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,
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