It was the final game of the Nassau Coliseum Goodbye Tour against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday afternoon. Not only did I get a guarantee of a win from the Long Island Marriott Night Manager, I also got a guarantee from Kellie. Yesterday as we were walking around the Roosevelt Field Mall she mentioned that Michael Grabner would get back in the line-up and that the Islanders would win. Then she said, "you can write about it in your blog and give me all the credit." I would be more than happy to do that. Stranger things have happened. Let's see if it came to fruition.
The Red Wings came into the Nassau Coliseum off of a 4-0 win against Tampa Bay, so that meant that both the Islanders and Wings were playing back-to-back games over the weekend. Detroit is third in the Atlantic division with 92 points (40-22-12) and clear of Boston and Ottawa in the play off race. The Islanders always seem to play well against the Red Wings, but needed a strong effort to break the long losing streak at the Coliseum.
For the Islanders the line-up was the same with Jaroslav Halak in net (so Kellie was wrong on Grabner). Jack Capuano did shuffle his lines to get some offense. He moved Nickolay Kulemin and Ryan Strome to the top line with John Tavares, combined Josh Bailey with Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo on the second line, and had Brock Nelson center Anders Lee and Tyler Kennedy on the third line. The NHL Greatest Hits line stayed in tact.
First order of business was a fantastic pre-game meal at Vincient's which consisted of Fried Zucchini, Chicken Parmigiana with a side of rigatoni, and some Tiramisu for dessert. With a very full stomach we wobbled into the Nassau Coliseum about thirty minutes before puck drop. For the first two games of this trip we had seats in the lower bowl. However, for the Red Wings game we were in the lower part of the upper bowl in the corner. I usually like to be close to the action, but there is something to be said about being up a bit higher. It gives you a much better view of the entire ice surface. As many have said, the sight lines in the Nassau Coliseum are very good and there is not a bad seat in the house.
The start of the game was not very good at all. Right off the bat less than a minute in, Okposo failed to clear the puck which led to a Detroit scoring chance. However, Halak misplayed the rebound and Tomas Tarter was there to clean it up for a quick 1-0 lead. Then before the goal was announced to the crowd, Detroit was back in the New York zone and Drew Miller lifted the puck softly in the air and it bounced off Halak and into the net to make it 2-0 just two minutes into the game. The crowd was stunned. Seven straight home losses and a quick hole to dig out of. The season seemed to be slowly slipping away.
The Islanders responded quickly. After a Detroit hooking penalty, the Islanders power play (yes I said power and not powerless) got them back in the game. Brock Nelson was able to fire one past Petr Mrazek to get the Islanders on the board. It was a power play goal and Brock's 19th goal of the year with assists from Lubomir Visnovsky and Travis Hamonic. At the very moment that the goal was scored there seemed to be a collective sign of relief from 16,000+ fans in the Coliseum.
But things got better less than two minutes later. John Tavares skated into the Detroit zone and dropped a pass to Ryan Strome who had his first shot stopped by Mzarek before putting in his own rebound to tie the game at two apiece. It was Strome's 16th goal of the year. The Islanders could have packed it in, but instead came roaring back quickly. It was like someone had awakened a sleeping cat.
With a renewed energy, the Islanders pushed the play a bit more and that led to another holding penalty against Detroit.. On the ensuing power play, Tavares took a slap shot that bounced off of Okposo's skate and behind Mzarek for a 3-2 lslanders lead. Nick Leddy got the second assist. However, before the ten minute mark, the Red Wings would tie the game at three on a goal by Niklas Kronwall. Six goals in half a period. At that moment it felt very much like an all-star game. No one could stop a puck if their life depended on it.
Towards the end of the first period, Detroit committed their fourth penalty of the period, which bled over to the second stanza. Right off of the second period face-off Frans Nielsen raced into the Detroit zone to the left of Mzarek and threw one on net. The Detroit goalie got caught cheating as the puck slipped through his pads and the Islanders reclaimed a 4-3 lead. It was Nielsen's 14th goal of the year from Tavares and Leddy. It was also the Islanders third power play goal of the game. As goals go, it was pretty soft, which prompted Mike Babcock to replace Mzarek with Jimmy Howard the rest of the way.
Just four minutes later, the Islanders took another penalty and went on the kill. However, Cal Clutterbuck intercepted a pass and raced towards Howard. He put on a fake with the puck sliding under Howard's pads for a short-handed goal to make it 5-3. It was an unassisted goal and Clutterbuck's 7th of the year. The Red Wings did not know what hit them. After a couple of tough losses, it was nice to hear the "Yes!, Yes!, Yes!" chant so many times in such a short timeframe.
Pavel Datsyuk would cut the lead to 5-4 in the middle of the period, but after that point there would be no more scoring. The third period was clean with no goals and no penalties and the shot clock was pretty even for the entire game with the Islanders having a slight 27-25 advantage. There were a few anxious moments, but the Red Wings really did not mount much of a threat. One last big save from Halak in the closing minute iced the game for the Islanders and stopped their home losing streak.
The win was guaranteed by both the Long Island Marriott Night Manager and Kellie. I will give Kellie only half the credit because she turned out to be wrong on Michael Grabner. Either way, I will take it. A win is a win, The win temporarily vaulted the Islanders back into second place in the Metropolitan Division with 95 points (44-27-11) ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and extended their lead over fourth place Washington to three points. However, both teams have games in hand.
The good news is that the rest of the way the Islanders only play one playoff-bound team and it is the Penguins. That could be either good (because those teams have nothing to play for) or bad (because those teams have nothing to lose). It also gives the Islanders the chance to close out the season on a high note by beating up on the Eastern Conference after taking a beating from the Western Conference.
After the final buzzer I walked out of the Nassau Coliseum happy with a win in what should have been my final game in the ole barn. However, as I left the arena I had a strong feeling that I would be back to see at least one more game. I was not very nostalgic. I did not shed a tear or get choked up. Maybe it was knowing that there is still plenty of life left in the building, plenty of life left in the Islanders season, or the fact that there are plenty more memories still to cherish before the lights are finally turned off.
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