The Islanders found a way to stop their losing skid, but who would have thought it would come when playing two beasts of the West in the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings? In fact, it was perhaps the best effort on both sides of the puck that we've seen from the team this season.
Showing posts with label Los Angeles Kings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Los Angeles Kings. Show all posts
December 8, 2013
Isles Shutout by Kings to run Winless Streak to Nine
Getting off to the right start didn't seem to do the trick for the Islanders on Saturday night in Los Angeles, but then again: it's hard for anything to go right when you have trouble getting shots off after controlling play for the better portion of a game.
February 20, 2011
Montoya Shuts Out Kings; New NYI FYI Episode Sunday
In the past few weeks after acquiring Al Montoya, many fans have wondered "who is this guy?" All they had to go on was two very shaky relief performances with some juicy rebounds.
On Saturday night, Montoya got his first start in an Islander uniform and made a statement to all those who showed up and saw good old what's-his-name in net: "You can call me Al!"
Montoya stood tall and made some key saves as he went on to shutout the red-hot Los Angeles Kings 3-0 in front of another large crowd. As the game went on, Montoya let up less and less rebounds and looked strong with each of the 35 saves that he made.
However, Montoya couldn't have done it without the help of some strong defensive play on the part of the Isles. The defense was much better than Thursday against the Bruins as they kept the Kings into the low percentage area's. That is something they had been doing throughout their nice little run, and none of it was there against the Bruins. I feared for the worst, thinking about how young this team is and that old habits tend to rear their ugly heads at times.
But my fears were quickly washed away as the Isles got right back on track and back to doing the things that have made them successful recently. That is some solid proof that this team has learned from some of their mistakes in this overall underwhelming season, and that's something that can't be overlooked here.
Matt Moulson scored two goals against his brother-in-law Jon Quick. They brought his goal total up to 23 for the season, making the Isles the only team in the entire NHL to have three guys with 23+ goals on the roster. Of course, this would not be possible if it weren't for the strong recent play of Michael Grabner, who has now not scored a goal in his last two games. But he has kept up his solid play away from the puck which is a good sign.
There really isn't much else to pick apart in this one without going through every player on the ice and pointing out what they did. We were able to see what happens when the boys are firing on all cylinders and more importantly all on the same page. Each defensemen had their moments, with the most notable being Andrew MacDonald. His play wasn't as good as it could be of late (even before he got hurt) but he was stellar while playing with the face shield and all. We generally see players have problems to adjust to the shields like that, but he seemed to be just fine.
Meanwhile, the Kings lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games - which covers a span of 29 days. This is a huge accomplishment for this Isles team, as the Kings have really propelled themselves back up into the Western Conference playoff picture with their run.
Collectively as a group, the Isles didn't hesitate to throw their weight around. Even players who do not normally hit at the very least tried to. This has been something you saw at times over these past few weeks too. This is an Isles squad that seems to have created a challenge for themselves. Many guys are playing at the top of their games right now and have developed an "us against the world" mentality. This is what I like to see, and hope that it continues for the remainder of the season.
The Isles next game is a Monday matinee at the Coliseum against the Florida Panthers. Matinee games haven't been too kind to the Isles in recent years, especially against opponents that the Isles should be able to run with. With many folks having Monday off (but neither of us do, of course) I would expect another big crowd. Hopefully they can treat them to a similar effort as Saturday night, and not the one they gave a big crowd on Thursday. It's very safe to assume Montoya will get his 2nd straight start.
NEW NYI FYI AT 11 AM: Be sure to tune in to our UStream page for the latest installment of NYI FYI at 11 AM as we talk about the week that was for the Isles and the NHL in general. It was a rather crazy one to boot, so it should be a fun show.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
On Saturday night, Montoya got his first start in an Islander uniform and made a statement to all those who showed up and saw good old what's-his-name in net: "You can call me Al!"
Montoya stood tall and made some key saves as he went on to shutout the red-hot Los Angeles Kings 3-0 in front of another large crowd. As the game went on, Montoya let up less and less rebounds and looked strong with each of the 35 saves that he made.
However, Montoya couldn't have done it without the help of some strong defensive play on the part of the Isles. The defense was much better than Thursday against the Bruins as they kept the Kings into the low percentage area's. That is something they had been doing throughout their nice little run, and none of it was there against the Bruins. I feared for the worst, thinking about how young this team is and that old habits tend to rear their ugly heads at times.
But my fears were quickly washed away as the Isles got right back on track and back to doing the things that have made them successful recently. That is some solid proof that this team has learned from some of their mistakes in this overall underwhelming season, and that's something that can't be overlooked here.
Matt Moulson scored two goals against his brother-in-law Jon Quick. They brought his goal total up to 23 for the season, making the Isles the only team in the entire NHL to have three guys with 23+ goals on the roster. Of course, this would not be possible if it weren't for the strong recent play of Michael Grabner, who has now not scored a goal in his last two games. But he has kept up his solid play away from the puck which is a good sign.
There really isn't much else to pick apart in this one without going through every player on the ice and pointing out what they did. We were able to see what happens when the boys are firing on all cylinders and more importantly all on the same page. Each defensemen had their moments, with the most notable being Andrew MacDonald. His play wasn't as good as it could be of late (even before he got hurt) but he was stellar while playing with the face shield and all. We generally see players have problems to adjust to the shields like that, but he seemed to be just fine.
Meanwhile, the Kings lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games - which covers a span of 29 days. This is a huge accomplishment for this Isles team, as the Kings have really propelled themselves back up into the Western Conference playoff picture with their run.
Collectively as a group, the Isles didn't hesitate to throw their weight around. Even players who do not normally hit at the very least tried to. This has been something you saw at times over these past few weeks too. This is an Isles squad that seems to have created a challenge for themselves. Many guys are playing at the top of their games right now and have developed an "us against the world" mentality. This is what I like to see, and hope that it continues for the remainder of the season.
The Isles next game is a Monday matinee at the Coliseum against the Florida Panthers. Matinee games haven't been too kind to the Isles in recent years, especially against opponents that the Isles should be able to run with. With many folks having Monday off (but neither of us do, of course) I would expect another big crowd. Hopefully they can treat them to a similar effort as Saturday night, and not the one they gave a big crowd on Thursday. It's very safe to assume Montoya will get his 2nd straight start.
NEW NYI FYI AT 11 AM: Be sure to tune in to our UStream page for the latest installment of NYI FYI at 11 AM as we talk about the week that was for the Isles and the NHL in general. It was a rather crazy one to boot, so it should be a fun show.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
November 14, 2010
Isles Drop 10th Straight
It seems as though every time the Islanders take baby steps forward during the losing streak, they have a game like last night where they take steps back.
The Islanders lost to the Kings 5-1, in a game that didn't get out of hand as early as many feared that it would from the looks of it.
Five minutes into the game, Anze Kopitar was looking for a hat trick and Scott Gordon found himself burning a timeout. The Islanders scrambled around a lot due to only having five defensemen available last night. Usually, since defensemen are always blocking shots and getting banged up, teams will bring an extra one for the road trips. The Islanders did not. Why they didn't I'm not sure. That would be a question to ask them. It is perplexing though.
The Islanders were out shot 34-19, and were outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game - except for face-offs, for those of you who are looking for the silver lining.
Dwayne Roloson did not play poorly, and made some nice saves. Each of the Islanders defensemen, many already playing some minutes they aren't used to, got over 20 minutes of ice time, and you could see the exhaustion set in by the 3rd period.
It's a shame that the result came out this way considering the good efforts the team had in Anaheim and San Jose. I felt going in that the Islanders would have a better shot at winning this one than I originally thought given that. But some players going back to old habits, coupled with not bringing along an extra defenseman ruined that.
The Islanders have the next few days off, and finally return home for a string of 10 of the next 14. Perhaps being at home on a more consistent basis could be what the team needs, although for many of the home games sprinkled in this long road trip, they still weren't able to score despite some good performances against Montreal and Philadelphia. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the first opponent in the home stand.
After the 4th game of the season against the Avalanche, the Islanders played 10 of 12 on the road. They went 2-9-1 during that stretch, and were outscored 42-19.
The scoring issues are something that's been beaten to death by this point, and it's hard to ignore that the Islanders haven't done much offensively when it comes to 5-on-5 play. But it is a cause of concern for me.
My fear was that if the losing skid hit 10 games, then more eyes would turn to Gordon. Despite the recent words from Garth Snow, I had in my mind that I would officially put Gordon on the hot seat after 10 games. My fear is that the Isles are getting closer to letting the talented coach go. I truly hope my feelings are wrong, but the Islanders are going to have to do something sooner or later and given the finances of the team, they won't bring in any outside help when it comes to player personnel. They will most likely be content awaiting the return of Kyle Okposo within the next month or two. So for me, it all points to firing the coach.
More to come later.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders lost to the Kings 5-1, in a game that didn't get out of hand as early as many feared that it would from the looks of it.
Five minutes into the game, Anze Kopitar was looking for a hat trick and Scott Gordon found himself burning a timeout. The Islanders scrambled around a lot due to only having five defensemen available last night. Usually, since defensemen are always blocking shots and getting banged up, teams will bring an extra one for the road trips. The Islanders did not. Why they didn't I'm not sure. That would be a question to ask them. It is perplexing though.
The Islanders were out shot 34-19, and were outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game - except for face-offs, for those of you who are looking for the silver lining.
Dwayne Roloson did not play poorly, and made some nice saves. Each of the Islanders defensemen, many already playing some minutes they aren't used to, got over 20 minutes of ice time, and you could see the exhaustion set in by the 3rd period.
It's a shame that the result came out this way considering the good efforts the team had in Anaheim and San Jose. I felt going in that the Islanders would have a better shot at winning this one than I originally thought given that. But some players going back to old habits, coupled with not bringing along an extra defenseman ruined that.
The Islanders have the next few days off, and finally return home for a string of 10 of the next 14. Perhaps being at home on a more consistent basis could be what the team needs, although for many of the home games sprinkled in this long road trip, they still weren't able to score despite some good performances against Montreal and Philadelphia. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the first opponent in the home stand.
After the 4th game of the season against the Avalanche, the Islanders played 10 of 12 on the road. They went 2-9-1 during that stretch, and were outscored 42-19.
The scoring issues are something that's been beaten to death by this point, and it's hard to ignore that the Islanders haven't done much offensively when it comes to 5-on-5 play. But it is a cause of concern for me.
My fear was that if the losing skid hit 10 games, then more eyes would turn to Gordon. Despite the recent words from Garth Snow, I had in my mind that I would officially put Gordon on the hot seat after 10 games. My fear is that the Isles are getting closer to letting the talented coach go. I truly hope my feelings are wrong, but the Islanders are going to have to do something sooner or later and given the finances of the team, they won't bring in any outside help when it comes to player personnel. They will most likely be content awaiting the return of Kyle Okposo within the next month or two. So for me, it all points to firing the coach.
More to come later.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
November 13, 2010
Isles go with 13 Forwards against Kings
The Islanders will be playing tonight's game with five defensemen and 13 forwards as Jack Hillen has become ill, as reported by Chris Botta and Katie Strang.
Earlier, it was reported that Rob Schremp would be back in the line-up but it was unclear for who. With us now learning that Jon Sim is serving as the extra forward, we know he was the odd man out.
The Islanders have lost nine in a row now, despite picking up their first point in three weeks on Thursday against the Sharks in a shootout loss.
Dwayne Roloson stood on his head for that game, saving 37 of 38 shots. Because of his recent performance he will get his 5th start in a row, which is much deserved.
The Islanders already have some defensemen playing more minutes than they are accustomed to, so now the job gets enough tougher with only five defensemen going against a very strong Kings team that boasts some great weapons up front. Should be interesting to see how they handle that.
Regardless, the offense HAS to get going. The Islanders weren't as good offensively against the Sharks as they were in the game against the Ducks. As strong as the Kings netminders have looked this season, you have to take that chance of throwing more pucks at the net. The Islanders can't hesitate to shoot, which is still an issue. The power-play needs to move around a little more. That's one thing I don't like with P.A. Parenteau there. While I appreciate the fact that he has put up a lot of points with the man advantage, he seems to be very reluctant to shoot and holds the puck for too long on the half wall. Then he gets pressured and has to make a fast, and sometimes incorrect decision. I had hoped that Schremp's return would solve some of that, but it really didn't. Now he gets his shot back in the line-up, and hopefully he has adjusted himself a little bit.
If the streak gets to 10 games, then we will be in danger territory. Not that they weren't there already, but I had quietly thought to myself that Scott Gordon's time would be ticking away if it ever got to this point. Hopefully, it does not. We'll see what tonight brings.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Earlier, it was reported that Rob Schremp would be back in the line-up but it was unclear for who. With us now learning that Jon Sim is serving as the extra forward, we know he was the odd man out.
The Islanders have lost nine in a row now, despite picking up their first point in three weeks on Thursday against the Sharks in a shootout loss.
Dwayne Roloson stood on his head for that game, saving 37 of 38 shots. Because of his recent performance he will get his 5th start in a row, which is much deserved.
The Islanders already have some defensemen playing more minutes than they are accustomed to, so now the job gets enough tougher with only five defensemen going against a very strong Kings team that boasts some great weapons up front. Should be interesting to see how they handle that.
Regardless, the offense HAS to get going. The Islanders weren't as good offensively against the Sharks as they were in the game against the Ducks. As strong as the Kings netminders have looked this season, you have to take that chance of throwing more pucks at the net. The Islanders can't hesitate to shoot, which is still an issue. The power-play needs to move around a little more. That's one thing I don't like with P.A. Parenteau there. While I appreciate the fact that he has put up a lot of points with the man advantage, he seems to be very reluctant to shoot and holds the puck for too long on the half wall. Then he gets pressured and has to make a fast, and sometimes incorrect decision. I had hoped that Schremp's return would solve some of that, but it really didn't. Now he gets his shot back in the line-up, and hopefully he has adjusted himself a little bit.
If the streak gets to 10 games, then we will be in danger territory. Not that they weren't there already, but I had quietly thought to myself that Scott Gordon's time would be ticking away if it ever got to this point. Hopefully, it does not. We'll see what tonight brings.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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