The 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.
Showing posts with label Buffalo Sabres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buffalo Sabres. Show all posts
March 3, 2015
October 16, 2013
Sabres Earn First Victory on more Blown Leads by Isles
While it's certainly not time to panic yet with so many games left to play, the fact that the Islanders are having trouble playing against teams that (on the surface) they are better than does bring a cause for concern.
When I look at the way the last two games against the Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres have gone, I'm disappointed in the way this team has played. It's still the same problems we've seen recently.
When I look at the way the last two games against the Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres have gone, I'm disappointed in the way this team has played. It's still the same problems we've seen recently.
February 24, 2013
Isles Blank Sabres, Back at it Sunday Night to Start Long Homestand
On the day the Islanders made one of their most significant transactions of the last few years, the team skated to a dominating 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Just as we wanted to see after the good ending in Montreal and as pointed out in the last post, the Islanders tightened up on defense and their netminder was as strong as he has ever been to seal the convincing win for the Islanders.
February 10, 2013
Isles Dominate, but Lose to Sabres
There are going to be games where the Islanders put in a phenomenal effort but come up on the short end of the score. Saturday night against the Sabres was one of those days.
February 13, 2011
Grab-Trick Gives Isles Win Over Hot Sabres
The game against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon was anticipated by various people all over the hockey world for a multitude of reasons. For Islanders fans, the game presented a new challenge. The Isles had to find a way to come up big against another team that has been on fire lately after the statement they made in the last game.
While the path getting there was a bit of a roller coaster ride, the result is exactly what we all could have hoped for.
Michael Grabner not only scored what has become his normal two goals for this game, but added a third for his 2nd career hat trick as the Isles went on to beat the Sabres in a wild one, 7-6.
The other Isles goals came from John Tavares, Ty Wishart, Milan Jurcina and Blake Comeau.
Grabner really did it all once again. Between the penalty killing, the speed, the average of two breakaways a game for the past month and the stripping opponents of pucks to create chances the other way he has done it all. Howie Rose said that he has completely run out of superlatives to describe Grabner, now tied for the rookie lead in goals in the league with 24.
Mikko Koskinen didn't look too great in this one, with the rebounds once again being the biggest issue here. This is the one are of his game that needs a ton of work, and the style the Sabres employ brought out that weakness. Unfortunately, Al Montoya was no better as he was seemingly unable to hold on to any pucks that came his way, giving up some bad goals and some really good chances to the Sabres. If that's going to be the norm from him, then we may need to look elsewhere once again. I'm hoping that it was an aberration, with a combination of nerves of being in his first NHL game in a while and having to come in while fairly cold in the 2nd period.
The defense as a whole was pretty poor. The most noticeable one was Wishart. There were a couple of Buffalo goals that came due to him stepping up towards the wrong person and just being completely out of position, like for example on the 3rd Buffalo goal. He did score a goal at a key time, however his defensive game still has a few holes in it here and there. I can see why he is still considered to be in the prospect/project stage by some.
At any rate, the Islanders get another win to go along with what they have been putting together over the last week or so. It's also coming at a time when guys like Grabner, Tavares, Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo are racking up points. This is a good thing to see.
The Isles show next rolls into Ottawa, where they'll face a team that's struggling big time. They are now without Mike Fisher, who was traded for draft picks to the Nashville Predators. It always seemed like Fisher had good games against the Isles, so perhaps that is an advantage there.
Final thoughts:
- I do have some things I want to say on Mario Lemieux's comments about the NHL's handling of Friday's events. I'll have something on that tomorrow as I am still working on organizing what to say here.
- Sean and I got together and recorded the show as we always do on Sunday. You can watch the broadcast of the show on our UStream page here, or download the podcast version for our podcast site here.
- Click here to see the Islanders feature on Chris.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
While the path getting there was a bit of a roller coaster ride, the result is exactly what we all could have hoped for.
Michael Grabner not only scored what has become his normal two goals for this game, but added a third for his 2nd career hat trick as the Isles went on to beat the Sabres in a wild one, 7-6.
The other Isles goals came from John Tavares, Ty Wishart, Milan Jurcina and Blake Comeau.
Grabner really did it all once again. Between the penalty killing, the speed, the average of two breakaways a game for the past month and the stripping opponents of pucks to create chances the other way he has done it all. Howie Rose said that he has completely run out of superlatives to describe Grabner, now tied for the rookie lead in goals in the league with 24.
Mikko Koskinen didn't look too great in this one, with the rebounds once again being the biggest issue here. This is the one are of his game that needs a ton of work, and the style the Sabres employ brought out that weakness. Unfortunately, Al Montoya was no better as he was seemingly unable to hold on to any pucks that came his way, giving up some bad goals and some really good chances to the Sabres. If that's going to be the norm from him, then we may need to look elsewhere once again. I'm hoping that it was an aberration, with a combination of nerves of being in his first NHL game in a while and having to come in while fairly cold in the 2nd period.
The defense as a whole was pretty poor. The most noticeable one was Wishart. There were a couple of Buffalo goals that came due to him stepping up towards the wrong person and just being completely out of position, like for example on the 3rd Buffalo goal. He did score a goal at a key time, however his defensive game still has a few holes in it here and there. I can see why he is still considered to be in the prospect/project stage by some.
At any rate, the Islanders get another win to go along with what they have been putting together over the last week or so. It's also coming at a time when guys like Grabner, Tavares, Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo are racking up points. This is a good thing to see.
The Isles show next rolls into Ottawa, where they'll face a team that's struggling big time. They are now without Mike Fisher, who was traded for draft picks to the Nashville Predators. It always seemed like Fisher had good games against the Isles, so perhaps that is an advantage there.
Final thoughts:
- I do have some things I want to say on Mario Lemieux's comments about the NHL's handling of Friday's events. I'll have something on that tomorrow as I am still working on organizing what to say here.
- Sean and I got together and recorded the show as we always do on Sunday. You can watch the broadcast of the show on our UStream page here, or download the podcast version for our podcast site here.
- Click here to see the Islanders feature on Chris.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
January 22, 2011
Isles Topple Sabres as Lawson Gets Injured; More Nabokov
The Isles 5-2 win over the Sabres had a little bit of everything in it, including another strong relief appearance from a back-up goalie.
Nathan Lawson got injured near the end of the first period which was a shame because he was looking pretty strong. He seemed to hurt his knee on one play, but played the remainder of the period despite looking very uncomfortable. He wasn't tested to hard for those last few minutes, and wouldn't return to the ice after the intermission. But more on this later.
Kevin Poulin came in and was very good in relief. He looked shaky at the beginning but settled in and made some big saves, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
In general, the Isles played well but in the 3rd when the Sabres kept pressing Poulin was able to stand tall and make some key saves. He only gave up two goals to Nathan Gerbe, both five seconds apart from one another.
Michael Grabner had another solid game, scoring two goals. Prior to getting the empty-netter for his second, he tried to get goals for other teammates on the ice as he passed to Kyle Okposo and then later on the shift, Travis Hamonic. Both missed their opportunities, so when Grabner pressed and stole the puck for a 3rd time on the shift, he just scored it himself. Those were classy moves by him though. I'm liking more and more about him as a player and a person each day.
Dylan Reese has been looking worse as time goes on here. Last year, he was solid. This year he's not getting many minutes, and each game lately seems to be falling or horribly out of position or doing something else that makes me notice him in a negative way. Losing Milan Jurcina for another 2-4 weeks hurts big time.
The Islanders return home for the 2nd part of this home and home on Sunday, as they play the Sabres for the 3rd time this week. Rick DiPietro is expected to practice Saturday while we hopefully get more of an evaluation on Nathan Lawson.
NABOKOV UPDATE: We'll switch gears again for now, leaving the goalie with zero NHL wins to discuss one with 293 - Evgeni Nabokov. At numerous points during the telecast, Howie Rose and Butch Goring talked about the Isles potentially putting in a claim for the goalie. Lawson's injury only intensified that.
Of course, we don't know the extent of the injury. It was his knee, and we can't get any confirmation on if it was the same one that was giving him problems throughout training camp and at the beginning of the season. If Lawson is out for any extended period of time, then there is a good chance this happens. But will the Isles know in time?
Claiming Nabokov regardless really can't be a bad move no matter how you slice it. The Isles get to add a name - some excitement, if you will - to a season that is rapidly approaching it's expiration date. It'll give the fans something to watch, and still send out that message that you are doing all you can to win until you are mathematically eliminated.
DiPietro is still going through maintenance days and scheduled off days, while Lawson has looked pretty underwhelming. Meanwhile, as Chris Botta pointed out a couple of weeks ago, the plan for Poulin all along has been for him to go down to Bridgeport no matter how good he has been. Is that still the plan now? It should be. As good as he has looked he's not quite there yet. We're better off with him being a starter every night in the AHL.
Nabokov, meanwhile, gets to play in the NHL and prove that he still has the goods to be a starter in the league. It was originally thought that he would refuse to report to certain teams, but his agent Don Meehan has since come out and refuted that, saying Nabokov "wants visibility for next season." It would not make any sense for a 35-year-old to sit out a season just because a lower seeded team claimed him on waivers.
Then of course you have the price, which is essentially peanuts. It's right up the Isles alley and something that some people out there think will happen. It's very hard to find anyone around the NHL who actually thinks Nabokov will end up in Detroit after noon on Saturday, including members of the Red Wings organization.
For those who have been confused by the waiver process in this unique case, Bob McKenzie of TSN has an excellent post detailing all of the various scenarios that can happen. It's a good read that provides a ton of clarifications on things that can and can't be done regarding trades, re-waiving and what it would take to end up with Detroit. Really odd stuff. I can say that after reading it, I agree with Blues President John Davidson 100% - this process needs to be looked at heavily during the upcoming CBA negotiations (the Blues fell victim to this rule twice this month when they tried to sign Marek Svatos and Kyle Wellwood out of the KHL but lost them on waivers to Nashville and San Jose, respectively).
As of now, I stick by my prediction that the Isles will ultimately pass on Nabokov. If it were me though, I would claim him regardless of Lawson's injury for some of the reason's I posted above. I am hoping that the Isles do claim him, more so to do right by Poulin.
We'll see noon Saturday. Be sure to check back for thoughts and analysis when and if something happens (or doesn't).
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Nathan Lawson got injured near the end of the first period which was a shame because he was looking pretty strong. He seemed to hurt his knee on one play, but played the remainder of the period despite looking very uncomfortable. He wasn't tested to hard for those last few minutes, and wouldn't return to the ice after the intermission. But more on this later.
Kevin Poulin came in and was very good in relief. He looked shaky at the beginning but settled in and made some big saves, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
In general, the Isles played well but in the 3rd when the Sabres kept pressing Poulin was able to stand tall and make some key saves. He only gave up two goals to Nathan Gerbe, both five seconds apart from one another.
Michael Grabner had another solid game, scoring two goals. Prior to getting the empty-netter for his second, he tried to get goals for other teammates on the ice as he passed to Kyle Okposo and then later on the shift, Travis Hamonic. Both missed their opportunities, so when Grabner pressed and stole the puck for a 3rd time on the shift, he just scored it himself. Those were classy moves by him though. I'm liking more and more about him as a player and a person each day.
Dylan Reese has been looking worse as time goes on here. Last year, he was solid. This year he's not getting many minutes, and each game lately seems to be falling or horribly out of position or doing something else that makes me notice him in a negative way. Losing Milan Jurcina for another 2-4 weeks hurts big time.
The Islanders return home for the 2nd part of this home and home on Sunday, as they play the Sabres for the 3rd time this week. Rick DiPietro is expected to practice Saturday while we hopefully get more of an evaluation on Nathan Lawson.
NABOKOV UPDATE: We'll switch gears again for now, leaving the goalie with zero NHL wins to discuss one with 293 - Evgeni Nabokov. At numerous points during the telecast, Howie Rose and Butch Goring talked about the Isles potentially putting in a claim for the goalie. Lawson's injury only intensified that.
Of course, we don't know the extent of the injury. It was his knee, and we can't get any confirmation on if it was the same one that was giving him problems throughout training camp and at the beginning of the season. If Lawson is out for any extended period of time, then there is a good chance this happens. But will the Isles know in time?
Claiming Nabokov regardless really can't be a bad move no matter how you slice it. The Isles get to add a name - some excitement, if you will - to a season that is rapidly approaching it's expiration date. It'll give the fans something to watch, and still send out that message that you are doing all you can to win until you are mathematically eliminated.
DiPietro is still going through maintenance days and scheduled off days, while Lawson has looked pretty underwhelming. Meanwhile, as Chris Botta pointed out a couple of weeks ago, the plan for Poulin all along has been for him to go down to Bridgeport no matter how good he has been. Is that still the plan now? It should be. As good as he has looked he's not quite there yet. We're better off with him being a starter every night in the AHL.
Nabokov, meanwhile, gets to play in the NHL and prove that he still has the goods to be a starter in the league. It was originally thought that he would refuse to report to certain teams, but his agent Don Meehan has since come out and refuted that, saying Nabokov "wants visibility for next season." It would not make any sense for a 35-year-old to sit out a season just because a lower seeded team claimed him on waivers.
Then of course you have the price, which is essentially peanuts. It's right up the Isles alley and something that some people out there think will happen. It's very hard to find anyone around the NHL who actually thinks Nabokov will end up in Detroit after noon on Saturday, including members of the Red Wings organization.
For those who have been confused by the waiver process in this unique case, Bob McKenzie of TSN has an excellent post detailing all of the various scenarios that can happen. It's a good read that provides a ton of clarifications on things that can and can't be done regarding trades, re-waiving and what it would take to end up with Detroit. Really odd stuff. I can say that after reading it, I agree with Blues President John Davidson 100% - this process needs to be looked at heavily during the upcoming CBA negotiations (the Blues fell victim to this rule twice this month when they tried to sign Marek Svatos and Kyle Wellwood out of the KHL but lost them on waivers to Nashville and San Jose, respectively).
As of now, I stick by my prediction that the Isles will ultimately pass on Nabokov. If it were me though, I would claim him regardless of Lawson's injury for some of the reason's I posted above. I am hoping that the Isles do claim him, more so to do right by Poulin.
We'll see noon Saturday. Be sure to check back for thoughts and analysis when and if something happens (or doesn't).
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
January 16, 2011
Tavares Gets Natural Hat Trick as Isles Down Sabres
That's more like it.
The Islanders effort on Saturday night was a ton better than on Thursday against the Senators. It showed not only on the ice for some of the simple plays but also on the scoreboard by night's end.
John Tavares scored a natural hat trick in a span of 5:44 in the second period to help the Islanders defeat Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Saturday night.
Obviously, the story of the night was Tavares and how he completely took control of the game and turned it around after the Isles were trailing 1-0. Finally he, Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau are playing with some good chemistry. That has been one constant for the past 15 games or so.
The side story was Rick DiPietro, who made 40 saves in his return after an 11 day absence. To me, he looked slow at times in his lateral movement but that was to be expected after suffering that groin injury. It sounds like he was in a lot better shape than he was at practice a couple of days ago.
Michael Grabner also had another strong game, making some nice defensive plays and using his speed to create some chances. He had a nice shot for the Isles 5th goal. He too is gaining more and more confidence coming on the heels of being named as the team's lone representative for All-Star Weekend.
The Islanders seem to be engaging teams in track meets lately, and have generally fared well. I would be weary about this since they are giving up a ton of shots and the defense is getting out of position here and there, but it's what is working right now. There is some learning on the fly involved as the team brings along Travis Hamonic and guys like Andrew MacDonald continue to develop. One thing's for sure - with the way these games are going with high shots, it's a good test for DiPietro to see exactly how much he can handle. We now need to know seeing as he is the man in net right now.
No NYI FYI Sunday: Due to illness, we did not get together to record this week's episode as we normally would. We're going to play it by ear to see if we can get something during the week but no promises. In the meantime, be sure to continue to check this space for any updates on that as well as thoughts on matters surrounding the team.
Thanks for the understanding.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders effort on Saturday night was a ton better than on Thursday against the Senators. It showed not only on the ice for some of the simple plays but also on the scoreboard by night's end.
John Tavares scored a natural hat trick in a span of 5:44 in the second period to help the Islanders defeat Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Saturday night.
Obviously, the story of the night was Tavares and how he completely took control of the game and turned it around after the Isles were trailing 1-0. Finally he, Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau are playing with some good chemistry. That has been one constant for the past 15 games or so.
The side story was Rick DiPietro, who made 40 saves in his return after an 11 day absence. To me, he looked slow at times in his lateral movement but that was to be expected after suffering that groin injury. It sounds like he was in a lot better shape than he was at practice a couple of days ago.
Michael Grabner also had another strong game, making some nice defensive plays and using his speed to create some chances. He had a nice shot for the Isles 5th goal. He too is gaining more and more confidence coming on the heels of being named as the team's lone representative for All-Star Weekend.
The Islanders seem to be engaging teams in track meets lately, and have generally fared well. I would be weary about this since they are giving up a ton of shots and the defense is getting out of position here and there, but it's what is working right now. There is some learning on the fly involved as the team brings along Travis Hamonic and guys like Andrew MacDonald continue to develop. One thing's for sure - with the way these games are going with high shots, it's a good test for DiPietro to see exactly how much he can handle. We now need to know seeing as he is the man in net right now.
No NYI FYI Sunday: Due to illness, we did not get together to record this week's episode as we normally would. We're going to play it by ear to see if we can get something during the week but no promises. In the meantime, be sure to continue to check this space for any updates on that as well as thoughts on matters surrounding the team.
Thanks for the understanding.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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