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.
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