tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82684330823144674432024-02-18T21:20:53.008-05:00NYI FYIThe Official Blog of NYI FYI Since 2007Chris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.comBlogger446125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-15865794810418460982015-04-21T00:16:00.001-04:002015-04-21T10:21:12.455-04:00Fan Decorum<i>THE FOLLOWING POST DOES NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF NYI FYI OR CHRIS HESSEL. THESE ARE STRICTLY THE OPINIONS OF MYSELF (SEAN CROFT), AND THIS SO HAPPENS TO BE THE FORUM I CHOSE TO SHARE MY FEELINGS. THANK YOU.</i><br />
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In light of what has occurred over the last 36 hours or so, I chose to come here and to comment on the issue at hand. Yesterday, the New York Islanders defeated the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The overtime heroics of John Tavares, and the stellar goaltending of both Jaro Halak and Braden Holtby were, for a time, the biggest topic of conversation amongst the National Hockey League community. It wasn't until long after the game that another story, one much darker, overtook what had been a wonderful day at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.<br />
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By now, we have all read the story of the New York City Capitals fans, and how they were treated by a group of Islanders fans. The story has gotten national attention, and now has people pointing fingers at each other. The arguments and personal attacks have gotten uglier as this story has picked up steam. As someone who has not only been a fan, but also an employee of a professional sports franchise, I found it appropriate to come here and put all of my feelings out in the open. I'm not here to point fingers. I'm not here to call anyone any names. I'm not here to blame any one particular person. I'm only here to clarify my feelings on fan decorum. <br />
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Let me start off by addressing the risks involved with being a traveling fan attending a game on the road. Plain and simple, you are a target. You have infiltrated enemy lines. You have walked into someone's house, and whether you want to admit it or not, you are going against everything they support and believe in. You are against the grain, and against their allegiance. You also know that this is the risk, and for the love of your team, you walk through the doors full steam ahead. Kudos to you. I say that because I have been in your shoes many times. It's intimidating, and it can be uncomfortable. It takes courage to do so, and a lot of people don't have the guts to try it.<br />
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You will be singled out. You will be cursed at. You will have victory rubbed in your face. Worse off, you will have a victory ruined by sore losers. It comes with the territory, and you know that going in. Anyone claiming ignorance to this risk is either completely naive, or completely full of lies. I say this because every single person who has attended any sort of sporting event has been witness to visiting fans being taunted. This happens in every arena, in every single sport. I had to laugh last night when I had people tell me on social media that their fans "have never" taunted any visiting fan. That is an out-in-out lie. <br />
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I have been to hundreds of sporting events in cities all over the country, both as a fan and as a spectator with no vested interest in either team playing, and I have seen this in every single building. Do us all a favor, and don't lie for the sake of convenience. I have seen the ugliness of fans from Boston to Tampa, and from Uniondale to Chicago, whether the visiting fans deserved it or not. I'm either the unluckiest sports fan on earth, or I'm seeing what we have all seen as fans time after time.<br />
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With that said, the issue at hand is not the typical ribbing that occurs between home and visiting fans. The issue is when it escalates to the next level. To attack someone, based upon their race, creed, or gender is over the line. To destroy someone's property is over the line. To enter into a physical confrontation with someone is over the line. It is inexcusable, and should not be tolerated by anyone, period. Acting out in this sort of way takes the fun out of the game for all of us. For that much, those who acted out in this way share part of the guilt, in my opinion.<br />
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On the flip side, as I stated previously, if you are a visitor, you know the risks. If you plan on walking into a building to stir the pot, you best be prepared for push-back, especially once you add liquid hops and barley to the mix. As someone who attended the Islanders/Capitals game yesterday, I was a witness to some Caps fans (not necessarily the group in question) who were also using derogatory language and gestures towards us. There were plenty of people in Capitals gear who had been far over served, and were the instigators of some confrontations both in the parking lot and on the concourse. I was witness to Capitals fans who were stone cold sober (or so they seemed), who were instigating trouble with Islanders fans, more so than your average trash talk. Those who acted in such a manner share part of the guilt as well.<br />
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The point is, today's fan experience has become aggressive. There are far too many people who don't know where the line is drawn. I remember about five or six years ago when the new Tanger Outlet Center in Deer Park had opened. My mother and I were walking from store to store looking for deals. I was wearing my New York Islanders hoodie. As we were walking into a store, I was approached by two guys in Rangers attire. I was greeted with, "The Islanders ****ing suck, you piece of ****". Not only had I done nothing to deserve that type of insult, but it wasn't even at a game!<br />
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Similarly, and many years prior, I was in Boston, Massachusetts. At my own risk, I wore my New York Yankees hat to Quincey Market. I wasn't looking for an issue, but knew that representing my team would draw negative attention. I didn't care. After about a half an hour of walking around, I was approached by a child who couldn't have been any older than 5 years old. This young man walked up to me, kicked me in the shin, and said, "The Yankees ****ing suck!". He ran back to his father who was not only laughing hysterical, but had a hand extended for a high-five. I share this story because it proves two points: this is not a "New York" thing, and there are many people who take their sports fandom way too seriously, and to a bad place. <br />
I can share dozens of stories like this, but I'd rather share a positive one. In 2006, I was attending school in Tampa. I attended a game between the Lightning and the Islanders at the St. Pete Time's Forum. Sure, I was cursed at. I was taunted. I was the enemy, and I knew it. I embraced it, but I kept to myself, watched the game, and didn't feed into the nonsense. Eventually, the ribbing ended and we all went on to watch the game. After it was over, bear in mind the Islanders lost the game, I was approached by a number of people who were sitting around me, presumably to give it to me one more time. To my surprise, they extended their hands. I remember specifically one guy saying to me, "You came here to support your boys, and you did so without being a jerk. I give you a ton of credit, good game."<br />
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We shook hands, shared a smile, and parted ways. That's how it always should be. You see, we as fans all share the responsibility to keep the integrity of the fan experience in tact. Yes, there are arena personnel who are hired to patrol the stands and try to keep the peace, but it really shouldn't even come to that. The fact that it gets to that level falls on the fans, supporting both the home and away sides. This all falls back to the nature of the games, or being a fan in general, going to an aggressive, ugly place.<br />
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When I was working in professional sports a few years ago, I vividly remember one of our mascots suffering a facial injury, after a fan of a rival team walked up to him, and punched him in the face before running off. This mascot was there to entertain children and add to the fun. What exactly this fan proved aside from the fact that he was an idiot remains a mystery to this day. Despite all that I had experienced as a fan, both at home and on the road, it was the first time I had thought to myself, "we have a problem in this culture".<br />
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About a year later, Bryan Stow, a San Fransisco Giants fan, was severely beaten, nearly to death, outside of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. He was in a coma, came out of it brain damaged, and is on a regiment of over 50 pills per day to keep him going despite his injuries. All of this for being a fan of a rival. But can we expect no less from a society where you can't even feel safe going to the movies? Or to school or work?<br />
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Professional sport is meant to be an escape. It is a form of entertainment, and it is a game. I have spent my entire life watching the Islanders crush me year in and year out, and I am still here. Whether they win or lose has no bearing on my physical life. Sure it can determine my mood, but I wake up every day and go to work and pay my bills like anyone else. In other words, life goes on. I take my passion to the next level each week when I, along with Chris, bring you all NYI FYI, a once a week podcast dedicated to the team that we love. Why? Because it means something to me. It is a part of me, just like any of your teams are a part of you. That is, in fact, the fun part of all of us.<br />
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It is a fun part that dies a little every time we read a story, such as the one that broke last night. The fact of the matter is, we all bare a responsibility to each other as fans. Put your personal interests aside, because at the root of it all, we are all hockey fans first. We love and respect the game on all levels. It is from there that we draw a line in the sand and determine which side we take, whether it be the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, L.A. Kings, or Toronto Maple Leafs.<br />
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After you do pull that sweater or that hat on, you should wear it as a coat of pride, and know that the way you conduct yourself can directly represent those teams you so dearly care about. In the time span of three hours, the Islanders fan base went from the most passionate fans in professional sports, to the most unruly and aggressive, in the eyes of the average fan. Why? Because a few bad eggs out of 16,000 went to an outrageous level, and for what purpose?<br />
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We all as sports fans, of every sport in every city, have a responsibility to each other. Let's cheer together. Let's cry together. Let's rib each other and bust chops, but in spite of it all, we need to do it in a tasteful way that doesn't take the fun out of it for anyone. Let's also remember that at the end of the day, as much as we love our teams and our players, that it is just a game and life does go on. That's not meant to demean said players, or the staff of the franchises around the world, but they know what their job is. They take theirs seriously (most of the time), now it's time for us to do the same.<br />
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-Sean Croft Sean "The Golden Boy" Crofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05922679578056051040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-34104364546466257882015-04-18T12:23:00.006-04:002015-04-18T12:23:50.813-04:00Isles fall in Game 2, Return Home with SplitThe Islanders might want to consider investing in different stick technology for next season, because it seems like they are breaking at the most crucial times this year.<br />
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Although the Isles fell 4-3 in Game 2 of their first round match-up with the Washington Capitals, they get to come home with a 1-1 series split and will try and prove that they have taken home ice away from the Caps.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>As far as the effort was concerned I don't think throughout the whole game the Isles were bad. The Caps had much better jump to their game and for half of it the Isles did an excellent job on capitalizing on their chances. Philipp Grubauer is an excellent talent in between the pipes but the Isles were able to solve him early and get him on his heels. He didn't have the chance to make any spectacular saves though, which meant that the Isles should have been a bit more aggressive on their attack.<br />
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Once the Isles began to have issues with broken sticks in the 2nd period things definitely began to turn around. The Caps were getting extended looks in the offensive zone and the Isles were more trying to play "keep the puck to the outside" rather than hitting the opponent to force turnovers just as they did for much of Game 1. So the end result was not surprising as the Isles blew the 3-1 lead.<br />
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When you are in the playoffs, the intensity gets bumped up a notch and for 20 or so minutes in the 2nd and 3rd periods the Isles stopped playing their game and were not aggressive enough on the boards. After Washingon took the 4-3 lead the Isles were getting some of their mojo back and finally found the intensity again but it was too little, too late.<br />
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All year long I was frustrated hearing about puck luck but I think for the most part of this game that's what we saw. Washington were relentless and kept pushing at an Isles team that eventually had a few "uh oh" moments with unfortunate timing on the broken sticks. They've had issues getting the puck out when it's 5-on-5 as it is and despite generally doing well with that through these first two games, it essentially became 5-on-4 and the priority changed from getting the puck out to just keeping shots in low percentage areas. The problem with that strategy is that it means someone isn't being covered the way they should be and leads to some excellent second opportunities as we saw with Alex Ovechkin's goal.<br />
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The Nicklas Backstrom goal was the worst of the lot in my opinion. The Isles were down a man and were doing a good job of staying out of harms way until Michael Grabner got the puck barely past the opposing blueline and went for a change. And as we've come accustomed to seeing the Caps were able to make a quick up to Backstrom who easily skated into the zone. The Isles were content in backing up into their PK formation, all looking towards the outside to make sure Backstrom's passing options were covered - especially Ovechkin. But none of the defensive players looked at one another, and by the time they did it was too late. Lack of communication and tough defense allowed the tying goal against the Isles. A poor clearing attempt by Nick Leddy after that helped Jason Chimera score a huge goal to put his team ahead for good.<br />
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Leddy has been pretty good at the beginning of the series so far, but that was a bad place and time for that. You should never be going up the middle with clearing attempts - especially when you are going weak to avoid icing the puck. The Caps clogged the middle of the ice and kept the puck in. Jaroslav Halak made the initial save but the Isles were still trying to retreat back after the failed clear.<br />
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Speaking of Halak I thought he was fine. The Isles really had some brain cramps in front of him which lead to a couple of the goals. He put his rebounds in generally the same areas as Game 1, where the Isles did a good job of limiting the 2nd opportunities. The one bad rebound was the Ovechkin one, but as described earlier there were other unfortunate circumstances going on there.<br />
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Halak almost got burned again on an adventure behind the net where he lost his stick, but I tip my cap to him for getting back and making the save, holding the puck against his toe. I thought for sure that was going to be a goal but Halak bailed himself out.<br />
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The Isles got much of their energy out of the 4th line again, as Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin set the tone early and on multiple shifts. Clutterbuck scored early and it got the Isles other lines going. But as things got scary the hitting stopped - including from the 4th line. With 10 minutes left in the third these guys started to press again and it transferred to the rest of the roster so that was encouraging.<br />
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I mentioned puck luck and bounces before, and aside from the broken sticks the Isles had some chances offensively that could have really changed the complexion of the game too. Kyle Okposo missed a breakaway opportunity on Grubauer that could have busted the game wide open and really given the Caps a lot to fight for. Clutterbuck made a nice cross-ice feed to Martin who was streaking towards the net but was draped by a defender, and although Martin got a stick on the puck he pushed it wide of the cage. Thomas Hickey had a nice feed to Brock Nelson and he wasn't able to bury the puck either.<br />
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This game was as close as the score would indicate, despite the fact the Isles had the 3-1 lead. Not enough shots on a guy thrust into the starting spot due to Braden Holtby's illness. Not enough luck in their defensive zone when it came to sticks and bounces. It really was a game that could go either way and the ebbs and flows for each side were very indicative of how these two match up with one another.<br />
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While it is not good that the Isles gave up a powerplay goal on the Caps only opportunity, it doesn't take away that this PK has been real solid for the past month and even avoided some dangerous moments on the two opportunities that Washington had in Game 1. It is noticeable that the refs are keeping their whistles in their pockets so far this series and if the Isles get back to their game I think it can bode well for these two upcoming games at the Coliseum.<br />
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The Isles will undoubtedly be amped to play in front of their home crowd which we can expect to be raucous, of course. They will need to take a hold of the momentum and feed off of that because the Caps have a new life in the series and will come out flying again. Despite the shot discrepancy in Game 2, the Isles are not far off. I like their chances if they can keep the game at 5-on-5 and sustain the intensity throughout the game as they did on Wednesday. Make it difficult on Sunday afternoon and the Caps could easily feel like they are on their heels again.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-8373965187116595352015-03-22T15:51:00.004-04:002015-03-22T15:51:39.954-04:00Isles Snap Skid with Shutout of DevilsThe Isles not only got a couple of players back from injury on Saturday night, but they were also able to get out of the small funk that they were in which saw them lose the previous four games.<br />
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They got back to their game in a big way too, coming away with the 3-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>This was actually a pretty entertaining game to watch, especially if you like wide open play and great goaltending. Even though it was your typical low scoring Isles-Devils game, there was a lot of offensive plays and scoring chances that the goaltenders stood up to. In a Devils season that has been more bad than good Cory Schneider has been nothing but fantastic for them and continued that trend with 27 saves on 29 shots. Jaroslav Halak meanwhile returned from his "lower body injury" and stopped all 26 that he faced. It's very similar to the last time Halak missed time with "injuries" in the sense that he came out with a strong performance. However this time around there were no goals to break shutouts with just seconds remaining.<br />
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Nick Leddy was the other big lift that the Isles got, and although he didn't put up any points you could tell where the Isles missed him. In the past 2 weeks it has been very clear that the Isles greatly missed his ability to carry pucks up the ice and it was something that I was very adamant about. We saw a few great examples in this game of Leddy using his elite skating abilities to get the puck out of harms way and although he have a few lapses - including one in the 3rd where he missed his man which led to a great scoring chance- he did the job we've all come to know and expect. He had a few nice chip-ins into the zone late in the 3rd period that allowed the Isles to play the chip and chase game that they need to be doing more frequently to be successful and for the most part it helped to create some great scoring chances. Had they not faced Schneider it's fair to say they would have put a few more pucks in the net.<br />
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Ryan Strome put the Isles on the board initially, thanks to Nikolay Kulemin and Schneider. With the Devils having moved pieces like Marek Zidlicky and Jaromir Jagr out there's been some transition and communication breakdowns and that happened on this play. Schneider's defenseman seemed like he was expecting the puck to be left behind the cage but Schneider put it towards the corner. By the time it was seen Kulemin was already in position to cancel his man, take the loose puck and find Strome as Schneider was still trying to set himself. Strome has been battling some inconsistency of late which earned him a trip to the press box against Montreal, so needless to say it was great to see him rifle that puck past Schneider.<br />
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The refs kept their whistles in their pockets for this game too, which seems to be a trend every year as we head into the final weeks of the regular season. Each side only had one penalty called against them so its tough to get on the Islanders for missing out on their one opportunity. Just seconds after it expired however, Travis Hamonic had a shot go in after a failed save attempt kept the puck in the Isles possession. Strome was once again a part of the scoring after Brock Nelson used his size in front to gather the puck after the failed save.<br />
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Kyle Okposo put the icing on Halak's shutout in finding the empty net, his first point since coming back from eye surgery. I felt that he had a pretty active game and you can see his timing is getting better, particularly with his entrances into the zone and board play. Once that part of his game continues to come around the scoring will start again.<br />
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The Isles played a pretty physical brand of hockey, which was necessary given that the Devils did play the night before. Although the Devils didn't play poorly there were moments where you could see the Isles were getting the better of play and it outweighed the amount of times that the Devils were able to carry the play. But it didn't stop a few close calls that Halak was up to the challenge on.<br />
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All in all it was a quality win for an Isles team that needs to provide more of that kind of style especially given the opponents coming up. Teams like Minnesota, Anaheim and Los Angeles will have to be handled with a strong dump and chase, in your face game and the Isles will need to ensure that they are pretty consistent with that style, not so much the carry the puck through the neutral zone style that they seem to revert back to for long stretches at a time. These are valuable points against some of the teams they have to learn how to beat and play with if they want to have some sustained success in the playoffs.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-43310140057497175222015-03-15T14:04:00.004-04:002015-03-15T14:04:32.369-04:00Isles Struggle in Weekend Back-to-back vs. Ottawa, MontrealThe Isles entered the weekend with some excitement after announcing they re-signed Johnny Boychuk to a 7-year contract extension, however they were unable to replicate that excitement on the ice.<br />
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In fact, the games and the overall results were the same as the game against the Rangers on Tuesday night - close, but not close enough.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Isles didn't play poorly against the Ottawa Senators or Montreal Canadiens, however in some cases they were their own worst enemy. They have fallen back into this habit of being gun shy, especially on the powerplay and have resorted to trying fancy passing plays in order to create scoring chances rather than getting pucks towards the net.<br />
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Since Kyle Okposo made his return Tuesday the Isles have played three games and have scored three total goals. Granted, they did run into some goaltenders that are playing in another dimension right now - Cam Talbot, Andrew Hammond (!) and Carey Price - but they did not do themselves any favors. Of course they were the closest in that game Tuesday against the Rangers.<br />
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The Senators were a team fighting for their playoff lives and the whole reason they are in the conversation is because of Hammond. And coming into Long Island on Friday night he didn't disappoint as he made 34 saves on the 35 shots that he faced. The Isles going 0-for-3 on the powerplay did not help their cause. Similarly, Price stopped 35 of 36 on Saturday and made more impressive saves than Hammond had to the previous night. Neither Jaroslav Halak or Michal Neuvirth played poorly. As a matter of fact, I really liked what I saw from Neuvirth on Saturday night and he showed us what he could be capable of. His reactions were quick and he did an excellent job of containing most of the rebound chances.<br />
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Montreal is a team that the Isles always seem to have trouble solving but they play a very solid style of hockey. They don't have those big, in-your-face players but they get the job done. With the way they seem to continuously block shots they remind me of the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning, another team that wasn't composed of gritty players but was built on speed and structure more than anything.<br />
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The Isles didn't chip and chase as much against the Ottawa Senators on Friday night and I felt that this really cost them any chances to get control of the game. The Senators are a quick team that doesn't take many risks on offense and prefer to try taking care of their own end first, so trying to take it to them and going aggressively on the forecheck seems to be the way to handle them. The Isles didn't do that.<br />
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Conversely, after starting off a bit slowly on Saturday against Montreal, the Isles began to dump and chase more in the 2nd period and did take control a bit although they ran into the Price issue. But the Isles were dominating the physical play and winning some of the board battles. What ailed them after that though was weak passing attempts, and frequently into traffic.<br />
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It seems lately the Isles are living and dying by what John Tavares does or doesn't do and this held true in both of these games. The blind, behind the back passes have crept back into his repertoire the last couple of games and he'll have to get back to the simple things in order to help his team win games rather than fall short, just as he did on Monday in the comeback over Toronto.<br />
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The other thing that had me perplexed was the decision with the line-ups. It's pretty clear at this point that Okposo came back a tad early and perhaps needed some more rushes in practice to get his timing and chemistry down with his teammates, especially considering he has not seen exclusive time back up on the top line with Tavares. But to get Frans Nielsen into Saturday's game Jack Capuano elected to scratch Ryan Strome. And in order to rest Lubomir Visnovsky, we saw Matt Donovan for the first time since January. Not to mention Brian Strait has found a spot for the time being due to injuries.<br />
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Although Donovan started off with a couple of good shifts he also was the culprit on having issues getting the puck out of the zone and a few times passed the puck into traffic, all in limited time. It makes matters worse when the Isles have been trying to deal without Nick Leddy, and you can see how much his absence has hurt the defense especially when it comes to moving the puck out of harms way.<br />
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At any rate, the Isles still haven't done enough to get these close games however they have not played poorly. These results are unfortunate and of course are not coming at an opportune time but in many cases it's better to get these out of their system now rather than in the playoffs. I believe that this is why Okposo returned when he did too, to give him game situations to get his game in shape for a month from now rather than missing out on some crucial opportunities to get his legs back.<br />
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The Isles will no doubt benefit from having some of these off days and will get back at it on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that they've matched-up well with in recent years and is also missing Patrick Kane for the rest of the season. However, that has not stopped them from continuing to find ways to win games.<br />
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- Chris<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nyi-fyi" target="_blank">Tune into NYI FYI at 7 PM on Sunday night</a> as we discuss the week that was. Bring your comments and questions to the chatroom, too!</b>Chris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-544572690483264502015-03-13T16:39:00.001-04:002015-03-13T16:45:15.827-04:00Isles, Boychuk Agree to Seven Year ExtensionThe Islanders completed one major chapter in their turn of events success story this season when they announced Thursday that they reached a 7-year, $42 million extension with defenseman Johnny Boychuk, ending the "will he, won't he" debate that has been the underlying devils advocate when many fans took pride in the teams turnaround.<br />
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Now, they have a few things to take pride in with off the ice issues as well.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Boychuk's new deal means he's bypassing the right to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, marking the first time in recent memory that the Isles have been able to keep - or even sign - someone who was to be one of the top names on the market. For the Islanders, this is something monumental.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SPXH5Znnp2R03Fu9kUyb49VC65ydlEK8-3-RTD_-X3qz7mKoxYT7fXuCJe31oL983DeP5ewUcHEioLseugtqd55k1S2pYUNpxtKLFf7O4Ck5eVi6P7QfUbWnEggg45cHitbL7QG4lgo/s1600/P1170654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SPXH5Znnp2R03Fu9kUyb49VC65ydlEK8-3-RTD_-X3qz7mKoxYT7fXuCJe31oL983DeP5ewUcHEioLseugtqd55k1S2pYUNpxtKLFf7O4Ck5eVi6P7QfUbWnEggg45cHitbL7QG4lgo/s1600/P1170654.JPG" height="320" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boychuk will celebrate as an Isle for 7 more years.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For years, players shunned Garth Snow's overtures to sign with his team, despite offering the most money in some cases. This past offseason was no different when after securing a starting goaltender in Jaroslav Halak he went hard after Jarome Iginla, Dan Boyle and Thomas Vanek only to be turned down for less lucrative deals on teams with some postseason successes. When you look at what each of these players have done, and the resulting moves the Isles made I think it's fair to say we're all pretty happy with how things have turned around for the Isles.<br />
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Boychuk <a href="https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/576136009173221377" target="_blank">gets a no-trade clause</a> in his contract. That's right, he would have gotten one on the open market and the Isles, who don't usually give those out, gave one to a player who actually wanted to stay. The <a href="https://twitter.com/renlavoietva/status/576376186953166848" target="_blank">front loaded contract</a> will have full no trade protection until July 2019 before becoming a partial no trade clause. Boychuk also got <a href="https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/576139139780837376" target="_blank">a huge signing bonus</a> in the pact.<br />
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It is obviously nice that the Isles get to keep a guy who has fit their system perfectly and lets not make any mistake about it - this is a deal that would have been matched, or perhaps even topped on the open market for a team looking to make a splash on defense. The Isles gave up two second round picks to get the top four blueliner from a cash strapped Bruins team, and the standings tell the story. The Bruins have gotten on pace now but struggled for much of the first half of the season without a dynamic defenseman like Boychuk patrolling their back-end. Tuukka Rask's numbers shot up and Zdeno Chara seemed to age suddenly.<br />
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The deal comes after some tongue-in-cheek comments from Boychuk and Nick Leddy, the latter of whom signed a 7-year extension a few weeks ago to avoid becoming a restricted free agent this summer. They were acquired on the same day just minutes apart from each other, and provided the shot in the arm that they and the Isles needed. They've been the Isles first pairing since the season started and both flourished with the increased ice time and they will continue to do so for years to come.<br />
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Is giving seven years to a 31 year old the best thing? No, but it's free agency at it's finest and he could have gotten 7 years from someone else on the market, or less years for a higher cap hit. The $6 million figure is the going rate for someone who would have been far and away the best player at his position. Given what we've seen from Boychuk this year both on and off the ice, this deal was a no brainer for the Islanders.<br />
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There is nothing but good vibes here. It changes the whole landscape and opinion of this team. The Isles were aggressive in the summer and at the trade deadline and Snow has made every effort to surround his young talent with the best players available. And given the fact he looked at adding some players that had term left at the deadline it's pretty clear he's setting the stage for more to come.<br />
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More can come much easier with what the Isles have done this season and the fact that both Leddy and Boychuk are signed for cap hits that aren't terrible when you look around the league at similar defensemen. Even Travis Hamonic has signed for a very team friendly deal, as he got a 7 year extension of his own last year.<br />
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I remember when we were disappointed that Snow let Mark Streit and Andrew MacDonald go to the Philadelphia Flyers. Not because they were great players here - they clearly were not going to be worth their salary for the Isles - but because it could strengthen a division rival. And it's done anything but that for Philly.<br />
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The Isles greatly improved 33% of their defense within hours on October 4th, and did so without giving up top prospects in Michael Dal Colle, Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock. When you look at the latter two, both defensemen, you start to realize that the Islanders are incredibly close to having one of the most dynamic bluelines in the NHL and one that can go against the other best corps on a nightly basis. Reinhart and Pulock seem like they might be ready as soon as next season, or at least one of them should be. I'm not convinced both of them will be on the Isles long term, however, especially after the Boychuk and Leddy deals.<br />
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It's the first time in a while that we can be proud of this Isles team, and now after the past few weeks we don't have to only be happy about the on-ice results. They may not win the division and the jury is still out on if they can get out of the first round but they have taken great strides this season and have ensured that they can set themselves up for bigger and better things next year and beyond, complete with a good revenue stream coming from the Brooklyn move.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-25488991073638144322015-03-08T15:11:00.005-04:002015-03-08T15:11:55.754-04:00Panthers hold off Rallies by Isles in Shootout WinFor some reason the Islanders generally have trouble solving the Florida Panthers. Even in games where they've come out on top it seems to take every ounce of energy they have and frequently they blow leads against them.<br />
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So after what happened in Florida on Saturday night, we probably should be feeling fortunate right now.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Isles had to battle back down by one goal three times in this game as they fell just short in the shootout in Michal Neuvirth's first game with the club.<br />
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What we saw was a very hard working Florida Panthers team fighting for their playoff lives, and using their 3rd string netminder came out with a quality win that they desperately needed. They took advantage of an Isles team that made some errors and had some sloppy passing plays, particularly in the neutral zone, and ensured that they had a few extended shifts in the Isles zone.<br />
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Although the Panthers didn't test the Islanders with much in the way of shots as they only took 18 to the 28 the Isles ended up with, many of their chances were of high quality.<br />
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The Isles allowed the Panthers to dance around freely in those high percentage areas all night and they paid dearly for it. I didn't think Neuvirth played bad but his defense was really sloppy and easily fooled. The worst case of this was on Jonathan Huberdeau's turn around goal when he made Calvin de Haan look silly. Neuvirth did his best to use his pad to recover and get back to the post after leaning the other way but Huberdeau's excellent shot was a no doubter.<br />
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The Panthers first goal was the only low percentage chance that the Panthers did cash in on, thanks to an inability to clear a loose puck. Erik Gudbranson picked up the puck at the blueline and took a harmless looking shot that got through a screen, and Neuvirth did react late to the shot as it trickled across the line.<br />
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The Isles answered back every time though. After giving up the Gudbranson goal midway through the first it was John Tavares in the second period who picked up a lose puck thanks to a great defensive play by Anders Lee and went in on the breakaway, which is exactly what you want against a guy like Dan Ellis. The backhand shot by the captain was a no doubter and capped off a beautiful play. It's a shame he can't replicate that in shootout attempts.<br />
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After Nick Bjugstad's goal it was Nick Leddy on the powerplay that evened things up again. That powerplay sequence was excellent by the Isles and they really got the Panthers to over commit, allowing Leddy to get a nice hard shot off.<br />
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I actually liked the Isles chances being tied 2-2 after the 2nd period, because they had a second chance to really take over the game. I liked how they played in the second frame and liked the looks on the powerplay so it made me optimistic. But they did find themselves battling from behind again, only to have to tie again and Josh Bailey took care of that. Although it was a great feed from Tavares it was kind of an inexcusable goal for Ellis to give up. But with Ellis down in the butterfly after Tavares passed the puck from the wall to the faceoff area Bailey let off a rising shot. The confidence is really showing in his game and he's on pace for career highs across the board and certainly deserves to retain his spot on the top line once Kyle Okposo returns.<br />
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Tavares had a three point night overall which gave him sole possession of first in the NHL's scoring race. It's a tight race with all the big names you'd expect to see up there (sans Patrick Kane) so that's something for those of you who are into the personal accolades.<br />
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The size of the Panthers was something that I felt the Isles had trouble with all night, and they were fortunate to tie it every time and get at least a point out of the game. It definitely could have been a lot worse, and I hate to say it, but it would have been if Chad Johnson was in net (setting aside the fact of his injury right now, of course). But I felt Neuvirth did the best he could when you see what he had to work with.<br />
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Getting points is certainly crucial for the Isles at this point and although the two points would have been ideal you take the point against a team that has been playing well of late and is trying desperately to find a rallying point within their own room as the Bruins continue to figure out what they want to be.<br />
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With Toronto on the schedule for Monday and a match-up against the Rangers Tuesday it is very fair to call the game against the Leafs a must-win. Teams on the second half of a back-to-back games don't fare too well, so with the odds stacked against the Isles they need to walk out with the two points Monday - regulation or otherwise.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-26118443587627886472015-03-03T13:54:00.001-05:002015-03-03T13:54:43.410-05:00Isles Address Weaknesses at Trade Deadline with Kennedy, NeuvirthThe New York Islanders entered Monday's NHL trade deadline with very low expectations. After making pre-season trades for Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk, they didn't have much left in the way of assets and seemed comfortable that these moves were the ones that caused those around them to try and answer. Art Staple even tried to bring Isles fans down from their dreams of deadline moves with his article just days before.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>But if there's one thing we've learned about Garth Snow, it's to expect the unexpected. He doesn't like to leak anything, and how he gets his counterparts to comply is beyond me.<br />
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Snow surprised even his own beat writers at Monday's deadline after he made a couple of moves to help his club through the rest of this season and heading into the playoffs.<br />
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In his first move of the day, Snow sent a conditional pick to the San Jose Sharks for very available forward Tyler Kennedy. The conditions on the pick are rather favorable to the Isles. It's a 7th round pick in either this years or next years draft that will turn into a 3rd if the Isles win the Stanley Cup this season. When you compare this condition to some of the others that came out in some of the other trades it is quite tame.<br />
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But it was a great move to add some depth, and Kennedy can certainly provide that for the Isles. In 25 games this year, he's 4-5-9 after having bouts with various different injuries. Kennedy had some time at center earlier in his career but is a winger by trade. In very limited chances this year he has a 44% face off success rate so he certainly doesn't seem likely to help the Isles in that regard.<br />
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Throughout his career Kennedy has proven he can be a 35-45 point guy and even in the injury shortened seasons he's kept that pace up. The ability to skate and forecheck is certainly something that fits the Isles mold, and they will likely try and use him in some penalty killing situations. At first everyone thought that was something he could really provide well, but on further review...maybe not. But given the Isles success when a man down this year, it makes sense to throw everything at the wall at this point to see what sticks and they will no doubt try and see how far they can extend Kennedy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29274rvqTvspWY1YDURmWCY3cO2C7AYdS97BK_RMOlRxOmuIVMqGdglbPvpfeOfwIeZ1sbiVueXG728XAsLT8joNAv3B0fxPXdVFzyw2Li8XeHRA_2Hb47nONzLnlmhM9ENCRXhcagyw/s1600/P1150467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29274rvqTvspWY1YDURmWCY3cO2C7AYdS97BK_RMOlRxOmuIVMqGdglbPvpfeOfwIeZ1sbiVueXG728XAsLT8joNAv3B0fxPXdVFzyw2Li8XeHRA_2Hb47nONzLnlmhM9ENCRXhcagyw/s1600/P1150467.JPG" height="264" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kennedy (R) helps in Cizikas's absence. Photo by C. Hessel</td></tr>
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The other plus side for this is the experience he provides. He came up with the Penguins for the 2007-08 season, as many of us would remember since he along with Ryan Malone were the infamous Islander killers during that time period. Kennedy has 76 career playoff games under his belt and won a Cup with the Pens during his tenure and anyone who's been reading this space or listening to our show the last couple of seasons knows how much I have harped on this point.<br />
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The Isles lack of a solid veteran presence up front was something that bothered me, and one of the reasons I was so happy with Leddy and Boychuk was that they had been in some sort of a Finals - conference, Cup - in the past decade. Finally the Isles have a guy up front who has been through that too.<br />
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Kennedy comes in when the Isles need some bodies up front, at least until Kyle Okposo, Casey Cizikas and Mikhal Grabovski all return to the line-up, if at all. It seems like Okposo and Cizikas have started skating so there remains optimism they'll be here by the end of the month, but as far as Grabovski goes he's on his second concussion this season. I would put the odds against him right now. Once guys return this will create some competition and likely bounce players like Kael Mouillierat and Colin McDonald sooner rather than later. In the case of Mouillierat this may not be a bad thing, because as decent as he's looked he's struggled a bit on the defensive side more to my liking and has taken some penalties that have cost the Isles dearly.<br />
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I like the opportunity for Kennedy here in a chance for a different style of play. The Sharks thought highly enough of him that they sent a 2013 2nd round pick to him at the draft that same year but clearly things haven't worked out as well as either side would have liked. Kennedy gets to join a race for the top of the Metropolitan Division, against teams that he is very familiar with so this could bode well for him. The Isles will have their chances to also bring him back at what was a very low cost to them regardless of what they do this postseason so it seems like a great situation for all involved.<br />
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In a way, a depth forward was what you would have expected the Isles to acquire as had been mentioned all along really up until Staple's article came out. So for as pleasant and surprising as the Kennedy move was the other move that Snow made was completely out of left field.<br />
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The Isles took a long hard look at their other weakness, back-up goaltender, and decided to change course dramatically. The team sent Chad Johnson and a 3rd round pick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for UFA-to-be Michal Neuvirth.<br />
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Neuvirth had been starting for the Sabres since they sent Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars last month and has been doing quite well given the situation. It is pretty silly to look into the win-loss situation when you're playing on a team that's positioning themselves the way Buffalo has been doing all along, but a .918 SV% in 27 games this season really stands out.<br />
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For the Isles this was a huge upgrade for this season, as they've come to realize that Johnson just wasn't getting the job done. Despite a hot start to the season, and a hot spurt within the past month, Saturday's effort against the Carolina Hurricanes probably sealed his fate. After an 8-8-1 run the Isles changed their plan for their goaltending over the next couple of seasons, as Snow pointed out to Staple.<br />
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In the case of the Isles it gives them flexibility in more ways than one. Johnson had another year left on the two-year pact he signed with the Isles so in moving him along with the pick it gives the Isles the opportunity to find a back-up that better fits their new direction, be it Neuvirth (unlikely) or someone else. But it gives them a clean break from the $1.3M that he was owed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4wblHGNpSG0OoWVjstI5BHKHLjEN8uREnPxNzASizYX_jD5p4YsBUgR7T-3O2BAJgzCPfgbN2cNNe6X_XQ4EjsGcO6M0E1XJOjxCMFKXZxakTkGEKHvzHAaXcBS5DjPSSzOH2-0Bm28/s1600/P1000268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4wblHGNpSG0OoWVjstI5BHKHLjEN8uREnPxNzASizYX_jD5p4YsBUgR7T-3O2BAJgzCPfgbN2cNNe6X_XQ4EjsGcO6M0E1XJOjxCMFKXZxakTkGEKHvzHAaXcBS5DjPSSzOH2-0Bm28/s1600/P1000268.JPG" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neuvirth provides great depth in net. Photo by C. Hessel</td></tr>
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I thought that Johnson looked improved in recent starts after Mike Dunham and company had worked extra hard with him, but there were still signs that things were not as good as they could be in net. Despite the fact his teammates didn't help him out much in Saturday's game he didn't do a whole lot after withstanding the initial barrage of shots from the Hurricanes either.<br />
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Not to mention the fact that if something happened to Jaroslav Halak the Isles would have had to run with Johnson as the starter and that was not a pleasant thought at all. Unless you're, well, Buffalo, and trying to do something...uh, different.<br />
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Neuvirth is no stranger to starting big games, getting into the second round with the Capitals back in 2011. He was a part of that three headed monster along with Braden Holtby and Semyon Varlamov before Varlamov was dealt to the Avs, and then battled it out with Holtby for a few years before Washington ultimately decided they liked Holtby better long-term and dealt Neuvirth for Halak last season ironically enough, in an attempt to make a push for a playoff spot that ultimately fell short. This season it certainly looks like they made a good choice in putting a lot of faith into Holtby and the Isles have been rewarded for putting theirs into Halak.<br />
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And that is the best thing about this move for the Isles, that you know what you are going to get with Neuvirth in net. The Sabres were getting some excellent starting goaltending out of him and the Isles know that when they put him between the pipes they will feel a lot more confident. The Isles had made it clear they wanted Halak and Johnson to split starts down the stretch but it was apparent that it simply could not happen. Now, you know that you have two excellent options to choose from and it will undoubtedly give teams some match-up headaches more so than Johnson would.<br />
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In a couple of other minor moves the Isles also sent forward Cory Conacher to Vancouver for forward Dustin Jeffrey and goalie David Leggio to Arizona for defenseman Mark Louis. Louis is a typical guy you'd see at the bottom end of an AHL depth chart on the blueline as he loves to get physical and drop the gloves when needed. Bridgeport wanted to add some more grit and protection down there to Matt Carkner in order to protect Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock in what seems to be a lost season. Jeffrey is a veteran forward who can fit in well with the top lines down there and provide plenty of offense.<br />
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The Isles didn't make moves just because the teams around them did. They made moves because they were calculated, and the advanced stats will greatly appeal to that crowd. The Isles have become more and more calculating with their moves and these are just others that fall in line with that but they were good ones. In their attempt to address weaknesses they did a good job, but we'll see how Kennedy does with a more defensive oriented role likely coming his way.<br />
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Rather than react, the Isles simply did what they've done all season - worry about themselves and not worry about what the other teams around them did, and got some great discounts on some useful, solid contributors without subtracting much from the current roster that has aspirations of getting beyond the opening round of the playoffs.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-374275177023425062015-02-28T14:16:00.003-05:002015-02-28T14:27:59.749-05:00Halak breaks season win record in 2-1 victory over FlamesIt was a big night on Friday for the Islanders and Jaroslav Halak as he set the franchise record for wins in a season, notching his 33rd. The Islanders defeated the Flames 2-1 and got two big points that they needed with the Rangers bearing down on and essentially having leapfrogged the Islanders, as they have three games in hand and are only two points behind.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Flames are a team on the rise and have been in playoff contention all season thanks to some timely scoring from young players and some pretty stellar goaltending from Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo.<br />
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Ramo had the start against the Islanders and really looked pretty great for them. He put forth a similar performance as he did in Calgary's previous games against the Devils and Rangers. Ramo was tested early on and in the first minute of the game was called upon to make a huge save on Anders Lee, which ended up setting the tone for the rest of his night. Ramo stopped 37 of 38 shots.<br />
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The Isles only goal with Ramo in net came midway through the first period on the powerplay from Ryan Strome. It was on a weird scramble in front and the puck bounced around a few times, even flying off of Strome's stick a bit awkwardly and fluttering into the net. Strome's 14th of the season put the Isles up 1-0 and pretty much was all they needed for the rest of the game.<br />
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Halak did the rest for the Isles when needed, standing on his head and making some nice saves. He wasn't tested in the hardest ways but did an excellent job of keeping the rebound opportunities to a minimum. There were several close calls that just missed the net too.<br />
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Halak's biggest stop of the night came after Johnny Boychuk turned a puck over to Michael Ferland in the first period. Boychuk recovered by tugging at Ferland's mid section and a penalty shot was awarded. Halak didn't have to do much to deny the power forward of his first NHL goal but made the stop with his blocker.<br />
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Cal Clutterbuck had scored a goal that was waived off when it was deemed that Brock Nelson interfered with Ramo after being pushed into the net, but these types of plays usually are not reviewable. So the Isles really had to get their heads straight and not stray from the game plan. Clutterbuck looked like he had revenge on an open net from far out but hit the post, only to recover and get the puck in anyway after a fortunate bounce off of a defender's skate.<br />
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And leave it to the Isles to give up a goal in the final minute of a period, this one blowing the shutout for Halak. But we digress.<br />
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The only real 'bad' portion for the Isles was at the tail end of the first period where Calgary pushed the pace a bit and got a few real good scoring chances. The Isles kept their scrambling to a minimum though and by the time the 2nd period rolled around were able to keep the Flames at bay and they still managed a 15-7 shot advantage through that first frame.<br />
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The Isles did a good job as a team in blocking shots and keeping things out of harms way, leaving Halak to do the rest when needed. The Flames are a team that loves to skate and push the pace just as much as the Isles do, and I thought they did a good job on the defensive end of the game. They still didn't employ the dump and chase as much and preferred to skate the puck up ice and into the zone, but it works against a team that plays a similar style. It might have prevented the Isles from getting more higher percentage chances but the way he looked, Ramo might have stopped those anyway.<br />
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It was a quality win for an Isles team against a very solid Western Conference opponent. Now they have to get themselves back in gear for a quick turnaround and another home game Saturday night against the new-look Carolina Hurricanes, as they have not shied away from trade season and are still active with a few days to go before the buzzer sounds. If the Isles stick to the basics as they have done the last few games there shouldn't be much of an issue.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-26199561061572014932015-02-20T14:53:00.003-05:002015-02-20T14:53:14.981-05:00Isles Down NHL Points Leader Nashville, 5-2The Islanders continued to show some solid play against one of the leagues best, and it can give us some hope that maybe they'll get out of the 'rut' that they've found themselves in over the past few weeks when they had less than stellar outings against some of the teams fighting for lottery positions rather than playoff positions.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>This was one of the Isles all around best performances in recent weeks and while there were lapses here and there it's about as complete of a game as you could hope for against a Nashville team that is leading the league in points.<br />
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Jaroslav Halak showed up to play and aside from his usual adventures behind the net, treated his team and the fans to a real nice show which also included a couple of fantastic save sequences on shots that looked like sure goals. With games coming fast and furiously, this is why it was key that Chad Johnson played the way he did in the prior game in Carolina. That extra bit of rest was exactly what Halak needed.<br />
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The one good habit the Islanders have gotten into has been scoring early in games. Usually this is something that can help a team set the tone, but the Isles have had trouble with maintaining the momentum they get from these fast starts which leads to breakdowns and end up blowing multi-goal leads. You would expect that to happen sometimes against teams like the Predators or Rangers, but not against teams like Edmonton or Buffalo. The Isles never let it get to that point though, playing an overall solid two-way game with Nashville pressing. The whole complexion really could have been different after an early 2nd period penalty by Lubomir Visnovsky but the Isles were able to continue with some of the brief success they've shown on the PK lately.<br />
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Brian Strait scored the early goal just one minute into the game off of a great rush by Michael Grabner, and a great feed from Frans Nielsen. Grabner has been a solid add since returning last game and he continued with some strong play on Thursday night. He's needed in top form, especially now that Mikhail Grabovski suffered yet another 'upper body injury' after a huge yet clean hit by Eric Nystrom. Grabner can provide the skill and speed that the Isles would otherwise miss, and these two games are the best we've seen from Grabner in a while.<br />
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Johnny Boychuk has finally started to get his slapshots off with more regularity and it was another goal from long range for him on Thursday. Over the past couple of weeks I've alluded to the fact that the Isles had become gun shy when it comes to getting the puck on net from long range, particularly for the defensemen. But Boychuk has not been hesitating as much and has been finding the net - not to mention the back of it more often again.<br />
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John Tavares continued his hot pace of late with another two points, including a powerplay goal on a nice second opportunity after a blocked shot and with Pekka Rinne falling down. The Isles still struggled on the man advantage in the game, and had a few chances to really bury the Preds with some of the opportunities given to them but they squandered most of them by trying to get too cute. They did a have a few nice sequences but overall those always went by the wayside when the Isles became their own enemy.<br />
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You could really tell that these were two vastly improved teams than prior incarnations of the rosters. They both had strong forechecks and looked like teams that were in sync. The goals that Nashville scored were very nice and tough for Halak to stop, the kind of goals you would expect to see from the likes of skill guys such as Filip Forsberg or James Neal. In the case of Neal, the Isles had a momentary lapse that they paid for.<br />
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Nick Leddy and Josh Bailey each scored for the Isles in the 3rd to ice the game off of nice rushes. Leddy received a pass and waited out Rinne just enough to squeeze a shot off the crossbar and in. I don't care that Bailey's goal was not directly put in by him - it was a great move and fake out by Bailey to create that play. I can't recall seeing him skate that fast but he showed great speed and stick work to bear down on the defense and then ultimately Rinne to make them all look silly.<br />
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This was a quality game played between two quality teams, and the score is probably a bit misleading. Although they got off to a slow start the Preds did not play poorly by any means and slowly and meticulously worked to get themselves back in the game, capitalizing on some of the chances they had after getting the Isles back on their heels. The Isles made some nice in-game adjustments to prevent the Preds from storming all the way back however, and Halak was really a driving force behind that especially in the 2nd frame.<br />
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Now the Isles have a marathon weekend ahead, with a Saturday matinee in Washington and a rare Sunday game at home against Vancouver. The Capitals certainly look like the real deal this year and have been nipping at the Isles heels for much of the year. Meanwhile, the Canucks have some increased pressure to make the playoffs this year after a hot start but have fallen off a bit and are battling with the likes of Calgary, Minnesota and Winnipeg to land one of the final playoff spots. This is a good test weekend for the Isles and they will have to manage their goaltenders and their shifts efficiently, especially with Grabovski out and Kael Mouillierat called up on an emergency basis. I certainly would not expect much from him, despite his torrid scoring pace at the AHL this year. But stranger things have happened, and certainly Colin McDonald has looked good since coming back up so maybe it breathes some life into Mouillierat too.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-5433369009553800532015-02-18T12:59:00.000-05:002015-02-18T12:59:06.488-05:00Isles Rebound with 4-1 Win Over CanesAfter suffering their disappointing loss on Monday night against the Rangers, the Islanders had to be sure they did not suffer a major setback against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. This was a dangerous game because it was going to have a much different feel than the day before, and not to mention was on the road.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>While it wasn't the prettiest of games for the Isles they still won pretty decisively with a 4-1 score over the Hurricanes. Or at least the score might appear decisive, but anyone who watched the game can clearly tell you otherwise.<br />
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In fact I think I'd have to attribute a lot of this victory to Chad Johnson, who continued his run of good play by making 37 saves against the Canes. While none of the saves had high degrees of difficultly he did make a few nice ones and effectively kept the rebounds out of areas of trouble which was important against a team that has won some solid games recently and found ways to put up some high goal totals. It's all you can ask from the back-up goaltender.<br />
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The Isles finally gave Johnson some offensive support which is more than we can say from the games in Detroit and Boston (although that wasn't their fault). Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Michael Grabner and John Tavares all tallied.<br />
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Grabner was in his first game back off of the IR and looked excellent. He brought the speed that we all know and love, and it was much more noticeable than when he was even healthy before his IR stint. Maybe this latest bit of rest can truly get him going because the club will need him, and he had a very active 12+ minutes. He did a good job on the penalty kill, which needless to say is something the Isles need.<br />
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Lee and Nelson have continued to play in front of the net, but each have had completely different stories over the past several games. Lee has been able to find the back of the net in several different ways while Nelson has had more of a rough go at it. On the powerplay the Isles had some excellent movement, especially from Frans Nielsen, and Lee once again was in perfect position to score a goal in the crease area.<br />
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Nelson meanwhile scored one of the strangest goals you could but he'll take it. Colin McDonald, complete with his renewed life, was off to the side pushing and shoving with a Canes player as Matt Martin found a wide open Nelson for a quick goal that just ticked off of Anton Khudobin. Nelson's reaction was priceless after, showing virtually no emotion but a smug "about time" look. I do not think he's played badly during his stretch, but definitely needed to get that monkey off of his back. We'll see how he continues to respond with that out of the way.<br />
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Along with the renewed chance for McDonald comes a new position, center. With Grabner coming off of IR Casey Cizikas went on and McDonald took a 3rd line spot. It's not the most ideal situation right now but he continued to show solid play. As good as Cizikas has been this year his faceoff skills still need work not to mention some of the work in the defensive zone, as I pointed out yesterday. In fairness he has been playing hurt and has been wearing a boot on his foot for a while now, so this could be a potential explanation.<br />
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The Isles did fall into some lapses and allowed the Canes to press. After they got their goal from Jiri Tlusty the Canes were pouring on the shots and using the big bodies of Eric and Jordan Staal were creating all sorts of havoc for Johnson. It seemed like only a matter of time before we would see a one goal game with several minutes left to play, but all Tavares needed was one second to get the puck from behind the net and rifle it down the ice. Here we all were thinking that was a good move so that Jack Capuano could use his time out and get everyone's head straight. No one - not even Butch Goring or Howie Rose - saw that Carolina's net was empty, except for those in attendance perhaps. In what seemed like the only example in recent memory of an Islander forward clearing a puck out of trouble, Tavares hit a bulls eye on the empty net to seal the game and kill any momentum that Carolina was in the process of gaining.<br />
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For a team struggling overall as much as Carolina has this season, giving up 38 shots to them (31 in the 2nd and 3rd frames) is not ideal. But the Isles got some timely goals and solid goaltending and that is what will win games for good teams more often than not. You happily take the result, appreciate it for what it was in a very emotionless regular season game with a very poor crowd showing (but lots of Isles fans) and get ready to play the leagues best back home on Thursday night when Peter Laviolette and the Nashville Predators come to town.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-10560298789273742922015-02-17T14:40:00.004-05:002015-02-17T14:40:47.946-05:00Rangers end Isles Four Game Streak, Brings Weakness to LightMany people want the Islanders and Rangers to meet in the playoffs. I am not one of those people, unless it is in one of the later rounds. The game between them on Monday night, although it provided some great entertainment showed much of the reason why this is a match-up that could be dangerous for the Isles regardless of what the regular season shows.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Islanders fell in a heartbreak, losing 6-5 to their rivals and blowing all sorts of leads thanks to shoddy passing and decision making. While both teams were very sloppy the Rangers knew that they needed to play this kind of a style in order to be able to beat the Islanders at their own game. And for the Isles, these were two crucial points they gave up to a team with a couple of games in hand. The Rangers earned them though with relentless pressure on an Isles team that more often than not looked confused and spent a lot of time chasing.<br />
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Given the way some of the other contests had gone you knew the Isles were due for the law of averages to take effect against the Rangers. When push came to shove, this was a game the Isles ultimately could have had. But the Rangers showed the intensity that is normally needed to pull out these wacky games. For me, I forget about the reffing and missed penalty calls. It was clear at some point in the 3rd period that nothing was going to be called, and while the missed trip was awful it is what it is. There was no point in complaining about it. There were plenty of missed calls on both sides all night.<br />
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I see some pointing at the recent trend the Isles have shown, including in their recent four game winning streak. I am well aware that the Isles have blown two goal leads against some less than stellar teams. But guess what? Teams are blowing two goal leads all over the place. Welcome to the NHL.<br />
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What tells me more about a team is how they fight that adversity. Of course it is not ideal to be going through every game of blowing these leads regardless if its to a team that was in the Cup finals last year or a team that is poised to be picking in the lottery. The Islanders had shown some resiliency in those games and pulled out wins over teams they were better than.<br />
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Jaroslav Halak and the Isles handled the track meets well so far against the Rangers, until Monday night. I certainly don't put all of the blame on his shoulders. As a matter of fact, there is probably only one real issue worth pointing out from this game: this team has an inability to clear pucks.<br />
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It doesn't matter if it's on the penalty kill or not. This team cannot get out of their own end unless they have the ability to carry the puck up the ice. When teams do not give them this time and space, they struggle and can't get out of their ruts. We saw this happen in those games against the bottom feeders. We've now seen it happen - and to a greater degree, of course - against one of the top teams in the league.<br />
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This is a concerning issue and something that brings me back to the point I was making on the latest installment of our show on Sunday. The powerplay and top line wing spot are not areas that I have much concern over right now. This team has proven night in and out they have the horses to get the offense, they just need to show more of a willingness to shoot in the same fashion that Johnny Boychuk did in the second period of this game. Lubomir Visnovsky, warts and all of late, has been the only defenseman not shy to fire the puck away and it's been a noticeable difference since he returned to the line-up.<br />
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The penalty kill and the Isles inability to clear pucks are areas that we should be most concerned with. And for all the love they seem to be getting, the 4th line has issues with this. Especially Cal Clutterbuck. More often than not I feel he does an excellent job to fight for pucks in the defensive zone but hesitates a second or two trying to decide where to go from there. Then it becomes an issue of trying to force a play that isn't there but was just a few moments earlier. And a veteran, defense first player is one the Isles should absolutely be looking into over the next two weeks (Daniel Winnik, Jay McClement).<br />
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The Isles offense was good when they got going and they used their bodies to their advantage. John Tavares did more of what we've seen the past few weeks where he used his body and balance to keep himself on pucks and generally make it hard for the Rangers to pick his pocket.<br />
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The Isles definitely had the right game plan for Cam Talbot, as they shot early and often. Talbot did make some great saves, as he's done in place of Henrik Lundqvist. In reality, the goaltenders were really not a huge part of the story line in this game although Halak did give Isles fans some heartburn with some other misplayed pucks. That will have to be cut down, especially with their inability to get pucks safely out of the defensive zone.<br />
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The Isles can't let this game dwell and it didn't seem like they planned on it, knowing that they have to get right back at it on Tuesday night in Carolina. They did not get the two huge points they needed and just have to let it go for now and learn from their experience.<br />
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Hey, the Rangers figured it out and you could tell they must have watched plenty of film in preparation for Monday night's game. Onward we go.<br />
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It seems like Chad Johnson will and should get the start on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes are struggling this season but have won some games of late. Despite their win earlier this season, playing in Carolina has not usually gone well for the Isles but this is a different kind of team than the ones we've seen in the past few seasons. So they do have that going for them.<br />
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If the Isles play in a similar way in front of Johnson as they did in Boston, then they should be just fine.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-46106124644740387302015-02-08T12:25:00.004-05:002015-02-08T12:25:22.436-05:00After 2-1 Loss to Bruins, Not Time to Panic...YetThe Islanders fell to the Boston bruins on Saturday night by a score of 2-1, but many are growing concerned about the Isles of late after dropping four of their last five contests. However, it is not time for the concern to reach a fever pitch just yet.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Despite the loss, the Isles had a solid showing against a Bruins team that is firing on all cylinders right now, and has gotten back to the style of play that we've all known them for over the last several years. This effort came on the heels of a nice comeback, shootout win on Thursday against the Flyers, which was the Isles best overall effort really since the All-Star break ended - yes, including that victory over the Rangers.<br />
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Many are clamoring for the Isles to make a trade, and when the Evander Kane issue popped up we saw trade proposals flying across the net, from Twitter accounts to various message boards. This of course is spurred on by the fact that the Isles have lost Kyle Okposo for the foreseeable future with an apparent eye issue.<br />
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The fact of the matter is that the absence of Okposo really has had nothing to do with the Isles lackluster play of late. Okposo is not a blueliner, which is the area that has really hindered the Isles in some of these games. Okposo has nothing to do with the play of guys like Frans Nielsen or Nikolay Kulemin, both of whom have had down efforts and appeared to be standing around more often than not. And we can go on and on with all of the things that have ailed the Isles lately.<br />
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In their last two games, the Isles have gotten back to some of what has made them successful. They are not scoring as much as they had been, and this is true. But they are the ones who have been taking themselves out of games. And the sooner they put together more cohesive efforts, the sooner that they will figure out a way to pull out some of these games again.<br />
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I am encouraged by the efforts in the last two matches, but Saturday night's game proved why Boston would be a tough match-up for the Isles in the playoffs, let alone for any team. My pick to be the team coming out of the East, Tuukka Rask has finally found his game and has been dominating teams left and right. Zdeno Chara seems to have gotten past his injury issues from earlier in the year. And they seem to be getting support from some of the role players they were missing in the early part of the season.<br />
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When a team is playing well after a long rough stretch, funny things start to happen as that team evolves over the course of the long season. Case in point, look at the fight between Ryan Strome and Torey Krug early in the game. These are two non-fighters who mixed it up along the boards and agreed to go. This is the type of fighting that makes that aspect great, when two skilled guys wanting to get their teams going decide to drop the mitts. And while we saw one of the worst fights technique wise, it was fun to watch and helped to set the stage for the game early.<br />
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This was going to be a physical challenge, and I think the bruins came out on top in that aspect. An early hit on John Tavares also set the tone and Michael Grabner and Mikhail Grabovski were both laid out a few times on their own. The Isles didn't have much of an answer for this, but it didn't seem to cost them the game.<br />
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Chad Johnson looked excellent in net and I was pleased that he kept his movements to a minimum in general. I think that this was an excellent effort by him spoiled by Rask, as he kept some excellent Isles chances out of the net.<br />
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The Isles defense was napping on a few plays and it allowed the Bruins some odd man rushes. Although none of those did hurt the Isles, it was the defensemen getting out muscled that allowed the Bruins to take the lead for good with just over seven minutes to play in the 3rd. That was a terrible goal to give up to Loui Eriksson, not so much by Johnson but more so by the defense.<br />
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Matt Martin was left as the guy trying to tie Eriksson up in front of the net because Nick Leddy was off to the side, and Johnny Boychuk was late getting into the play. The turn around goal was a very weak one, and I was particularly upset with the lack of support on the play. I mention Leddy, because he was the only Isles player with his back towards the play and had no idea where the puck was. For as great as he's been this year, of late he's been prone to some turnovers and hasn't been as great with getting back to correct his mistakes. I'm not sure if he's beginning to grow tired from the increased minutes he's been seeing but something is not the same from what we saw early on in the season.<br />
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All in all this was not a terrible effort for the Isles despite still having some issues with turnovers. The mistakes were not anywhere near what we have been seeing lately and their attempts at attacking the player after the turnover were usually pretty solid. It's still not as fluid as we had seen earlier in the year, but for the style the Isles play it usually comes with a lot of these high risk types of plays.<br />
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The Isles have been trying to get back to the simple things and over the last two games there were mixed results. They had the huge comeback over the Flyers and a tight one goal loss to the Bruins. And now they'll have to take on a Buffalo Sabres team that we'll call dangerous. They have not won much, but the Isles blew a three goal lead to them earlier in the year and lost in a shootout. This is also the same Isles team that had issues with an Oilers team that is pretty much in the same boat as the Sabres success wise. So the Isles cannot afford a let down on Sunday afternoon.<br />
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Because, well that would be something that <i>would</i> get my concerns ramped up a notch for sure.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-39593230523607573862015-01-30T16:29:00.003-05:002015-01-30T16:29:18.588-05:00Bruins Strong vs. Isles in 5-2 WinAlthough the Islanders didn't play their best, they also didn't play their worst. What we saw in the 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night was the Islanders play a team that they will have to figure out a way to beat if they truly want to be seen as a Stanley Cup contender come April.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Bruins started off the year slowly but have figured out ways to get themselves back into the race. Their timing couldn't be better, with the job the Detroit Red Wings have done of late too.<br />
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One of the things that really stands out in my mind was how quick the Bruins were in pressuring the Isles when they were trying to break out from their defensive end and up the ice. The Bruins forecheck was constant throughout and the Isles quick decision making was not the best. Frequently it lead to goals or bad turnovers and the Bruins got quality scoring chances all night.<br />
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Jack Capuano spoke about players doing a lot of standing around after the game and I do have to agree with him. It was quite noticeable from many players, especially the forwards. It seemed like the Isles breakouts were slowed down by an inability to begin going on a rush the other way when the team got control of a puck in the offensive zone and it allowed the Bruins to cut down on the Isles odd man rushes.<br />
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Tuukka Rask did not look as crisp as he has in the past, which has been the case with him for much of this season. The Isles knew to take advantage of that and John Tavares scored his goal by just chipping a puck on net while surrounded by four Bruin players and going to work deep in the zone. It was the game plan that the Isles tried and in the second period it certainly helped them generate some nice scoring chances. Rask covered up most of the pucks but it was always a close call.<br />
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Jaroslav Halak continued to be his own worst enemy when he decided to come out of the net and play the puck. We didn't see much of that earlier this season, but as he's adjusted to the system that the Isles play he's come out more and more to play pucks. And more and more, over the last month and change he always has that one play he makes that's driving us all nuts. Although he was actually able to get back into the crease after he tried to put a puck around the boards with time expiring in the 2nd period, he didn't have enough time to set up and Kevan Miller quickly threw a shot on net all the way from the blueline. Although Halak had the right idea, it was not necessary to do that with no time left on the clock and his team already winding down (which is also inexcusable). But that turned out to be the winning goal and really changed the whole complexion for the Isles, causing them to lose any momentum they were gaining.<br />
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The Bruins were able to get a goal quickly to start the third from Torey Krug and the Isles were trying to get into battle back mode. They did outshoot the Bruins in the final frame but Rask was careful with covering some of his rebounds. The Isles took a lot of shots too late as well, letting good scoring opportunities fly by them before they finally released a shot. So it didn't help that they were allowing the Bruins, and Rask, to get into adequate positions to make saves.<br />
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The Isles defense did have some issues. I felt it was not a good night for Thomas Hickey in particular. On the Isles first penalty kill Patrice Bergeron made him look silly. He was easily knocked off the puck and had trouble getting the puck out of the zone. Really he wasn't the only one thanks to the work the Bruins put in, but with his lack of size and the Bruins excess size it really bled through.<br />
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Tavares did his part but Mikhail Grabovski was not as good as he was against the Rangers, and he went back to hesitating on some chances that he had. I was happy with how quickly he tried to get shots off in his first game back, but against the Bruins we saw some old habits. Hopefully it was just another game for him to try and get back into the groove of things.<br />
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Casey Cizikas got hurt but really tried to inspire the team by returning. he was pretty physical but ultimately after a missed trip by a Bruin, his leg would not let him participate further. It doesn't sound like the injury was anything serious but the Isles have called up Colin McDonald just in case. Obviously that would throw a lot of the lines off, particularly the 3rd and 4th ones. The Isles gave both Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson looks on the 4th line and I liked it a little better with Nelson. I'm all for getting Strome back at center but it's tough to break him, Frans Nielsen and Anders Lee up right now.<br />
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Michael Grabner made a nice tip in front to help the Isles tie the game at two and I felt he was one of the Isles best forwards all night. He should have had multiple goals if not for the fine work of Rask on some of the saves. He seems to be picking his spots more with when to go into high gear but he did a nice job of getting pucks towards the net. I also like that he's been playing more in the slot area and going into battles with opposing defensemen. Perhaps he could be a dark horse candidate to get more ice time if Grabovski doesn't cut it.<br />
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Overall it was not a bad game for the Isles, but one they slept through at points and for far too long. I enjoyed watching the game because of how much it showed us the Isles stack up with one of the best teams, and clearly they could have done better. They really weren't that far off from this game being different if not for a few blunders, but even the best teams will suffer some setbacks here and there. If they replayed this game I highly doubt that the Isles would make some of these mistakes again.<br />
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I think that it bodes well for the Isles in Detroit on Saturday afternoon as well. Typically when the Isles have been 'flat' in the next game they don't fall into those same habits. So I think they can come out strong against a team they do match up very well with.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-24447419582898198222015-01-28T13:17:00.005-05:002015-01-28T13:17:50.650-05:00Isles Down Rangers as Season Resumes; Thoughts to Start '2nd Half'A little snow couldn't keep the Islanders and Rangers from playing on Tuesday night. It couldn't keep the fans home either. I can't recall ever seeing the Nassau Coliseum that full so soon after a snowstorm but the fans showed up, loud and proud. It brought a fun atmosphere for what was an intense game to kick off the 2nd half of the season. It's key not to get lost in some of the intensity, and the Isles did their best to not let that happen despite the eight day break on their way to the 4-1 victory.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>This game was a classic. When these two get together, this is what you want to see. The end to end action was incredible, and in general the refs kept the whistles in their pockets unless absolutely necessary. Neither of the teams came out particularly slow in the early going and the shot totals piled up quickly.<br />
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The Islanders didn't get the job done in the prettiest way of course, as they got outplayed and outpossessed at points, especially in the second period. Really, one of the top reasons that the Isles won this game was thanks to the work that Jaroslav Halak did as he made 40 saves and lost his shutout with just eight seconds remaining.<br />
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Halak was stellar on the penalty kills, where I felt the Isles were a bit jumpy and over aggressive. The Rangers had some phenomenal chances but hesitated or couldn't hammer home rebounds. And because of the frustration settling in thanks to some big saves by Halak they really tried too hard and were extra quick on some passing plays which meant pucks going over sticks to the boards. This allowed the Isles defenders to apply some pressure and keep them to the outside. But ultimately Halak stole the show when the Isles were a man down.<br />
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The Isles did well offensively and had a lot of excellent chances aside from the four goals they scored. Mikhail Grabovski got a spin on the first line with Kyle Okposo out for an extended period of time and he looked fantastic. He chose an excellent time to finally get some strong shots off, and to actually have them hit the net. He used some of his speed to even go on the back-check and helped to break-up some key plays. If Grabovski was ready to go before the all-star break but was being held out a la Michael Grabner, then he certainly got the message and earned himself an extended look on the top line.<br />
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I'll admit Grabo was not my first choice to ride shotgun with John Tavares in Okposo's absence. I felt Ryan Strome should have gotten first crack, but if this is going to get Grabo going then I'm all for it. But if Strome wanted to make sure no one forgot him as a potential option should Grabovski falter then he did an excellent job of that. He too had a nice showing and was very aggressive in front of the net. He didn't get a good piece of a puck all night but still had a goal and a post to show.<br />
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I do want to take a moment to point out the play of Tavares. I bellyached as he went off to the All-Star Game, where he scored four goals. Normally celebrated for his scoring - and that certainly has been the norm for me in this space - how about the aggression he showed here against the Rangers? He was definitely amped up for this game and had an extra gear. I was most impressed with his board work. He's always been a guy who plays on the boards, but I never felt he was truly a force. He banged his body around all night and showed no signs of slowing down. I scoffed when Jonathan Toews drafted JT to his all-star team because he was "a two-way player" but maybe he was onto something if we are going to see more of this from Tavares in the second half of the season.<br />
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The fourth line was up to their usual antics. Cal Clutterbuck was in the middle of everything in a physical game. Matt Martin continued his penchant for scoring big goals in some big games, particularly against his crosstown rivals, and was also involved in all of the rough stuff which ended his night a few minutes early. And Casey Cizikas provided some nice rushes and passes which lead to wonderful scoring chances, many of which were stopped by a very solid Henrik Lundqvist - especially in the first two frames.<br />
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I still haven't figured out Calvin de Haan. Early in the game he was making the turnovers that unfortunately have become normal for him this year. But as the game drew on and the Isles began to put up some goals, he was keeping the puck in the zone and getting it towards the net area. He was very active and finished with an assist and a few hits but I felt his start was rocky. None of it lead to goals though, so I'll take that from him every game if he's going to be solid when it matters most during crunch time.<br />
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The pace that this game had was unreal, and it was a true pitchers duel for about half of it. I'm still trying to figure out some of the saves Halak made. Heck I'm still trying to figure out some of the ones Lundqvist made too. However, as Halak was quick to point out his defense did make plenty of sacrifices on their own. Johnny Boychuk finished with six blocked shot, while Brian Strait had four. De Haan even continued to pile up blocked shots for himself.<br />
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Strait was definitely noteworthy in this game. He was very active in his limited time and even put a beautiful shot on net. His break outs from behind the net were pretty good and he kept himself relatively mistake free. He was also involved in the middle of a few skirmishes. It can't be easy to be in and out of the line-up everyday and get inconsistent minutes but he stepped up at a perfect time and gave the Isles the contribution they needed on the bottom pairing.<br />
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Lets hope the next time these two meet it's a similar pace, and ultimate result. However a game of this style might not match up very well with the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have played some excellent hockey of late and have been finding some line matches that are working. A new addition we haven't seen yet is rookie David Pastrnak, who uses speed and dekeing ability to make the opposition look silly. The Isles will have to keep their eye out, or expect more rushes in on the goalie just as we saw from Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider a few times on Tuesday night.<br />
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The Isles did eke past the Bruins earlier this year, but that was a slightly different team and one that was trending downwards. Now that they've picked up the pace and are firing on all cylinders this will be another good test for the Isles against another team that has consistently been near the top of the standings for the last several years.<br />
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<b>Okposo out 6-to-8 Weeks: </b>On Monday while we were all preparing for this supposedly historical snowstorm, the Isles got back to work and announced after practice that Okposo will be out for the next 6-to-8 weeks, putting his return somewhere around the end of March.<br />
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The Isles will only classify this as an 'upper body' injury at this time, and it seems pretty significant to keep him out that long. Regardless of rumors and conjecture, this is something that Jack Capuano and the coaching staff will have to work through and try to get the most from the remaining players.<br />
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They got off to a good start with Grabovski on Tuesday night. If Grabovski is going to put forward more efforts like that then we'll have a lot to look forward to.<br />
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I don't think the Isles would seriously be looking for someone out on the trade market, but if Grabovski and presumably Strome falter in filling Okposo's role it's not inconceivable to think that Garth Snow would kick some tires on a player here or there. But the hope seems to be to get through these next few weeks, evaluate the timetable and then go from there. It's not like the Isles have many assets left to trade away in the near term anyway.<br />
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<b>TSN Coaches Poll:</b> Upon the conclusion of All-Star weekend, Bob McKenzie of TSN <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/rangers-blues-headline-tsn-s-who-s-best-nhl-coaches-survey-1.191758" target="_blank">posted the results of a poll</a> that the Canadian sports giant does every year where they survey 20 NHL coaches anonymously to get their feelings on what coaches deserve to receive certain superlatives through the first half of the season like best coach, best team and best player.<br />
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This year the results were very pro-Islanders.<br />
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When it came to the best team in the East, the Isles got four votes which is only behind NYR's tally of five. Capuano actually led the way for top coach in the East with three votes - but could this number increase in the second half based on the aforementioned handling of Okposo's absence?<br />
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Tavares got a vote for the East's top player, and after his (MVP) All-Star showing it turned more people on to what the Isles have done this year and the fact that they are trending upward thanks in large part to him.<br />
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The biggest surprise for me was in regards to the top coach in the East. Is this the same guy that many of us were agreeable to moving on from? Because both he and the Isles are completely different than what they were last year. Granted, the Isles made significant changes but they finally gave him more than one line's worth of talent and you see where the Isles are now. Maybe we were all wrong all along.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-41467485930232691172015-01-19T22:51:00.004-05:002015-01-19T22:51:23.055-05:00Isles defeat Flyers 7-4, Lead Metro at All-Star BreakIf the Islanders were looking to have something resonate with the league during the All-Star break then they were successful thanks to their 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday afternoon. The win guarantees that the Isles will sit atop the division for the next week until play resumes after next weekend's festivities.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Flyers have had a tough season so far, and an injury to Steve Mason has not made things any easier. 33-year-old rookie Rob Zepp has gotten a chance and he was the man in between the pipes against the Isles.<br />
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It didn't take long for Michael Grabner to score, about a minute and a half into the game with a beautiful wrist shot up high. You knew that the floodgates were going to be open at that point.<br />
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Nikolay Kulemin really was the star of the afternoon for the Isles, getting their second goal on a great second chance with a rebound right in his wheelhouse. The Isles, just as they had several times throughout the game, had some extended pressure in the offensive zone and Kulemin's first goal of the evening was one of a few second chances the Isles cashed in on.<br />
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Kulemin wasn't done. He got the Isles third goal on a breakaway, going from literally skating backwards to beating and out-muscling Matt Read, making a nice move to go up high on a sprawled out Zepp all while the Isles were down a man. We talked about Kulemin on the show on Sunday, specifically about how he's been scoring goals in big spots for the team. He brings a big frame that has the ability to skate and he's been using that to his advantage to force turnovers just as he did here with Read, who is not a bad skater himself.<br />
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In what surprised many, Jaroslav Halak got the start and made 25 saves for the Isles. The Flyers third goal was gifted to Claude Giroux, thanks to a brain lapse by Halak behind the net to start the 3rd period. He didn't get enough on his pass and seemed to freeze for a minute upon realizing this. This left a wide open cage for Giroux. Unfortunately for Halak turnovers behind the net have been something that's become somewhat common place and over the last few weeks has been adding blemishes to his records.<br />
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The Isles chased Zepp, who was replaced by Ray Emery. The Isles didn't let up and tested Emery early and often but he was up to the task, making several saves in succession. The thing with the Flyers is that they give up second and third chances, and both goalies did not stray from that today.<br />
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After the Giroux goal, the Flyers began to step up the intensity. The Islanders had an answer for it however and it was the best thing that they could have done. Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas came out for their shifts throwing the body. The Flyers are a team that loves to do that and likes to get back into games using that style of play so it was key for the Islanders to try and cut that off before the Flyers got the upper hand. This resonated with some other guys who began to show their muscle, like Anders Lee and Travis Hamonic who threw a few big hits of their own.<br />
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Overall the Isles were solid defensively, giving Halak the chance to see the pucks. He had to make a couple of unbelievable saves but gave up his usual rebounds. As mentioned the Giroux goal was unfortunate, and their final goal came in the equivalent of garbage time on a nice tip in front.<br />
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Calvin de Haan had some of his usual issues. In the first period with the Flyers getting some pressure he lost track of a puck and took a really bad tripping penalty. Quite simply you have to be better with your stick in the slot area and also need to be able to know where the puck is. Hamonic has been pretty solid for long stretches this season so any of these issues have to be directed more at de Haan. Maybe there is something to the sophomore slump theory.<br />
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Nick Leddy has had some tremendous games lately, and the few times he's gotten himself in trouble he's been able to skate right out of it. It was great to see him rewarded with his 7th goal of the season on a nice shot from the blueline after faking R.J. Umberger out of his skates.<br />
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John Tavares had a strong game and was difficult for the Flyers to knock off the puck. His powerplay goal was a thing of beauty, lifting the puck up high effortlessly while in tight. And it gave the Isles the momentum they needed after the Flyers had scored a little bit before that.<br />
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The Isles powerplay had better movement and more chances than we have been seeing in recent games. They had one attempt that was a real stinker but the others saw some crisp passing and nice set-ups along with some excellent scoring opportunities thanks to more of a willingness to shoot the puck.<br />
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The next time we see the Isles will be just over a week from now, however we will see Tavares and Halak at the All-Star festivities on Saturday and Sunday. The Islanders are sitting pretty going into the break, at a 31-14-1 mark. They have been the talk of the league, and the fact that they are still in first in the division for this extended time will keep the positive buzz around them.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-86745543801773058962015-01-18T14:46:00.005-05:002015-01-18T14:46:39.817-05:00Isles run out of Steam against MontrealMany times when a team plays several emotional games in a row, at some point they will just run out of steam. Such was the case in the Isles 6-4 loss in Montreal, despite two of their goals coming in what we could classify as garbage time.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>To be honest, I don't think the Islanders played a terrible game considering the others that came this week, and given the style they played the night before against Pittsburgh on Long Island. The Islanders went down early on a powerplay goal by P.K. Subban. Ryan Strome was aggressive on the boards and took a tripping penalty, which is something we've become accustomed to seeing with him. As he adjusts better to NHL play, these types of penalties will eventually decrease. On this chance though it cost the Islanders. When Montreal was on Long Island, we saw them give several consecutive chances to Subban on the man advantage and of course he was left open for several opportunities in Saturday night's game as well.<br />
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The rest of the period was a bit sloppy for both teams. It seemed like they had trouble getting going and getting a lot of chances in on Jaroslav Halak or Dustin Tokarski. The Islanders dominated in attempts but could only get seven shots in on Tokarski in the first frame.<br />
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The Isles game plan on Tokarski was to shoot high, and he used his blocker to push a lot of pucks towards the corner. It wasn't a coincidence that the Isles goals came closer to ice level. I was a bit disappointed that they were going as high as they were on Tokarski, who generally is a stand up goalie as we saw several times in this game. And the Isles are a team that general has issues with hitting the net as it is so it wasn't a good recipe.<br />
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I was also disappointed that they started Halak instead of Chad Johnson. Johnson ended up coming in after Halak gave up the 6th goal, but they probably should have pulled him earlier than that. I think that the Isles plans for what goalies to use in these games was altered thanks to Halak being named to the All-Star team and that's why we saw him go two games in a row, back-to-back. Johnson is probably slated to get the Flyers game now to give Halak the extra day of rest that he won't get thanks to the exhibition period later in the week.<br />
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It was great to see Kyle Okposo score again on a broken play by the Canadiens to get the Isles within one goal. After going down by two again Nikolay Kulemin continued his penchant for getting big goals in big spots, with his goal that stayed on the ice and banked off the post behind Tokarski.<br />
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The Canadiens are a fast team, and just as we saw on Long Island at Christmas they used that to their advantage on Saturday night. The Islanders did their best to keep up but often struggled, and spent time chasing Montreal around and behind the net.<br />
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The Isles defensemen in general had issues with puck possession and made some turnovers in bad places, perhaps overwhelmed by the speed of Montreal. This is where you could tell that they were just running out of gas, on plays like this. Montreal got several odd man rushes in their favor and were able to cash in on a number of them, picking the corners on Halak.<br />
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I would expect the Isles to put forth a better effort on Monday afternoon in the matinee against the Flyers. They match-up favorably with them as currently constructed and the Flyers are down Steve Mason. They had that one nice effort against them this year, where Mason stood on his head and the Isles won 1-0 after a shootout.<br />
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Monday's matinee will be the last game before the All-Star break, so I would expect to see Johnson for the game. And for the Isles it's another game for them within the division, where they are already 14-2-0 this season.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-19376181571829814812015-01-17T15:09:00.000-05:002015-01-17T15:09:02.816-05:00Okposo Leads Isles Comeback in 6-3 win over PensIf you watched the beginning of the Islanders vs. Penguins game on Friday night and quickly got annoyed and turned the game off, then you missed quite a game. The Islanders fought back, lead by Kyle Okposo and his four(!) goals in a 6-3 victory that gave them 30 wins for the year and put them in the Eastern Conference lead once again.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Let that sink in for a moment - the Islanders have 30 wins, and have only lost a total of 14 games of the 44 they've played.<br />
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To say that we are all surprised might be a lie. I think many of us knew what this team was capable of, and many of us figured that they would contend for one of the division spots. But first in the Metropolitan Division, and first in the Conference? Well that was something a bit different.<br />
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It has reached the point now, where the Isles are not doing this with smoke and mirrors. Wins like this one over the Penguins - coupled with the other two they have this year - and the one earlier in the week where they chased Henrik Lundqvist has proven this time and time again.<br />
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And in typical Isles fashion, they didn't show too much panic in their game after going down 2-0, and then again when they went down 3-2 with just 20 minutes left to play.<br />
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The Isles started off a bit slow, allowing two powerplays in the first half of the opening frame and they paid dearly for them. I saw some people questioning the call on the penalty that Michael Grabner was called for. However, in this league, any leg-to-leg contact will be called. It doesn't matter if it's the knees or the ankles, it will be called.<br />
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Granted there isn't much that players can do in situations like this, but Grabner needs to be smarter there and play the body. There is no way around this. Don't switch direction at the last minute, because that is only going to make the result worse. And in this case, the Isles missed some much needed speed and defensive play on the resulting penalty kill.<br />
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The goal that Sidney Crosby scored here was a bit of a freak one, but he had great positioning in front of the net which allowed the puck to ricochet off of him. With the league's relaxed rules for pucks going in of body parts or items other than sticks it was clear that this was a good goal.<br />
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Moments later a bad penalty by Cal Clutterbuck in front of the net gave the Pens another opportunity on the man advantage and another opportunity to snap their PP funk that they've experienced and they delivered with a nice slapper goal from David Perron, who has found a home with the Penguins after years of struggling to find ice time in St. Louis and wins in Edmonton. The Isles were down in a 2-0 hole, and I disagreed with Jack Capuano not using his time out at this point. The Isles needed to be reminded that they had to be smarter with their sticks, but it seemed that this issue was not that big of a deal anyway because the refs got it out of their system and generally kept the whistles in their pockets for the 2nd and 3rd period.<br />
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Despite being down 2-0 the Isles knew that they still had a chance. It was early and it's hard enough being down to a quality team like the Penguins but as we've seen so much already this season, the Isles were up to the task.<br />
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It was the Okposo show from that point forward, and he'd get the goal to open the scoring for the Isles. But lets not discount the excellent puck handling of John Tavares to deke around Simon Despres and get the puck across to Okposo crashing the net. This was the type of play that the Isles needed to beat this team and I think this goal helped get their minds in order for this style.<br />
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Unfortunately they were unable to replicate much of this during the second period, and the Penguins were able to control some of the play for stretches. The Isles and Jaroslav Halak did a good job of keeping them out of much trouble for most of the period but the last few minutes were tough.<br />
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Ryan Strome was excellent in the game and had a few key shifts in the second period that helped the Isles out, including one on which he scored the goal to tie the game at two. Strome has been getting to the front of the net more these days which is something remarkable when you consider his stature and his skill set. But it has been paying dividends, and that was the case on Friday night as well. Strome shook off two Pens defenders a couple of times, finally getting a 3rd opportunity that he just threw at the net. The puck deflected in off of Marc-Andre Fleury, and it was a bad goal for him to give up. But this was the old adage of "throw pucks at the net" coming to fruition.<br />
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As I mentioned before the last few minutes of the second were tough, and the Isles started to become a little more pedestrian than would normally be acceptable when you're playing a top team. All it took was a few moments of a brain lapse, and Crosby was left wide open to the left of Halak for an easy goal. Calvin de Haan focused a lot on Paul Martin, and the only reason the puck was down that low on a defenseman's stick was because the Isles got caught deep in their zone and let Kris Letang work from the corner and move the puck towards the crease.<br />
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That left the Isles 20 minutes to try and figure out a way to come back, against a team that had only lost a couple of games when leading after two periods. Enter Okposo.<br />
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Okposo lead the Isles charge in crashing the net and it continued to pay off. If you look at the goals he scored, they weren't of the prettiest variety except for that one from the slot area. The Isles had tremendous presence deep in the offensive zone and played well from along the boards that it created some great chances for them.<br />
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Fleury continued to give up some bad rebounds and this had an effect as well. But the Isles needed to get their legs moving, as Okposo did on the goal that tied the game up at three, out skating the defender to a lose puck for a chip-in goal. The few nice shifts the Isles had early on carried over throughout the game, and they quickly adjusted to what was working against the Penguins.<br />
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I don't think that Halak had a bad game by any means, and the goals scored against him were unfortunate. Despite how much of a slump Pittsburgh might have been in on the powerplay, you cannot give them these opportunities. The Isles perhaps were a little overanxious and it lead to a few bad plays that the Pens cashed in on.<br />
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I think a lot of people were not completely sure what to make of this Isles team just yet, but these recent wins will hold a lot of weight. A 3-1 record against the Pens this year should, as well.<br />
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The Isles have had several quality wins this season on their way to the top, and will have to keep that momentum going against teams like Montreal, who they haven't quite figured out. They will have an opportunity to on Saturday night - without Carey Price. Now is as good a time as any for the Islanders to try and establish themselves as contenders among these other leaders of the Conference.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-3367438916976137502015-01-16T12:27:00.002-05:002015-01-16T12:27:59.199-05:00Halak an All-Star, AfterallThe NHL announced on Thursday that Jaroslav Halak has been added to the All-Star roster along with Marc-Andre Fleury as they replace the injured Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The other day after John Tavares was named, I put in <a href="http://nyifyi.blogspot.com/2015/01/isles-dominate-blue-jackets-tavares.html" target="_blank">my two cents</a> on the All-Star Game and why I was happy that Halak was not going to be a part of the silliness that the few days usually provides.<br />
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While Halak is obviously not Rick DiPietro, it's still something anyone should be concerned about - especially with a game that means little, despite the efforts the NHL has taken to make it matter. But just like the NFL, nothing seems to make the event better.<br />
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Recently the NHL has upped their showcasing of the skills competition, putting an emphasis on the shootouts and letting players and goalies get creative in how they decide to shoot, or stop, pucks. So my hope is that Halak goes there and pretty much just stands in the crease, making half-hearted attempts at stopping pucks unlike what DiPietro infamously did five years ago.<br />
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Be that as it may, Halak deserved the honor of joining Tavares in representing the Isles at the event. Halak is the reason this team is leading the division, with a 23-8-0 record to go along with a 2.22 GAA and a .917 SV%. He has far and away been the Isles MVP through the first half of the season and will need to keep that up as the Isles play some tough games after the break, with many of them coming at home.<br />
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Halak's last test before being named to the team was the 3-0 shutout of the Rangers. He did get some help from the posts, but also made a few key saves in the 2nd period that allowed the Isles to continue to pick up momentum and score their goals.<br />
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Halak will have a couple of other tests, starting with Friday night in Pittsburgh and hopefully he doesn't think too much about this honor and limp into the break. This game is pivotal in the Isles quest for the Metropolitan Division crown and he'll need to be sharp.<br />
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When it comes to All-Star festivities, there is always concern for how it will affect a players rhythm. Many Mets fans still point to David Wright's dip in home runs after participating in the home run derby. And given Halak's injury troubles in prior years, I would have much rather him been home resting - just like he did in the games around Christmas.<br />
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So he'll go and play his one period while hopefully doing as little as he can for the meaningless event, while keeping the Isles play going forward in the forefront of his mind.<br />
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But for now, we enjoy his honor and the recognition the Isles are receiving for their stellar play this season.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-90564315550715961942015-01-11T13:31:00.001-05:002015-01-11T13:31:25.562-05:00Isles Dominate Blue Jackets; Tavares Named to All-Star RosterThe Islanders gained some momentum for themselves heading into the game on Tuesday against a red hot New York Rangers team by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Saturday night. The game was the second of a back-to-back and after playing into extra time with the Devils in that previous night the Islanders certainly made a huge statement in Columbus.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Blue Jackets struggled mightily in the early going of the season, but had picked up the pace recently in their effort to get back over .500 and back into the playoff picture. In watching this game, if I were a Blue Jackets fan I would be upset with the way my team played. If you want to make noise after digging yourselves a bit of a hole, you need a better effort than what was put forth on Saturday night against the leader of your division.<br />
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The Isles jumped off to the early 1-0 lead, with a strong opening shift and a good play to get the puck to Nick Leddy at the point. Leddy took a shot with two Isles in the slot area, and it was Nikolay Kulemin who got the tip-in. Kulemin has been relegated to the lower lines with the Isles shuffling of the top units, but it's good to see him still provide some of that offensive skill set. He could fit in well as the 'offensive' presence for the grittier players.<br />
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The Blue Jackets didn't have much going at all offensively, and it took a powerplay for them to even get a shot in on Chad Johnson. On their first shot they scored, with the first five minutes being dominated by the Isles it wasn't a great feeling for the game to be tied 1-1.<br />
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Johnson, however did his part in giving the Isles the chance to win the game. He hasn't played much, mostly due to being generally ineffective and giving up a goal to a team on their first shot certainly didn't provide any good feelings to the team, the fans or even himself. But Johnson settled in and stopped most of whatever else was thrown his way, despite really only needing to make one or two really nice saves.<br />
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Matt Martin scored a beautiful goal, finishing off a series of excellent passing by the Isles started by Brian Strait. Ryan Strome showed great vision in getting the puck to Martin, who has been cutting towards the net with some more consistency over the last couple of games.<br />
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Aside from that, a lot of beauty was lost on the other goals. Defensive miscues and bad breaks gave Strait, Anders Lee and Kyle Okposo their goals. Lee put on some excellent pressure to cause a turnover with the Jackets attempting a line change and took a loose puck in on a breakaway. He did make a few nice moves to get Sergei Bobrovsky to leave the 5-hole open though. Okposo and Strait showed us why it is important to get pucks to the net, especially when a team looks vulnerable and is having trouble maintaining any order in their own zone.<br />
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The Isles defenders looked a lot more settled in for this game than they did in New Jersey. I liked the fact they were very aggressive on the boards, trying to wear down a Jackets team that thrives because of some of their role players who enjoy that type of play. It really helped to neutralize many of the threats a team would face when playing this team.<br />
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Johnny Boychuk has been showing us his physical side a bit more lately and on Saturday night threw the body a lot. The Blue Jackets were not happy with all of the hits, and I think that attributed to some of what went on at the end of the game.<br />
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Of course I am talking about the barrage of penalties that the Blue Jackets took against the Isles in the last few minutes of the game, giving them some extended 5-on-3 time. The Isles were content with passing the puck around the boards, already up by three. For some reason the Jackets took offense to the Isles refusal to pile on. Perhaps they felt it was mocking in a way, but in a league where offense rules I had no problem with the Isles trying not to pile on and risk injury to guys screening Bobrovsky, or even those trying to defend against the Isles. But the Blue Jackets didn't like it one way or another.<br />
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Calvin de Haan has continued some solid play getting in the way of shots. However his skating seems to have returned to an extent and he looks more confident when skating out of the corner with the puck. In prior weeks this caused turnovers for him, but the ability to block shots and then go after them to get them out of harms way will be the key to his success. Travis Hamonic, his partner, also has continued a run of real solid play.<br />
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All in all the Isles had a game plan and executed it well, not allowing the Blue Jackets to get much in the few times during play when they were buzzing. So give the Isles credit for not letting up and sticking with a plan.<br />
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This was clearly a game the Isles should have done well in, aside from the fact of the little success they had in Columbus since their inception. The fact that the Isles came out on the second night of a back to back and did exactly what they had to do is key for them heading into the big match-up on Tuesday, no matter how much Jack Capuano tries to downplay it. They had their legs moving and it helped create some excellent scoring chances for them, and even generated the dirty goals they scored.<br />
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And of course the Rangers won again on Saturday night, giving them five in a row as they return home. The Islanders will enter MSG on Tuesday with possession of first place in the Metropolitan division, and with the bump in the road the Isles and Pittsburgh experienced hot teams like the Rangers and Washington can smell blood. This should be fun.<br />
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<b>All-Star Selections:</b> On Saturday night the NHL announced the players for the All-Star game, to be held in Columbus in a couple of weeks. Isles fans were disappointed with the absence of Jaroslav Halak from the team.<br />
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If someone asked me, my response would have been to shrug. I don't really care who does or doesn't make it because quite often those who have played the best during any particular season don't always make it in - especially if they aren't name players.<br />
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Honestly, don't look at just the Halak snub. What about Henrik Lundqvist? P.K. Subban? We can name many players who were inexplicably snubbed. But no worries, because Patrik Elias, who hasn't even been the best player on his team, is going.<br />
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Remember, the league wants every team to be represented at the festivities. So teams like Edmonton and the Devils need to have representatives. Furthermore, the team that is hosting always gets the benefit of the doubt, so enter Bobrovsky as a goaltender.<br />
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If it's something that you care that much about, more power to you. But given the popularity contest that surrounds it, and the fact that the last time an Isles goaltender went <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHlHOBZLN5E" target="_blank">their career pretty much ended</a>, to me it's much ado about nothing.<br />
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Congrats to John Tavares however, who did make the team. It was pretty clear that he was going to be the Isles representative, and likely will be for several years to come. So we can sit back and watch him do his thing, while praying he doesn't tweak something during a trick shot attempt on the evening before.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-37585976164287706692015-01-10T17:01:00.000-05:002015-01-10T17:01:00.342-05:00Tavares the Hero as Isles Beat Devils 3-2 in OTWith less than stellar efforts in their prior two games in Edmonton and Vancouver, the Islanders needed to get back to their winning ways with the team now back in the East. A win against the Devils would be just what they needed heading into tougher games against the Blue Jackets and Rangers later this week. But to do that the Islanders needed some better play than what we saw in Western Canada.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>At first this didn't seem like it was going to be the case and the Isles were really playing with fire. The first period didn't have much flow to it as far as offensive play is concerned, for either team. The Devils have struggled to score much this season and didn't generate many offensive chances early on in the game. The Islanders controlled the puck but it came more in the neutral zone because they really didn't do much with any of the chances that they had. As Butch Goring pointed out during the telecast, there was not enough movement by the Islanders. Not only does this affect a teams chance to get scoring opportunities, but it also affects the ability to draw penalties.<br />
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The game became a sloppy one, and you got the feeling that the goals were going to be ugly. Well this game did not disappoint.<br />
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Jaroslav Halak badly misplayed another puck behind his next, just as he had done in Edmonton earlier in the week. Defensive turnovers gave the Devils some excellent chances that missed the net or that Halak made nice saves on. But lately his play behind the net has left fans with heartburn, and there have been other close calls that teams have not cashed in on as well.<br />
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I was curious to see Mikhail Grabovski on the first line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo, but unfortunately that experiment only lasted about eight minutes thanks to his injury. Josh Bailey took over the spot again and that line actually looked very good. Of course, Tavares was the star of the show with his two goals.<br />
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Bailey had an active game, getting a nice tip on the shot that Calvin de Haan took early in the 3rd period. The Islanders came out buzzing after two lackluster periods that saw them trailing 1-0 and Bailey was in great position. Even if he didn't get that tip in, it was still a great play and his presence in front of the net has been fairly good this season.<br />
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But that good work was undone thanks to the Halak miscue, and Scott
Gomez (of course) cashed in on the wide open cage thanks to the pass
from Adam Henrique. And given the way the game had gone up until that point you couldn't help but wonder if this was going to be the beginning of a longer losing streak for the Isles<br />
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Over the past few weeks, we have been seeing the Tavares of old and he gave us glimpses into how good he can really be. The Islanders had great movement on the powerplay leading to the first goal he scored, when a hard shot that missed the net came right to him and he had the time to turn and flip it off of Keith Kinkaid. This completely changed the complexion of the game for the Isles, as the teams had now traded bad goals and it was going to be one of those finishes.<br />
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The Isles play in the 4-on-4 left something to be desired, as for much of the beginning of the OT frame it looked more like a Devils powerplay than anything. Fortunately, the Devils had trouble corralling some pucks after some crisp passes which is something that has plagued them for much of the year. Tavares turned a harmless play into the game winner.<br />
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Tavares showed great strength on muscling the puck away from Adam Larsson and then great sense in slaloming through everyone to put the puck past Kinkaid, who over committed on the poke check attempt. To cap off a huge comeback, Tavares pumped his fists at the large contingent of Isles fans at the game, paying homage to the "yes, yes, yes" chant that has quickly become a fan and player favorite at home games.<br />
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The Isles needed something positive in this game, and they got just what they needed in a huge way. While it wasn't ideal, it meant a lot to have the captain basically carry the team to a victory. It gives them the momentum they need to go and play Columbus on Saturday night, a team that they generally do not do well with on the road. Not to mention the big game coming up next week with the New York Rangers.<br />
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To have success on Saturday night, the Isles need to get back to a good style of play. A dump and chase, grind it out game will do well against the Blue Jackets and seems to be an effective way to stop them with the way they play. The defensive support is what makes me nervous, and with Chad Johnson set to man the pipes the Isles will need to take extra care of their own zone.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-36942496755040967462015-01-03T13:03:00.006-05:002015-01-03T13:03:36.088-05:00Tavares wins Battle of the Johnnys 2-1The Islanders continued their road trip out West on Friday night, taking on a Calgary Flames team that has been Jekyll and Hyde all season long. Lately they have gotten back to their winning ways thanks to their quick skating offense, especially that of Johnny Gaudreau.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>However on Friday night it was John Tavares who would win in the battle of the Johnnys after he scored both goals for the Isles in their 2-1 win.<br />
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Given how the Flames play, the Isles were successful in their system selection and implementation. The Flames are very quick in transition, and the Isles were very careful in not pinching too much on defense meaning that the Flames had to dump and chase with a team that was a little larger than they were.<br />
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The Isles did well on many of the board battles and did control the play more often than not. Jaroslav Halak stepped up and was great when he had to be. This was one of those classic games one can point to when they say a goaltender needs to make all the saves he should, as well as one or two other big ones. Halak stopped 22 of 23 shots. If you've been paying attention the last few games you'll notice that the Isles aren't giving up many shots. In their past five games where Halak played, they have not given up more than 26 shots, and he has been stopping many of them effectively. This is mirroring the success he had the last few years with the St. Louis Blues, with a defense that was very stingy.<br />
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The Isles defense deserves some props, and in this game we saw several key plays from them. Both teams did an excellent job of blocking shots, and the Isles blocked several in the 3rd period. The Isles did give up the goal to Gaudreau with just over three minutes to play but didn't show too much panic and rebounded nicely to solidify the win in the final minutes despite Calgary pulling their goaltender.<br />
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The second goal that Tavares scored was a nice one, as he came around the net and tried to find Kyle Okposo. When that failed he picked up the loose puck and used his strength to shake the defender off of him and get a shot off. Jonas Hiller was in great position but the puck trickled in between his pads, after he went down to the ice in anticipation of an initial shot that never got through. It was a glimpse into the Tavares we were used to seeing, and just from his reaction you could see how Tavares felt the same way. As he's starting to get on the score sheet with more regularity, one has to wonder if he's finally turning the corner. The amount of turnovers has decreased and that has been one of the bigger problems that has plagued Tavares in the first half of the season.<br />
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The Isles penalty kill worked really well once again, and for the first time in a while I can say we have some confidence in the unit. Sure they've killed off 21 of the last 23 opportunities, however last night they had some excellent spacing and movement when down a man. It was difficult for Calgary to find anyone open for any amount of time and this is a huge improvement for an Isles unit that was allowing several shots to opposing skill players. There is still a lot of work to do to get this unit out of the basement, but they finally have found something over the past couple of games that is working.<br />
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I mentioned the strength of the defense earlier, but two guys in particular who looked very strong were Travis Hamonic and Calvin de Haan. I've pointed out some blemishes from them over the past few games and want to tip my cap to solid performances. De Haan skated really well and kept the puck out of trouble. He had some spirited battles on the boards and was in solid position to make some key blocks in the 3rd period. Hamonic had been really good since he came back from IR and only had a couple of 'down' games so it's nice to see him get back to basics. Perhaps being closer to home is what the doctor ordered.<br />
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The Flames did plenty of shot blocking on their own and really dominated in this area early in the game. But the Isles stuck to their gameplan and didn't stray from it. They were able to catch the Flames on their heels a few times and go in on odd-man rushes but Hiller looked strong as well.<br />
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This was a very good win for the Islanders in what amounted to a pitchers duel. The Flames did a lot of what we expected them to, and the Isles were well prepared for this upstart team.<br />
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One has to wonder what is in store for Sunday night when the Isles play in Edmonton. It would seem to me that the Isles might want to give Chad Johnson another look despite having the rest day on Monday. Obviously they want to keep Halak fresh on this extended road trip so it might be a smart move. Of course in the NHL, nothing is guaranteed even against a team that has struggled as mightily as the Oilers have this season so it's entirely possible that the Isles won't want to appear as they are treading lightly. The Oilers are constructed in a similar manner to the Flames, however they don't have as much of a veteran presence up front and are a little weak up the middle, both of which have attributed to their struggles over these last several years. A similar gameplan as shown in Winnipeg and Calgary most likely gets the job done.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-36592239350852221682015-01-01T12:39:00.003-05:002015-01-01T12:39:18.168-05:00Isles end 2014 with Victory in WinnipegThe Isles 2014 portion of the season has come to a conclusion, with a convincing 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Isles overall played very well in the game, and dominated puck possession particularly with 5-on-5 play. Perhaps even better than that, the Isles never had a 3-0 lead that they had the opportunity to blow.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>All kidding aside it was a very nice win for the Isles considering that the referees were calling this one tightly, not letting much slip past them. Jack Capuano said in the postgame that he felt the PK was still a weaker point of the Isles game, and they went 3-for-4 on the kill. However there were a lot of close moments and often the Isles didn't get the puck out of the zone until after the Jets got some extended time and pressure. Fortunately they missed the net frequently, and Jaroslav Halak was solid when he needed to be.<br />
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The Jets big line of Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little did most of the damage against the Isles, in particular with 5-on-5. The Isles did have some nice shifts on them, particularly with the 4th line against them. However Ladd scored both of Winnipeg's goals and one of them came on the powerplay. Ladd has become somewhat of an Isles killer over the years and Wednesday night was no different with his ability to get to the slot area.<br />
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The Isles powerplay continued to produce, going 2-for-7 with the man advantage. While the Isles did have some more trouble getting set-up in the same manner as they had against Washington in the prior game, they were able to get a fist period PPG from Frans Nielsen after a shot attempt broke Johnny Boychuk's stick and went right to a wide open Nielsen. The Isles other goal on the powerplay came from Josh Bailey but was in an empty net. The Isles were a little shy to shoot and ultimately it didn't hurt them. But it does make one wonder if this would have ever really been a one goal game at any point of the night given the way the Isles had started, had then been a little more selfish and shot happy.<br />
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Anders Lee continued his presence in front of the net, as he was in the middle of action for two goals that came after scrambles in the crease area. The Isles first goal of the night was credited to Ryan Strome and at first it looked like he could have gotten it with a high stick but it was actually the Jets defender who had gotten the high stick on it. Lee later would get a goal of his own, when he picked up a Strome rebound and banked it high off of the back of Ondrej Pavelec's shoulder and into the net.<br />
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I thought Mikhail Grabovski looked a little better as he was actually able to get some shots off, however he did get tagged for two penalties in the game. His game has been erring on the side of frustrating lately, and you have to wonder if part of that is because of the fact that Michael Grabner is inching closer to a return. Grabovski could be feeling the heat to remain in the line-up.<br />
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The Isles best line in the game was clearly the one with Lee, Strome and Nielsen. I was skeptical on breaking up the kid line but this has been a pretty effective group with solid two-way play and has showcased two guys who enjoy crashing the net in Strome and Lee. This could be a good way to get Nielsen going, just as Brock Nelson has played a part in making Grabovski and Nikolay Kulemin look a little bit better. Nielsen scored two goals in this game, with his second coming on a nice give and go play with Strome. Strome finished with four points.<br />
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Overall I thought that the Isles defense quietly had a very strong game. There weren't many glaring errors and I never got the sense that this team was on their heels at any particular time. They seemed to have a good grasp on the ebbs and flows of how you beat a team like Winnipeg and didn't show much panic. There were some moments in the late second and parts of the third period where the Jets had some sustained pressure in the zone but the Isles did a nice job of trapping them behind the net or keeping them to the outside. In particular they did an excellent job on containing Mathieu Perrault, who has put up some points for the Jets after a slow start and uses a good combination of speed and skill to hurt teams. This is the type of player that could hurt the Isles and they were extra mindful of where he was on the ice and what to do with him when he had control of the puck.<br />
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Halak didn't really have to be spectacular in this game but was solid when needed. He stopped 21 of 23 shots but I never did feel he was in danger. The few good low shots the Jets had, he used his pads to send the rebounds towards the corners. He was also the beneficiary of plenty of missed shot attempts, with several rolling across the crease in front of him and into corners for a battle to ensue. But he was always in solid position when he had to be.<br />
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As dominant as the Isles typically are on New Years Eve it was especially important for them to have this kind of game, coming off blowing two consecutive 3-0 leads. This was the first game of a seven game trip, of which the second half of is back here in the East. But these are points the Isles needed and they were able to keep pace with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who also won on Wednesday night. Not to mention the Isles were able to keep the gap between themselves and the New York Rangers after their victory over the Florida Panthers, which is important when we see how quickly they have the ability to put together an extended winning streak.<br />
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The Isles had a great road effort and will need the same thing on Friday night for a Calgary team that is similarly constructed to the Jets. However the Flames have plenty of smaller yet skilled players, the biggest threat right now being Johnny Gaudreau. The rookie has been on fire of late and looks like he wants to give it his best run for a Calder Trophy and the Isles defense will have to be extra careful with a speed and skill guy like him on the ice.<br />
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From both myself and Sean, we'd like to wish all our friends out there a happy and healthy New Year! Thank you for all the follows and listens in 2014, and here's hoping that we can continue to all enjoy this season as 2015 rolls on!<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-90367071737853744752014-12-30T14:22:00.002-05:002014-12-30T14:22:20.149-05:00Another 3 Goal Lead Blown, but Boychuk Saves the DayMonday night's game against the Washington Capitals was a huge contest, for both teams really. In his pregame comments Braden Holtby <a href="https://twitter.com/TedStarkey/status/549617160675684352" target="_blank">even pointed out</a> that the Isles were a potential playoff partner in the near future. Anyone who watched the game saw how much energy and passion there was, with physical play and a fanbase that once again showed up and ramped up the intensity especially as the Isles built up another 3-0 lead.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Isles had some great jump to their game, getting the better of shots in on Holtby early on. Because the scoreboard was not working properly for those of us in attendance it was tough to judge other than going by what we observed. The official score sheet had the Isles up 11-6 after the first period, similar to the way that they played in the first period against Montreal.<br />
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Just like that game, the Isles had the 1-0 lead after the first frame. Anders Lee has been one of the most consistent forwards this season when it comes to being a consistent presence in front of the net and he was there again for the Isles when Thomas Hickey took a quick wrist shot from the blueline. It's tough to get pucks past the pads of Holtby, but Lee's tip took some great skill on his part and he found the best way to beat Holtby down low. <br />
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Washington did get some chances in on Jaroslav Halak finally in the 2nd period, but many were of the easier variety. The Islanders were able to control some of the play given that they had two of their seven power play opportunities in the middle frame and cashed in when Lubomir Visnovsky's slap shot was tipped in front and slowly fluttered past Holtby. For the Isles it was finally an end to some powerplay futility that plagued them recently.<br />
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Washington did have some sustained momentum in the 2nd which made everyone realize that the Isles needed to get the next goal. Brock Nelson's late penalty made this all the more important because it seemed like Washington would have a great chance to pull within one shortly after the start of the 3rd.<br />
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However, the Isles got a shorthanded goal from Calvin de Haan early in the final frame. It was a beautiful play that really started thanks to Nikolay Kulemin, who had his best game in a while for the Isles. Kulemin forced one of his four turnovers in the neutral zone, and came into the zone with speed to take a hard slap shot on Holtby. John Tavares picked up the rebound in the corner and found an open de Haan for the slapper. The Isles killed off the penalty and had another 3-0 lead, but with Halak in net and the team looking more confident surely another letdown wouldn't happen. Right?<br />
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Well, not exactly. The next few moments were tumultuous for the Isles, as much of the play was down low and behind the net. The Caps were putting on a very impressive display of forechecking and aggressiveness that the Isles didn't have much of a response for it. When Eric Fehr scored his 10th of the season on a scramble in front there was definitely a level of uneasiness that fell over the Coliseum faithful. It's one thing to give up a goal, but with 15 minutes still to play and given how Washington played after giving up the shorty, it seemed like the Isles could be in trouble.<br />
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De Haan took away some of the positive vibes he created for himself when he couldn't corral a puck at the blueline and allowed Alex Ovechkin - whom he had a step on - to poke the puck forward and gain possession, only to find a breaking Nicklas Backstrom for a breakaway goal not even two minutes after Fehr's. The collapse was in full force.<br />
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Halak did his best to stop that, coming up with a few huge saves including some late in the third period. But one of the Isles weaker points in Monday's match-up was defensive zone faceoffs, and they lost the biggest one with under three minutes to play. A clean win by Backstrom went straight to Ovechkin, who wasted no time in firing off a quick wrist shot through all sorts of traffic that Halak made his best effort on.<br />
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So here we were again, with the Isles blowing a three goal lead thanks to more defensive breakdowns and lack of a huge faceoff win in a late game situation.<br />
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With just over a minute to play a high stick was called, but with players gathering near center ice it seemed this was just the case of a puck being played with a high stick. After some confusion Evgeny Kuznetsov was sent to the box for four minutes and this was the Isles opportunity.<br />
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They didn't do much in the remainder of regulation, which is a shame since the Capitals have been hot of late and are doing their best in keeping up with the Rangers while trying to close the gap towards the Isles and Penguins. But either way both teams got a point and the Isles had the best chance to pick up two. And for a while this even seemed like it was in doubt.<br />
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Johnny Boychuk came to the rescue though, as the Isles finally got one of their big shots from the point to reach the net.<br />
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As thrilled as we can be with the Isles win, I do have to say I am mildly concerned. This is the fourth time in recent games that the Isles have blown a three goal lead - Minnesota, St. Louis and of course Buffalo being the others. And this was the only one of those games where the Isles actually hung on to win. If this is to become a habit, then it's really a blemish on the defense and it's not good at all that bad habits creep into the Isles game well after 3rd periods start.<br />
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This will be a habit they need to kick. Maybe another brush with luck here woke them up and snaps them out of whatever slumber it is they fall into, because this was a great effort that was basically ruined over the span of a few minutes.<br />
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With a really tough road trip coming up the Isles cannot afford to have this linger any longer. Winnipeg is up first, and they have put together some solid hockey so far in their quest to make the playoffs. Evander Kane being out certainly helps, but this team has played solid defensively and has gotten some excellent goaltending so the Isles will need to build up a lead and figure out a way to tighten up and hold it so they can go forward with confidence for the rest of the trip, because some of that certainly has been shaken with two consecutive 3-0 leads blown.<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-17604705365170598172014-12-28T20:58:00.001-05:002014-12-28T20:58:02.652-05:00Halak Returns from IR after Sabres Stun Isles in ShootoutPrior to their game on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, the Islanders announced that they had placed goalie Jaroslav Halak on injured reserve retroactive to December 20th. This meant that the Islanders had to be without him through the completion of Saturday's games. So despite getting his maintenance day in the final game before the holiday break, the Isles deemed that it made sense to give him one more game against a weaker team to get over his bumps and bruises.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>And for much of the game, things were going swimmingly for the Isles. They were playing well and in general controlling much of the play. Nick Leddy scored his goal early and the Isles had some issues getting some others past Jhonas Enroth, who did have to make some nice saves. They were able to get two goals from John Tavares in the second period and appeared to be sitting pretty. The Sabres had done better of late, but still have issues getting pucks in the net especially when they are battling from behind.<br />
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Quite frankly, this was a bad game for the Islanders to lose. Buffalo had 13 wins and with about 10 minutes to go down three, there was no reason for them to storm back the way they did.<br />
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I've seen and heard lots of comments about Kevin Poulin being the one to blame and quite frankly can't completely agree with that. Although his fundamentals are not great, he used his athleticism to make some nice saves and keep the puck out of the net - which is ultimately the goal. If defensemen are going to get caught flat footed and allow themselves to get beat to the outside by the boards, that's not on the goaltender. On Saturday it was on Calvin de Haan (which is becoming a theme) and Travis Hamonic. Hamonic had been playing quite well since coming off of IR, so we chalk this one up to just one of those games.<br />
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On the Sabres first goal, we can certainly look in the direction of Poulin and to a lesser extent Kyle Okposo. Poulin pushed the puck up in the slot area, getting it away from a spot where Okposo could have easily cleared it and it allowed Nick Deslauriers an easy snap shot goal.<br />
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The Isles powerplay continued to struggle, despite getting some better chances in the game. What ever slight progress they made was taken away by the shorthanded goal they gave up to Zemgus Girgensons and the fact that after the timeout the Isles took, Buffalo set up their penalty kill like they were on the man advantage. It all happened on the same sequence and really is the lowest of low points of the Isles recent woes on the powerplay.<br />
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But despite all of this, the Isles did walk away with a point on a day when the Pittsburgh Penguins lost in regulation, so they remain two points out of the top spot.<br />
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On Sunday afternoon the Isles took Halak off of the IR, which means that Poulin is headed back down to Bridgeport. This is only a good thing for the Isles because as serviceable as Poulin and Chad Johnson played during Halak's absence, nothing beats a goaltender who makes some of the huge stops that maybe eluded Johnson and Poulin.<br />
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It will be interesting to see if the Isles go with Halak against Washington but I don't see why not. With the early season success, they had this ability to rest him in two games, including in a game that they had an excellent chance to win with the others in net. They blew that chance but did get a point from it, and as we've seen a few times this season the Isles are not afraid to be cautious with players that are nursing injuries or sore spots.<br />
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With the schedule getting a little tougher in January, it is going to be important that the Isles keep themselves in good health. Off the bat they will have a Western Conference trip and some of those teams the Isles have favorable match-ups with.<br />
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Everyone breathe. There is no Halak controversy here!<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268433082314467443.post-51458013337969202742014-12-24T14:44:00.006-05:002014-12-24T14:58:26.634-05:00Isles fall 3-1 to Habs; 23-11-0 at Holiday BreakThe Islanders were looking for another five game winning streak to head into the break with, but the Montreal Canadiens stood in their way and provided one of the biggest tests the Isles have had in weeks when it comes to understanding how they stack up with the beasts of the East. Despite a nice start, the Habs build a small lead and the Isles comeback bid ultimately fell short.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Islanders started off well, taking the first 11 shots of the game, and looked like they could be on their way to a 5th straight win. This would have been huge given the absence of Jaroslav Halak. It would have also given Chad Johnson something to boost his spirits after some rough appearances of late.<br />
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Johnson did not face many shots in the first period, which is something that can be seen as either good or bad. But in the end that didn't have much to do with anything. Despite giving up three goals on 21 shots, I thought Johnson looked solid and gave the Isles the chance they needed to win. Unfortunately, the team in front of him didn't bring their 'A' game.<br />
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The Isles did take a lot of shots on Carey Price, and he stopped all but one of those 38 shots. And in <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQbt2blDBIiTjx7enJGUTz7FY5h9-TIyhmXfh0BB9pFwWUa_vF13RpV9asx5cUBBGVykWUmc6zBD1INkc4jFcDb5CZ5rNg1rWdPCz7yN03ke77Suu3B6G9YQbLeaZfPoehK478qvqlaM/s1600/P1170720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQbt2blDBIiTjx7enJGUTz7FY5h9-TIyhmXfh0BB9pFwWUa_vF13RpV9asx5cUBBGVykWUmc6zBD1INkc4jFcDb5CZ5rNg1rWdPCz7yN03ke77Suu3B6G9YQbLeaZfPoehK478qvqlaM/s1600/P1170720.JPG" height="202" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carey Price was sharp for Montreal. Photo by C. Hessel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
the 3rd period some of those chances were from in tight. However there were plenty that were of the weaker variety and the Isles had trouble sustaining a lot of momentum and puck possession in the offensive zone.<br />
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Meanwhile, after the first period the Canadiens had no trouble setting up. The Islanders were doing more standing around and watching rather than going after the puck and Montreal was able to keep passing around at the perimeter, waiting for one of their players to cut towards the middle of the ice and finding the open man. The Isles in general did an OK job of using sticks to poke those chances away and often were the beneficiaries of pucks that flew just wide of the crease. But it was what Montreal knew they had to do in order to have success against a team like the Isles.<br />
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The Isles didn't get caught up in their forecheck, which was both good and bad. I thought it was smart they were putting some pressure on but retreating quickly more often than not because of how skilled in skating and passing this Montreal team is. However, after the first period there really was no dump-and-forecheck game and the Isles seemed more content with letting the Habs gain entrance into the neutral zone before attempting to regain control of the puck, which is not smart against a fast team. The Isles have speed of their own but didn't use much of it here and appeared to be a step slower than we are used to seeing them.<br />
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The Habs are not a large team and I felt Thomas Hickey had a few rough goes at it on the defensive end, getting knocked off the puck and even making one turnover when trying to clear the puck on the penalty kill. It didn't cost the Isles but is something we've seen a few times from him in recent weeks and is something that he has to be more mindful of.<br />
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Calvin de Haan blocked a shot by Sergei Gonchar from deep, but lost track of it and Brendan Gallagher gave the Habs their 2-1 lead after slapping home the loose puck, another blemish on de Haan's part and a play that took some of the life from the Isles for a spell until the 3rd period would come around. As a matter of fact it looked a lot like what we'd see in the old days from Andrew MacDonald.<br />
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The powerplay also disappointed once again. It aggravated Jack Capuano, and aggravated most of the Isles contingent that was part of yet another sell-out crowd at the Coliseum. I mentioned in my last post that I felt it was time for Doug Weight to flip to a new page in his book. Now it might be time for a completely new plan altogether. We can't even point to some good set-ups that the Isles had since they had all sorts of trouble even carrying the puck into the zone. Several times they turned the puck over at the blueline which allowed for some very easy clears. It's tough when you're dealing with a Candiens team that's faster than most others in the league. They are not big, but they are quick and excellent with this skates and sticks in clogging up lanes and more often than not this did the Isles in.<br />
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However, it wasn't all bad for the Isles. As mentioned earlier they did have some really nice shots in on Price even after Montreal finally woke up but he slammed the door. I mentioned in the last post that this was a nice test as Price would have been one of the better netminders the Isles will have had to face in recent weeks and he put on a show in Uniondale on Tuesday night.<br />
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Overall this is 'one of those games' a team faces after going on one of several prolonged winning streaks in the first part of a season. The Isles are sitting pretty so there's no cause for concern. But the lack of powerplay momentum along with a penalty kill that seems to have been more lucky than anything of late (how many times were they going to leave P.K. Subban open in the 3rd period?) is something that really needs to be looked at and if this team suddenly struggles will be the main culprits. If you want to be one of the best, you need to be one of the best at special teams and we can't say that for any of the units that the Isles are showcasing in these situations.<br />
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A 23-11-0 mark is fantastic nonetheless and gives the Isles a reason to hold their heads high this holiday season. This should be one of those games they shrug off and erase from memory as they enjoy time with their families before trekking up to Buffalo on Saturday, where old friend Ted Nolan actually has his club playing some decent hockey after an abysmal start to the season. The Isles truly need to avoid a letdown there.<br />
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On a closing note, I want to say Happy Holidays to all of you! Enjoy the time with your friends and family and get ready for the rest of this exciting season!<br />
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- ChrisChris Hesselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17645409501298644714noreply@blogger.com0