his nose, Boychuk seemed to be badly injured, Halak took a shot near his head and they were coming off of a three game losing streak. Somehow they figured out a way to get the job done. Desperate times mean desperate measures. The Flyers never had a chance, especially with the Dads in the house.

Blame The Gorton's Fisherman

The Islanders brought back the "Fisherman" logo for their Tuesday night match-up against the Florida Panthers at the Nassau Coliseum.  Before the 1995–96 season, the Islanders attempted to update their look by unveiling a logo depicting a fisherman holding a hockey stick.  Seemed harmless enough.  However, the logo was a marketing disaster and was not received well by the fan base.  Management buckled under the pressure and announced it would revert to the original logo as soon as league rules allowed them to do so. 

Many found that the logo bore a strong resemblance to the Gorton's Fisherman which quickly became fodder for the New York Rangers fans who made fun of the Islanders with chants of "We Want Fishsticks" long after the logo was discarded.  The Islanders soon went back to their classic logo almost as quickly as Coca Cola switched back to Classic Coke after New Coke (which coincidentally was discontinued in the mid 1990s as well).  Personally, I have always thought that the Fisherman had more of a stronger resemblance to Stan Fischler (Islanders scribe of over 35 years) than the Gorton's Fisherman.  The reason for the resurgence?  Prior to the Panthers game the Islanders skated in warm-ups using the ole Fisherman logo, because the sweaters were to be auctioned off to the fans after the game.

Back in the 1990s I was in Toronto with Kellie to see the Islanders play the Maple Leafs in the old Maple Leaf Gardens.  After the game we went back to the Marriott and were sitting in the bar when the entire Islanders team came in.  Apparently, they were staying in the same hotel.  At one table was some big rookie named Zdeno Chara (wonder if he ever amounted to anything) and at another was the Islanders captain Trevor Linden.  Kellie was a Trevor Linden fan at the time so we went over and talked to him for quite some time.  He was cordial, but he had one eye on the television in the bar which had the Vancouver Canucks game on.  Linden was a formed Canuck and was following the action closely.  You could tell he wished that he was still in Vancouver.

At one point I went out to the lobby and could not believe what I saw.  One of my favorite Islanders of all time was checking into the hotel, Ziggy Palffy.  I was wearing his jersey and ripped it off my back and handed it to him to get his autograph.  He quickly signed it and went on his way.  I don't think he said two words to me.  It did not matter because I got his autograph.  The only negative about the whole experience was that the jersey he signed was one with the Fisherman logo. At the time I did not think anything of it, but it sure would have been nice to have had an Islanders sweater with the classic logo.  Oh well...I wonder what I could get for it on eBay?

The Islanders went with Jaroslav Halak tonight against former Islander Al Montoya who was playing instead of another ex-Islander Roberto Luongo.  In a way that was a break for the Islanders.  The only concern was that Montoya might play above his head as retribution for the team cutting ties with him a few years back.  As far as the forwards went it was the same 18 skaters with the lone change being Anders Lee moving up to the top line to play with John Tavares and Josh Bailey; Mikhail Grabovski moved down to the second line to play with Frans Nielsen and Nikolay Kulemin.

The Panthers were coming off a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Monday night and we're facing their third game in four nights coming into this one.  The game got off to a fast start. It took slightly less than two minutes for the Islanders to get on the board first. Tavares brought the puck across the blue line and found Josh Bailey on the left side of the net.  The play was very close to being off sides. Bailey quickly found a wide open Anders Lee who fired the puck in the net before Montoya could even react.  It was Lee's 14th goal of the year. That top line of Bailey-Lee-Tavares (BLT line?) looked very good in the first period.  

However, the Panthers would quickly tie the game at one goal apiece on a fluke goal.  A harmless pass in front Halak was deflected into the net by the stick of Lubomir Visnovsky past Halak who never had a chance.  The goal was credited to Jimmy Hayes.  After evening the score, the Panthers picked up the pace and had a number of really good chances, but Halak was extremely sharp and kept them from taking the lead.  It took almost ten minutes for the Islanders defense to settle down and regain control of the play.  The Islanders ended the period with a power play that carried over to the second period.  Each team had a dozen shots for the period.

At the beginning of the second the Islanders could not convert the bifurcated power-play.  They had a few good chances five on five and put some pressure on Montoya.  The Panthers couldn't get any offense going as the Islanders dug in defensively.  Then at about the ten minute mark a harmless play gave the Panthers the 2–1 lead.  Erik Gudbranson came across the blue line with Casey Czikas defending, but Gudbranson wedged his way towards Halak and backhanded one into the net.  It's not often I have said this, however, Halak should have had it. The goal seemed very "Johnsonesque."

A "too many men on the ice penalty" gave the Islanders another power-play chance. They were able to convert it this time as Anders Lee tipped home a slapper from Travis Hamonic to tie the game at 2–2. It was Lee's second goal of the game and 15th goal of the year.  Nick Leddy got the second helper on the power play goal.  Before the period ended, John Tavares took an elbow in the face from Bolland and then tried to retaliate but got caught by the referees for slashing. Fortunately, the Islanders kept the Panthers off the board as period ended.  The Islanders out shot the Panthers in the second 14-9.

The Islanders killed off their own bifurcated power play to start the third.  But two minutes later after a big save from Halak, the Panthers earned a power play as Cal Clutterbuck went to the box for high sticking.  Seconds later Jimmy Hayes scored on rebound off a face-off for a 3-2 lead.  That seemed to take the wind out of the Islanders sails as they could not muster any offensive attack for the rest of the period.  They got a late power play chance when the Panthers committed a face-off violation but could not convert when it counted.  The Islanders pulled Halak but that ended up in an empty let goal and a really bad 4-2 loss.

There is no way to sugarcoat this one.  This was a very bad loss.  Florida was ending a road trip with their third game in four nights, they were coming in off of a bad loss to the Rangers, and they had their backup goalie between the pipes.  The Panthers did not seem to be tired at all and really took it to the Islanders in the third period.  The top line for the Islanders played well, but they got absolutely nothing from the other three lines.  The penalty kill unit cost them another one.  It was a shame to play so bad in front of the home crowd at the Coliseum.

The Islanders remain at 65 points but are hanging onto first place by a thread.  A number of teams are hot on their heels.  They start a three game road trip on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers and then have a back to back against the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres.  It will not be easy, but maybe going on the road will enable to recapture their momentum.  The Islanders played terrible.  Some will blame the Gorton's Fisherman for this one.  Hmmmm, maybe it is time to sell my Ziggy Palffy jersey.