And then there was one. The last regular season game of the year. The only question was whether the game would mean anything or not. The Washington Capitals lost earlier in the day (notice I did not mention who won the game) so that meant that the Islanders would be playing the last game of the year for home ice advantage against the Capitals in the first round.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were in town and out of the playoffs, but that has not stopped them from finishing the season strong. They came into the game with 87 points (41-35-5). However, in their last 16 games they have gone 14-1-1. The Islanders were 2-0-1 against the Blue Jackets this year, but the two wins were earlier in the season when Columbus was banged up. Columbus did not start Sergei Bobrovsky, who is affectionately nicknamed "Bob", probably only because they wanted to give back-up Curtis McElhinney a shot at creating his own nickname.
The scene in the Coliseum was reported to be insane. Fans were everywhere a good fifteen minutes before warmups and chants of "Let's Go Islanders" and "We Want Home Ice" were loud and proud. As part of the pre-game ceremonies, Claire Arbour and her family dropped the puck in honor of Al Arbour who could not make the trip from Florida due to illness. The Islanders also commemorated the 1972 team by wearing replica sweaters with bright orange numbers. They were not very pretty, but they were nostalgic.
On the injury front, Travis Hamonic was out after getting injured against the Penguins on Friday and Calvin deHaan finally got back in the lineup. Hamonic came to the rink sporting a big limp which was not a good sign. Jaroslav Halak was back in net with home ice for the playoffs on the line. The forward lines remained unchanged. So with no signs of Martin, Nielsen, Grabovski, and Hamonic there had to be some concern going into the playoffs next Wednesday.
To start the game, the Islanders had two or three giveaways, probably due to nerves and excitement more than anything else. The game was very physical as Columbus knocking down John Tavares and Casey Czikas with borderline hits. The Islanders had three breakaways on McElhinney, but Brock Nelson hit a post, John Tavares missed an opportunity right out of the penalty box, and Nickolay Kulemin missed a chance on a power play.
The Islanders out shot the Blue Jackets 20-8 in the period, but a late hooking penalty on Casey Czikas gave Columbus a power play chance. Then with only ten seconds left Cam Atkinson roofed one past Halak for a quick 1-0 lead. It was the third time in the last three games that the opposition got a goal with ten seconds or less to go in a period. It was disappointing to say the least, but the Islanders did play well during the period and the crowd was behind them. It was just a matter of time before they would get on the board.
In the second period, the Islanders continued to carry the play. Each team had a power play opportunity but could not convert. Then about halfway through the period, the Islanders strong effort paid off as Josh Bailey fed Kyle Okposo from behind the net and Kyle was able to elevate it past McElhinney to tie the game at one apiece. It was Okposo's 18th goal of the year. Kulemin got the second helper. The shots were even in the period. One goal and twenty minutes was all that separated the Islanders from home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
The last regular season period at the Nassau Coliseum was off the charts. The Islanders came out strong and got two goals within a minute of each other to take a 3-1 lead. It was the fourth line that got the first tally as Eric Boulton sat on the doorstep and knocked in a rebound past McElhinney from Tyler Kennedy and Nick Leddy. It was Boults' 2nd goal of the year, both against the Blue Jackets. Then before they could announce the goal, John Tavares got a feed from Kyle Okposo and beat McElhinney up high. It was the Captain's 38th goal of the year. At that point all seemed right in the world.
However, nothing is ever easy for the Islanders or their fan base. The Blue Jackets got two straight goals of their own to tie the game at three apiece. The first was a fluke goal that occurred when Brandon Dubinsky flipped a puck up in the air while he was behind the Islanders net. The puck hit Josh Bailey and then the back of Halak's pad and it was in the net without anyone noticing. The tying goal came off of a delayed penalty which enabled the Blue Jackets to get an additional attacker and an open look at the net. Alexander Wennberg got the goal. There was no way either of those goals were Halak's fault. They were just bad bounces that did not go the Islanders way.
That was not the end of the scoring. With less than five minutes to go, Tavares and Kulemin came across the blue line and Tavares fed the puck through his legs to Kulemin who beat McElhinney for a 4-3 lead. It was Kulemin's 15th goal of the year. It looked like that it was going to be a happy ending. However, the Blue Jackets got another tying goal a couple of minutes later when Halak was screened in front of his net and Scott Hartnell buried it past him to send the game to overtime.
It seemed odd that the last regular season game and home ice in the first round of the playoffs would come down to a skills competition, but it did. The Islanders took the early lead on a great move by John Tavares, but eventually lost in four rounds. It almost seemed improbable earlier in the day that the Islanders could lose, but they did.
The Islanders bounced back from a heartbreaking loss in Philadelphia with a gritty win in Pittsburgh on Friday. Then they got some help earlier in the day from their fiercest rival. They played a strong game with 52 shots on goal and four breakaways, but somehow came up empty. The bounces did not go their way. The hockey g-ds were just not on their side.
The exclamation point came after the game when it was learned that Jamie Benn in Dallas, in a meaningless game, got two late points to take the scoring title away from John Tavares. For a while in the third period it seemed certain that the Islanders had won and that Tavares would be dusting off his mantle for his first Art Ross trophy. But neither would come to be.
Sometimes when it rains it pours. Sometimes when it pours, it floods. This was one of those times. The way the season ended makes you wonder if there is some hidden meaning or some lesson to be learned. I guess this is the time to look at the glass half full. There are still the playoffs to look forward to. The season is not over.
After 43 years and all the memories, the Nassau Coliseum needs a better send off than this. When the season does come to an end, then that will be the time to step back and see if it all makes sense. Right now it does not make any sense at all, because right now it just hurts. Let's hope that for this year, that this this evening and this game is the final hurt.
To sum up how I feel right now I will quote the famous philosopher, Popeye. He once said, "That's all I can stands, because I can't stands no more," Well said Popeye...well said indeed.
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