The 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.
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.
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
January 18, 2015
Isles run out of Steam against Montreal
Many 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.
December 24, 2014
Isles fall 3-1 to Habs; 23-11-0 at Holiday Break
The 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.
December 15, 2013
Habs drop Isles in OT in Strome's Debut
The last time the Isles won a home game that went to OT was on February 11th, 2012 against the Kings. That would not change Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Isles lost again in OT, failing to get to the skills competition which is the only way they've been able to win games that go into extra frames at the Coliseum.
The Isles lost again in OT, failing to get to the skills competition which is the only way they've been able to win games that go into extra frames at the Coliseum.
March 6, 2013
Isles Continue Momentum, Prep for Rangers
It's amazing how much fan outlook can change over the span of a couple of games. But today, Islanders fans have plenty of reasons to feel good.
Once the buzzer sounded to conclude a 6-3 win over the East-leading Montreal Canadiens, fans began to look towards Thursday game with more hope.
Once the buzzer sounded to conclude a 6-3 win over the East-leading Montreal Canadiens, fans began to look towards Thursday game with more hope.
November 18, 2011
Isles Withstand Late Surge by Montreal
When you go to the net, good things happen. Ditto for hustling to loose pucks.
The Islanders had a good grasp of this concept on Thursday night against Montreal. Three of their four goals were scored by either crashing the net or winning battles for loose pucks.
The Islanders had a good grasp of this concept on Thursday night against Montreal. Three of their four goals were scored by either crashing the net or winning battles for loose pucks.
February 10, 2011
Koskinen gets First NHL Win
Regardless of what the outcome would have ultimately been, I would have to say that the Isles latest visit to Montreal made for one of the more entertaining games we have seen all season long.
Fortunately, the night ended in a win for the Isles, and the first ever NHL win for goalie Mikko Koskinen.
Koskinen made 37 saves and stopped all four that came at him in the shootout to earn the win. And boy, did he earn it.
Koskinen came up with some big saves numerous times, including a diving stop on a fluttering puck that James Wisniewski tried to smack in at the goal line. As much as Koskinen tried to down play nerves prior to his first game, you could see how much more composed he was against Montreal. He obviously prepared much differently for this one.
I would say the one thing that bothers me about Koskinen's game is that he goes down into the butterfly too early. He's a big goaltender, and the report that Montreal had must have outlined this weakness in his game because they took a lot of shots up high. However, during the pre-season I wrote numerous times how impressed I was with both Koskinen and Kevin Poulin as far as reaction time, especially on glove saves. Koskinen made some nice saves with the glove, often reaching up for the high shots. If you're going to make saves like that, then how early you go down is only a minor issue.
Michael Grabner did his normal thing - scored a goal - and added another one for goiod measure. He also made some really nice defensive plays, and used his speed once again to his advantage. His first goal came after he split two defenders and created a mini-breakaway for himself. Just unreal. The waiver wire acquisition now has 19 for the season, just five behind Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks for the rookie lead.
Josh Bailey didn't get onto the score sheet, but he had a good game. He has been quietly getting his legs back, and is showing signs of a player poised to break out of a prolonged slump. He had two excellent chances tonight, both created when he stripped Montreal defensemen of the puck.
The overall effort tonight was excellent. The Canadiens played a tough game the night before against the Boston Bruins, and it showed but only very early in the first. They had their legs going by the time they got their first goal, but the Isles never let up and kept peppering Alex Auld with some good shots. They didn't keep it to the perimiter, either. They kept trying to push the defense back and get guys in front of the net, and all game long that happened. It was very refreshing to see.
The Isles need to do more of the same Friday night at home against the Penguins. They are without Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, so it is imperative they try to take advantage. Al Montoya will most likely be called up.
Koskinen played so well tonight that I almost feel the Isles have to start him against the Pens if he ends up staying over Joel Martin. However, as much as it might sound weird to say this, I am a little bit interested in seeing what Montoya can do at this level. I will be watching this one live, and will be sitting in the press box.
More thoughts to come Friday morning or afternoon.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Fortunately, the night ended in a win for the Isles, and the first ever NHL win for goalie Mikko Koskinen.
Koskinen made 37 saves and stopped all four that came at him in the shootout to earn the win. And boy, did he earn it.
Koskinen came up with some big saves numerous times, including a diving stop on a fluttering puck that James Wisniewski tried to smack in at the goal line. As much as Koskinen tried to down play nerves prior to his first game, you could see how much more composed he was against Montreal. He obviously prepared much differently for this one.
I would say the one thing that bothers me about Koskinen's game is that he goes down into the butterfly too early. He's a big goaltender, and the report that Montreal had must have outlined this weakness in his game because they took a lot of shots up high. However, during the pre-season I wrote numerous times how impressed I was with both Koskinen and Kevin Poulin as far as reaction time, especially on glove saves. Koskinen made some nice saves with the glove, often reaching up for the high shots. If you're going to make saves like that, then how early you go down is only a minor issue.
Michael Grabner did his normal thing - scored a goal - and added another one for goiod measure. He also made some really nice defensive plays, and used his speed once again to his advantage. His first goal came after he split two defenders and created a mini-breakaway for himself. Just unreal. The waiver wire acquisition now has 19 for the season, just five behind Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks for the rookie lead.
Josh Bailey didn't get onto the score sheet, but he had a good game. He has been quietly getting his legs back, and is showing signs of a player poised to break out of a prolonged slump. He had two excellent chances tonight, both created when he stripped Montreal defensemen of the puck.
The overall effort tonight was excellent. The Canadiens played a tough game the night before against the Boston Bruins, and it showed but only very early in the first. They had their legs going by the time they got their first goal, but the Isles never let up and kept peppering Alex Auld with some good shots. They didn't keep it to the perimiter, either. They kept trying to push the defense back and get guys in front of the net, and all game long that happened. It was very refreshing to see.
The Isles need to do more of the same Friday night at home against the Penguins. They are without Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, so it is imperative they try to take advantage. Al Montoya will most likely be called up.
Koskinen played so well tonight that I almost feel the Isles have to start him against the Pens if he ends up staying over Joel Martin. However, as much as it might sound weird to say this, I am a little bit interested in seeing what Montoya can do at this level. I will be watching this one live, and will be sitting in the press box.
More thoughts to come Friday morning or afternoon.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 28, 2010
Wisniewski Shipped to Montreal
In a bit of a stunner, the Islanders shipped defenseman James Wisniewski off to the Montreal Canadiens today. The Islanders got back a compensatory 2nd round pick in 2011 that Montreal was getting for not signing their 2006 1st rounder and a conditional 5th rounder in 2012. The player who failed to sign was selected 20th overall, so the 2nd rounder will be the 50th overall selection.
The fan base seems to be very split on what has happened here. Not because of the return, because it is a very good one for a guy who has proved he is at best a #3 defenseman. Rather, they are upset because of the message that it is sending out about how salvageable they feel this season is.
If anyone out there truly thought that this team still had a legitimate shot at the playoffs, then I'm sorry. Quite simply it was not happening this season. That much was clear after the month long losing streak. I do not advocating throwing the towels in prior to the trade deadline, but the Islanders do not get this return if they wait. They maximized an asset that was gone in July, because I truly did not believe he was going to re-sign here.
I posted on our twitter account that this could have been part of a precursor to another move, but doubted that idea. Since then, many other media personalities have come out saying they feel the move is connected with the Devils placing forward Brian Rolston on re-entry waivers. The move would make sense as the Isles would be able to stay around the cap floor and also pick up a veteran forward for next season with Doug Weight out and his status for next season up in the air at this time. On re-entry waivers, Rolston would cost $2.5 million and can play all three forward positions.
I stick by my belief that this isn't any precursor but rather just status quo for what has been going on around here for the past few seasons. While this was not supposed to be a rebuilding year, it will continue at least through this season. As much as it pains people to say it, I think this was the first indication that the Isles are throwing in the towel for this season and will start giving time to younger players.
Wisniewski was never shy to say what was on his mind, and I appreciate the time he always took to speak with me when I would interview him after games or practices. Speaking to him at training camp, the guy was legitimately excited to be here. I had asked him about being paired with Mark Streit and he knew how awesome that would have been for the both of them.
When Streit went down for what will essentially amount to the entire season, I had an idea Wisniewski was doomed. I always liked his game, and was really excited when he was brought in for just a 3rd round pick. I knew what his weaknesses were though, and how they would be exposed when playing the most minutes on a defense. He was steadily improving lately, but the Islanders still haven't won enough games to justify holding onto a player for too long and getting a pretty crummy return in the process.
The Canadiens filled a much needed hole on their blueline. Defenseman Andrei Markov is out for a while, possibly the entire season. Marc-Andre Bergeron is still out there, but Montreal has been there and done that last season. The emergence of youngsters in P.K. Subban and Josh Gorges means that Wisniewski won't need to play 25 minutes a night as often as he was here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 27, 2010
Isles Win 3rd Straight During Blizzard
The Islanders tried to have Sunday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens postponed, but Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman denied the request. Their reasoning was that the NHL has a rule that if the two teams are in the city where the game is being played, then the game can proceed as planned.
Quite frankly, that is a really stupid rule and on a night where the NFL cancelled their Sunday night game in Philadelphia, the league came off looking rather foolish between the games on Long Island and in New Jersey.
The NY Post's Larry Brooks voiced his displeasure on Twitter, and I agree with him here. There really was no point to have these games, but the NHL went ahead with them anyway. As a result, 3,136 came out to see the Islanders win in convincing fashion over the Canadiens by a score of 4-1. Those who had tickets to the game, even if they showed up, are given the opportunity to exchange them for another game of their choosing. That's a excellent move on the Islanders part, and the decision was made a lot quicker than last years. Good stuff from the organization right there.
I shouldn't say that they won in convincing fashion because of how they were outplayed in the 2nd period. But, the effort in the 1st and 3rd periods were similar to that of the ones against Tampa and New Jersey, which is what we said on the podcast they needed to have. Montreal had some power-play opportunities, which obviously helped the shot total in their favor but the Islanders had a major power-play in the 3rd, which later became a 5-on-3. The Islanders were able to use that to their advantage and grew their lead to 4-0.
The story of the game was Dwayne Roloson once again. He made 38 saves, and was incredibly quick and so sound positionally. When the Canadiens out shot the Isles 16-7 in that 2nd period, Roloson stopped every one. Even though the Islanders effort was pretty solid, when they had a couple of lulls throughout Roloson let them know loud and clear that he had their backs. In 10 of his 18 starts this season, Roli has given up two goals or less. He has now won his last three starts, giving up one goal in each of those games.
Michael Grabner had a really nice game of his own. His rush on the Islanders 2nd goal tells you why he is here. I can't even remember the last time we saw a player who could go that fast from a standstill, but he used his speed to create a breakaway that looked unlikely and made some excellent moves to fake out Carey Price and give the Isles the 2-0 lead. We've seen some great stuff out of Grabner this year and hopefully he can keep it up.
Speaking of the good stuff, Blake Comeau has been showing us some as well. He has quietly been racking up some points in the month of December, mostly due to his pairing up with the red hot Rob Schremp. The two of them have found some chemistry this month and it was Schremp with a very nice pass to Comeau to open the scoring for the Isles. They need to keep that up, and there's no reason to think they won't. Their efforts have been unbelievable lately, and Schremp wore the hard hat after the game. A huge part of this is trying to out-work your opponent to get chances, and both are doing so lately.
If there was one thing I didn't understand it was using the line of Matt Martin, Zenon Konopka and Jon Sim on the power-play a few times during the game. I wouldn't have cared too much in the dying seconds of the game if Jack Capuano hadn't already put them out there a few times earlier. I know he mentioned a couple of weeks ago that if they continued to struggle with the man advantage he would consider putting a whole new unit of five out there, but that's not what many people had in mind. How about putting someone like Grabner there? The fact that he hasn't already is really a sin.
But in the end, the Islanders scored twice on eight chances on the power-play and won their 4th of their last five games. They go right back at it Monday night against the Rangers. No word yet on who will be starting in net, but I would imagine that news will come down within the next couple of hours.
If you haven't already done so, please be sure to check out our latest podcast here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Quite frankly, that is a really stupid rule and on a night where the NFL cancelled their Sunday night game in Philadelphia, the league came off looking rather foolish between the games on Long Island and in New Jersey.
The NY Post's Larry Brooks voiced his displeasure on Twitter, and I agree with him here. There really was no point to have these games, but the NHL went ahead with them anyway. As a result, 3,136 came out to see the Islanders win in convincing fashion over the Canadiens by a score of 4-1. Those who had tickets to the game, even if they showed up, are given the opportunity to exchange them for another game of their choosing. That's a excellent move on the Islanders part, and the decision was made a lot quicker than last years. Good stuff from the organization right there.
I shouldn't say that they won in convincing fashion because of how they were outplayed in the 2nd period. But, the effort in the 1st and 3rd periods were similar to that of the ones against Tampa and New Jersey, which is what we said on the podcast they needed to have. Montreal had some power-play opportunities, which obviously helped the shot total in their favor but the Islanders had a major power-play in the 3rd, which later became a 5-on-3. The Islanders were able to use that to their advantage and grew their lead to 4-0.
The story of the game was Dwayne Roloson once again. He made 38 saves, and was incredibly quick and so sound positionally. When the Canadiens out shot the Isles 16-7 in that 2nd period, Roloson stopped every one. Even though the Islanders effort was pretty solid, when they had a couple of lulls throughout Roloson let them know loud and clear that he had their backs. In 10 of his 18 starts this season, Roli has given up two goals or less. He has now won his last three starts, giving up one goal in each of those games.
Michael Grabner had a really nice game of his own. His rush on the Islanders 2nd goal tells you why he is here. I can't even remember the last time we saw a player who could go that fast from a standstill, but he used his speed to create a breakaway that looked unlikely and made some excellent moves to fake out Carey Price and give the Isles the 2-0 lead. We've seen some great stuff out of Grabner this year and hopefully he can keep it up.
Speaking of the good stuff, Blake Comeau has been showing us some as well. He has quietly been racking up some points in the month of December, mostly due to his pairing up with the red hot Rob Schremp. The two of them have found some chemistry this month and it was Schremp with a very nice pass to Comeau to open the scoring for the Isles. They need to keep that up, and there's no reason to think they won't. Their efforts have been unbelievable lately, and Schremp wore the hard hat after the game. A huge part of this is trying to out-work your opponent to get chances, and both are doing so lately.
If there was one thing I didn't understand it was using the line of Matt Martin, Zenon Konopka and Jon Sim on the power-play a few times during the game. I wouldn't have cared too much in the dying seconds of the game if Jack Capuano hadn't already put them out there a few times earlier. I know he mentioned a couple of weeks ago that if they continued to struggle with the man advantage he would consider putting a whole new unit of five out there, but that's not what many people had in mind. How about putting someone like Grabner there? The fact that he hasn't already is really a sin.
But in the end, the Islanders scored twice on eight chances on the power-play and won their 4th of their last five games. They go right back at it Monday night against the Rangers. No word yet on who will be starting in net, but I would imagine that news will come down within the next couple of hours.
If you haven't already done so, please be sure to check out our latest podcast here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 26, 2010
Isles Look for 3rd Straight on Snowy Sunday; Podcast Posted
The Islanders take on the Canadiens tonight at 7 PM on a very snowy day on Long Island.
The ironic aspect of this game is that just last season, Long Island was hit with it's biggest snowstorm in years on a December day when they played the Canadiens. I attended the game, being the nut that I am.
Many fans chose to stay home for that one, and I don't see where the situation would be any different here.
For those of you who are heading out, please be careful and use your best judgement. While it doesn't seem to be awful right now, take into account that that most likely will not be the case a few hours from now.
We hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas, for those of you who celebrate it, or Boxing Day for those of you who are up North. To everyone else, well, we hope you're enjoying the holiday season. We have been, which is why we sort of disappeared the last couple of days.
Since I last wrote, the Islanders had an excellent effort in which they defeated the Devils 5-1. Josh Bailey, who could have easily walked away with two goals in the Tampa game, made up for those missed opportunities on Thursday. His steal and fake of Martin Brodeur on the first Isles goal was an awesome play all around, and the sign of a much more confident 21 year old. He'll need to continue that this week against tough opponents in Montreal, the Rangers, the Penguins and the Red Wings.
Prior to that game I had said the Islanders needed the same exact effort as they had for half of that Tampa game. They did exactly that, and walked away with two points in a rather convincing fashion.
Despite the Devils, and more shockingly Brodeur's struggles, that was a good win for the Islanders. Young players like Bailey and John Tavares were excellent and noticeable and confident. Tavares has been putting together some nice games, and now he has goals in two straight games. Blake Comeau is keeping up his decent play as of late as well and added a goal of his own against the Devils.
Meanwhile, the Islanders prepare to face a team that they haven't fared well against in recent history. Rick DiPietro is now off the IR, but it is Dwayne Roloson with the start - as it should be right now. Matt Martin will also be returning after serving his two game suspension.
Sean and I got together early this morning to record a podcast before the snow started. You can download and listen to the podcast here.
We covered a wide variety of topics, and were sure to give plenty of time to the Nelson Peltz rumors and our thoughts on Charles Wang and Garth Snow on Gary Bettman's show on XM's NHL Hour.
We'll have more later after the game.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The ironic aspect of this game is that just last season, Long Island was hit with it's biggest snowstorm in years on a December day when they played the Canadiens. I attended the game, being the nut that I am.
Many fans chose to stay home for that one, and I don't see where the situation would be any different here.
For those of you who are heading out, please be careful and use your best judgement. While it doesn't seem to be awful right now, take into account that that most likely will not be the case a few hours from now.
We hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas, for those of you who celebrate it, or Boxing Day for those of you who are up North. To everyone else, well, we hope you're enjoying the holiday season. We have been, which is why we sort of disappeared the last couple of days.
Since I last wrote, the Islanders had an excellent effort in which they defeated the Devils 5-1. Josh Bailey, who could have easily walked away with two goals in the Tampa game, made up for those missed opportunities on Thursday. His steal and fake of Martin Brodeur on the first Isles goal was an awesome play all around, and the sign of a much more confident 21 year old. He'll need to continue that this week against tough opponents in Montreal, the Rangers, the Penguins and the Red Wings.
Prior to that game I had said the Islanders needed the same exact effort as they had for half of that Tampa game. They did exactly that, and walked away with two points in a rather convincing fashion.
Despite the Devils, and more shockingly Brodeur's struggles, that was a good win for the Islanders. Young players like Bailey and John Tavares were excellent and noticeable and confident. Tavares has been putting together some nice games, and now he has goals in two straight games. Blake Comeau is keeping up his decent play as of late as well and added a goal of his own against the Devils.
Meanwhile, the Islanders prepare to face a team that they haven't fared well against in recent history. Rick DiPietro is now off the IR, but it is Dwayne Roloson with the start - as it should be right now. Matt Martin will also be returning after serving his two game suspension.
Sean and I got together early this morning to record a podcast before the snow started. You can download and listen to the podcast here.
We covered a wide variety of topics, and were sure to give plenty of time to the Nelson Peltz rumors and our thoughts on Charles Wang and Garth Snow on Gary Bettman's show on XM's NHL Hour.
We'll have more later after the game.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 30, 2010
Habs Sweep Home and Home, Isles Head to Philly
Lats night, one could essentially say the Islanders played twi different games.
For the better part of 15 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens controlled the play, and really took it to the Islanders. They could not get anything going. The Canadiens seemed to have figured out the gameplan and picked up right where they left off. Fortunately, the Islanders figured things out in the last few minutes of the period, and began to battle back.
The second period saw more of the same from the Islanders, as they closed the gap in shot total and battled hard to tie the game on a goal from Matt Martin. Frans Nielsen made a really nice play from behind the net to Martin, who was positioned to the right of Alex Auld for one of those infamous dirty goals. Those are going to be the kind of goals Martin will score throughout his career as he establishes himself as an immovable object in front of the net.
It seemed as though when the Islanders got their hitting going, their play improved and the Canadiens were reeling a bit. Martin layed two big hits on Hal Gill early in the contest and things seemed to improve from there. He even had a fight with Gill later, which is a bit of a mis-match when you compare the size. Gill definitiely has longer arms, so it was difficult for Martin to get his punches in with Gill holding him back, but I tip my hat to him for holding his own in the fight.
The Islanders continued to press in the 3rd period, but couldn't put one past Auld who made some really nice saves. A A breakdown with three Canadeins flying into the zone lead to Benoit Pouliot's goal to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. Poulit has a really nie shot, and has struggled a bit in the early going this season after finding his game after a mid-season trade from the Minnesota Wild last season.
Scott Gordon after the game said lack of backchecking is was caused that goal, and I would agree. It is clear that Montreal is a much faster team, and that paid off in that situation. You can see how much the team misses Rob Schremp and Michael Grabner.
Blake Comeau had a bit of a sloppy game, but still appears to be backchecking. He isn't as involved in the offence as he was prior to Josh Bailey's injury, but as long as he keepts pushing hard and at the very least forechecking he'll get his touch back.
The ice at the Coliseum was really bad last night from what I could see. We know that the puck always takes some odd hops here and there, but last night it was a lot more noticeable than past games. The Islanders are on the middle of this long string with most of the games on the road, and there were a couple of events at the Coliseum in the past couple of weeks. That certainly played a factor in the poor ice.
The attention now turns to the Flyers. Rick DiPietro gets the nod against a team that the Islanders have not had much good luck against in recent years. Milan Jurcina is out with what appears to be a hamstring injury, so Bruno Gervais gets back in the lineup but as a defenseman today. The Islanders are looking for their first win in Philly since April of 2007 (nine games).
The Flyers are a team that started off slow, but have picked up their play of late. They currently sit in 1st in the division by way of a tie breaker from the Penguins, and one point in front of the Islanders. Jeff Carter has been on a hot streak of late with rumors of him being close to re-signing with the Flyers. Chris Pronger has not been feeling all that great this year, and perhaps is one less problem to have to deal with when not at 100%. Danny Briere and Claude Giroux have been on fire, with each having six goals each so far this season.
This is another team that has some speed to it, but not as much as Montreal. I do think this is a team the Islanders can match up will with. As I said with the game last night, once the team started throwing the body it changed the feel. The Flyers are a team that doesn't hesistate to throw checks, so Martin and the rest of the Isles are going to have to be doing that from the get go.
If more news comes about any last minute changes, we'll have it for you here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
For the better part of 15 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens controlled the play, and really took it to the Islanders. They could not get anything going. The Canadiens seemed to have figured out the gameplan and picked up right where they left off. Fortunately, the Islanders figured things out in the last few minutes of the period, and began to battle back.
The second period saw more of the same from the Islanders, as they closed the gap in shot total and battled hard to tie the game on a goal from Matt Martin. Frans Nielsen made a really nice play from behind the net to Martin, who was positioned to the right of Alex Auld for one of those infamous dirty goals. Those are going to be the kind of goals Martin will score throughout his career as he establishes himself as an immovable object in front of the net.
It seemed as though when the Islanders got their hitting going, their play improved and the Canadiens were reeling a bit. Martin layed two big hits on Hal Gill early in the contest and things seemed to improve from there. He even had a fight with Gill later, which is a bit of a mis-match when you compare the size. Gill definitiely has longer arms, so it was difficult for Martin to get his punches in with Gill holding him back, but I tip my hat to him for holding his own in the fight.
The Islanders continued to press in the 3rd period, but couldn't put one past Auld who made some really nice saves. A A breakdown with three Canadeins flying into the zone lead to Benoit Pouliot's goal to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. Poulit has a really nie shot, and has struggled a bit in the early going this season after finding his game after a mid-season trade from the Minnesota Wild last season.
Scott Gordon after the game said lack of backchecking is was caused that goal, and I would agree. It is clear that Montreal is a much faster team, and that paid off in that situation. You can see how much the team misses Rob Schremp and Michael Grabner.
Blake Comeau had a bit of a sloppy game, but still appears to be backchecking. He isn't as involved in the offence as he was prior to Josh Bailey's injury, but as long as he keepts pushing hard and at the very least forechecking he'll get his touch back.
The ice at the Coliseum was really bad last night from what I could see. We know that the puck always takes some odd hops here and there, but last night it was a lot more noticeable than past games. The Islanders are on the middle of this long string with most of the games on the road, and there were a couple of events at the Coliseum in the past couple of weeks. That certainly played a factor in the poor ice.
The attention now turns to the Flyers. Rick DiPietro gets the nod against a team that the Islanders have not had much good luck against in recent years. Milan Jurcina is out with what appears to be a hamstring injury, so Bruno Gervais gets back in the lineup but as a defenseman today. The Islanders are looking for their first win in Philly since April of 2007 (nine games).
The Flyers are a team that started off slow, but have picked up their play of late. They currently sit in 1st in the division by way of a tie breaker from the Penguins, and one point in front of the Islanders. Jeff Carter has been on a hot streak of late with rumors of him being close to re-signing with the Flyers. Chris Pronger has not been feeling all that great this year, and perhaps is one less problem to have to deal with when not at 100%. Danny Briere and Claude Giroux have been on fire, with each having six goals each so far this season.
This is another team that has some speed to it, but not as much as Montreal. I do think this is a team the Islanders can match up will with. As I said with the game last night, once the team started throwing the body it changed the feel. The Flyers are a team that doesn't hesistate to throw checks, so Martin and the rest of the Isles are going to have to be doing that from the get go.
If more news comes about any last minute changes, we'll have it for you here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 29, 2010
Life Without El Nino Begins as Isles go for Round 2 vs. Habs
Coming off the heals of yesterday's announcement that Nino Niederreiter is heading back to Portland of the WHL, the Islanders prepare to take on the Montreal Canadiens at the Coliseum for the 2nd part of a home and home.
Sending Niederreiter down was the right move for various reasons, some of which I discussed here yesterday. Now he'll get solid playing time, be a leader on his team, and perhaps make the Portland Winterhawks one of the powerhouses in all of junior hockey. Niederreiter is a great player and a good kid who is taking it all in stride.
Matt Martin will stay up and take Niederreiter's place for now. I felt Martin had a solid game on Wednesday night, so we'll see if any of that carries over to tonight. I thought he was going to make the final roster of Niederreiter originally, but as Scott Gordon said the injury he sustained during camp hindered his chances near the end.
Michael Grabner remains out, and will probably not play Saturday against the Flyers either. Trent Hunter is playing tonight. The Islanders are making a change at forward, however, in the form of Bruno Gervais. Yes, that is not a typo. The Islanders, who have used Gervais as a forward in practice, are going with a little experiment for at least tonight. It is a bit odd, but one would suspect that perhaps Trevor Gillies is out of the lineup tonight. He was supposed to be scratched Wednesday, but ended up playing with Hunter out and logged a whopping 55 seconds of ice time. The Islanders can't do that against a fast team like this, so it appears they just decided at the last minute to go with Gervais rather than call someone up. Will be interesting to see how this works out.
Dwayne Roloson gets the start again. He looked sharp to me on Wednesday, and the result was more of a product of those in front of him. If they are not going to skate, and are going to stand around, then expect a similar result to Wednesday. I do not anticipate this happening. Gordon most likely let them hear it after that performance.
SCHREMP TO BRIDGEPORT: If you caught it on his Twitter account last night before the comment got deleted, Rob Schremp is in fact heading to Bridgeport for a conditioning stint. He seemed to jump the gun with reporting the news, but myself and a few others saw it. The Isles made the news official today, and he is playing tonight against Manchester. He had been skating with the team a little this week, so you knew he was close to returning to action. It'll be good to get his creativity and improved skating into the lineup within the next week or two.
KABANOV TRADED IN QMJHL: As I had re-tweeted yesterday, Kirill Kabanov was traded to the Lewiston MAINEiacs from Danny Flynn's Moncton Wildcats. The deal had been rumored for about a week, which covers a good chunk of the time where Kabanov was in Russia for a "personal issue." Kabanov spend about two weeks back home.
It's not right to jump to conclusions at all, but one has to wonder if these things are related. When he left, it seemed very odd to say the least. usually when players head home for personal reason's you hear about why. There have been only some theories on why he returned to Russia, nothing concrete though.
At any rate, Lewiston gave up quite the package for the talented winger, sending away goalie Jordan Kennedy, a second round draft pick in 2011, a fourth round draft pick in 2011, a first round pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, and a fourth round draft pick in 2012. Problems aside, there is a reason why the kid was at one time regarded as a top three pick. We'll see what this change does for him.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Sending Niederreiter down was the right move for various reasons, some of which I discussed here yesterday. Now he'll get solid playing time, be a leader on his team, and perhaps make the Portland Winterhawks one of the powerhouses in all of junior hockey. Niederreiter is a great player and a good kid who is taking it all in stride.
Matt Martin will stay up and take Niederreiter's place for now. I felt Martin had a solid game on Wednesday night, so we'll see if any of that carries over to tonight. I thought he was going to make the final roster of Niederreiter originally, but as Scott Gordon said the injury he sustained during camp hindered his chances near the end.
Michael Grabner remains out, and will probably not play Saturday against the Flyers either. Trent Hunter is playing tonight. The Islanders are making a change at forward, however, in the form of Bruno Gervais. Yes, that is not a typo. The Islanders, who have used Gervais as a forward in practice, are going with a little experiment for at least tonight. It is a bit odd, but one would suspect that perhaps Trevor Gillies is out of the lineup tonight. He was supposed to be scratched Wednesday, but ended up playing with Hunter out and logged a whopping 55 seconds of ice time. The Islanders can't do that against a fast team like this, so it appears they just decided at the last minute to go with Gervais rather than call someone up. Will be interesting to see how this works out.
Dwayne Roloson gets the start again. He looked sharp to me on Wednesday, and the result was more of a product of those in front of him. If they are not going to skate, and are going to stand around, then expect a similar result to Wednesday. I do not anticipate this happening. Gordon most likely let them hear it after that performance.
SCHREMP TO BRIDGEPORT: If you caught it on his Twitter account last night before the comment got deleted, Rob Schremp is in fact heading to Bridgeport for a conditioning stint. He seemed to jump the gun with reporting the news, but myself and a few others saw it. The Isles made the news official today, and he is playing tonight against Manchester. He had been skating with the team a little this week, so you knew he was close to returning to action. It'll be good to get his creativity and improved skating into the lineup within the next week or two.
KABANOV TRADED IN QMJHL: As I had re-tweeted yesterday, Kirill Kabanov was traded to the Lewiston MAINEiacs from Danny Flynn's Moncton Wildcats. The deal had been rumored for about a week, which covers a good chunk of the time where Kabanov was in Russia for a "personal issue." Kabanov spend about two weeks back home.
It's not right to jump to conclusions at all, but one has to wonder if these things are related. When he left, it seemed very odd to say the least. usually when players head home for personal reason's you hear about why. There have been only some theories on why he returned to Russia, nothing concrete though.
At any rate, Lewiston gave up quite the package for the talented winger, sending away goalie Jordan Kennedy, a second round draft pick in 2011, a fourth round draft pick in 2011, a first round pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, and a fourth round draft pick in 2012. Problems aside, there is a reason why the kid was at one time regarded as a top three pick. We'll see what this change does for him.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 28, 2010
Attention Turns to Niederreiter as Habs Down Isles
3:10 PM: Kirill Kabanov has been traded by the Moncton Wildcats to the Lewiston Maniacs. Detials on this coming later as well.
11:46 AM: As I expected, the Islanders are sending Niederreiter back down to Portland. This means that he still has all three years of his entry level deal still remaining.
More to come later.
8:45 AM: The Islanders lost to the Habs 5-3 in a game where they definitely did not bring their "A" game. There were often times where they were found standing around rather than playing their up tempo style of hockey. This isn't a team that is overly skilled, and has to learn to constantly move their feet in order to be successful.
The Canadiens are a very fast and skilled team, and they showed that last night. Of course, the Isles made them look much faster because of the lack of skating. It was not a banner game for Mark Eaton, who made a couple of weak passes, including one that lead to a penalty shot attempt for Benoit Pouliot.
I felt that Dwayne Roloson player pretty well, and did the best he could with what he had to work with, which quite frankly was not enough. There were many lackluster players, on both sides of the puck. Roloson was one of the few who didn't disappoint.
Matt Martin had a pretty good season debut, mixing it up at times and parking himself in front of the net for the 3rd Islander goal. After following him in preseason, and being very impressed with the changes in his game, I can't say I'm surprised with how he played. He needs to get his head up though a little more, for example on the break he had that P.K. Subban broke up.
Speaking of Subban, I need to apologize to those who told me to look out for him as a potential Calder winner this season. I dismissed any thought of that, and he has been quite impressive this season. The kid is some defenseman.
Doug Weight had some problems in this game too. I'm noticing more and more this season that he seems to cough up pucks at the blueline on the power-play. He's still an asset there, and is probably the closest thing we have to a power-play quarterback, but he needs to be a little more careful with that.
Speaking of assets at the blueline, James Wisniewski had yet another outstanding offensive performance. He had a couple of hard shots that created Islander goals as he notched a goal and two assists. His defensive play was decent, aside from the play on Montreal's second goal, but that was slightly awkward and everyone was scrambling there to cover the 2-on-1 breakout.
These are things that have to be improved upon if the Islanders are to walk out of Friday night's game with any points.
The attention now will be on Nino Niederreiter as we await his fate. Will he stay with the Islanders and play Friday, starting the countdown on his entry-level contract, or does he go back to play more junior hockey with Portland of the WHL?
Niederreiter played just over 14 minutes last night, and in keeping up with the rest of the team appeared sloppy at times. Obviously, a decision will not be made based on one game, but I would agree with Chris Botta's statements. Don't think that the decision was made overnight.
As far as my opinion, after originally thinking he would stay, I've thought differently over the last week or so.
Niederreiter certainly hasn't played bad, and if he stays it would be deserved. Physically, he can handle the NHL and has not been over matched on too many occasions. But, the NHL is a faster, tougher game than juniors. While Niederreiter has been trying to adjust to the NHL, the league has been trying to adjust to him. It isn't often where young, recently turned 18 year olds come in, not shy away from contact and cut to the net to create scoring chances.
When the league figures out his style, his game - how will Niederreiter play? Will he be as effective as he is now? I'm not sure anyone can confidently say yes, when you factor in taking the beatings for a much longer period of time.
Don't discount Scott Gordon's thought process in any of this either. Despite the comments he made yesterday, he is going to do what he thinks is best to make the team win right now. He finds himself in the very unusual situation of fighting for his Islander life as coach. If he feels that his chances of success are better with having Martin, Rob Schremp, Michael Grabner or even prospects David Ullstrom or Jesse Joensuu in the lineup, he will let it be known. I don't think that this team is better off with Ullstrom or Joensuu over Niederreiter, but with the other guys I think the team will be fine.
Niederreiter will be a better player than all of those guys in the long run, but right now the others are so much further ahead in terms of development, obviously. Martin still has some developing of his own to do, but I liked a lot of what I saw out of him last night, and some of it is similar to what Niederreiter provides, with Martin adding some more aggression and slightly better skating.
I know some people talk about injuries as playing a factor in the decision, but I don't see that being the case here. As I mentioned just before, if Gordon thinks this team is better off with one guy over another, he'll say so. Schremp is going to get back in the lineup once he comes back. The Islanders need someone with his creativity, not to mention his improved skating. Kyle Okposo is a non factor essentially since his return can be anywhere from December to February, but that is still murky. Jon Sim and Trent Hunter have been filling bottom line roles, and that is not something Niederreiter should be doing at this stage. He needs to consistently be playing 14, 15 minutes a night if he's going to stick.
We'll find out most likely today the fate of Niederreiter, but I wouldn't bank on him staying here. Don't discount the impact Gordon has, and don't read too much into those quotes from yesterday. Expect Matt Martin's stay to last a little longer until Schremp/Hunter/Grabner are ready to go.
When news breaks, I'll try and have something for you. Until then, we play the waiting game.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
11:46 AM: As I expected, the Islanders are sending Niederreiter back down to Portland. This means that he still has all three years of his entry level deal still remaining.
More to come later.
8:45 AM: The Islanders lost to the Habs 5-3 in a game where they definitely did not bring their "A" game. There were often times where they were found standing around rather than playing their up tempo style of hockey. This isn't a team that is overly skilled, and has to learn to constantly move their feet in order to be successful.
The Canadiens are a very fast and skilled team, and they showed that last night. Of course, the Isles made them look much faster because of the lack of skating. It was not a banner game for Mark Eaton, who made a couple of weak passes, including one that lead to a penalty shot attempt for Benoit Pouliot.
I felt that Dwayne Roloson player pretty well, and did the best he could with what he had to work with, which quite frankly was not enough. There were many lackluster players, on both sides of the puck. Roloson was one of the few who didn't disappoint.
Matt Martin had a pretty good season debut, mixing it up at times and parking himself in front of the net for the 3rd Islander goal. After following him in preseason, and being very impressed with the changes in his game, I can't say I'm surprised with how he played. He needs to get his head up though a little more, for example on the break he had that P.K. Subban broke up.
Speaking of Subban, I need to apologize to those who told me to look out for him as a potential Calder winner this season. I dismissed any thought of that, and he has been quite impressive this season. The kid is some defenseman.
Doug Weight had some problems in this game too. I'm noticing more and more this season that he seems to cough up pucks at the blueline on the power-play. He's still an asset there, and is probably the closest thing we have to a power-play quarterback, but he needs to be a little more careful with that.
Speaking of assets at the blueline, James Wisniewski had yet another outstanding offensive performance. He had a couple of hard shots that created Islander goals as he notched a goal and two assists. His defensive play was decent, aside from the play on Montreal's second goal, but that was slightly awkward and everyone was scrambling there to cover the 2-on-1 breakout.
These are things that have to be improved upon if the Islanders are to walk out of Friday night's game with any points.
The attention now will be on Nino Niederreiter as we await his fate. Will he stay with the Islanders and play Friday, starting the countdown on his entry-level contract, or does he go back to play more junior hockey with Portland of the WHL?
Niederreiter played just over 14 minutes last night, and in keeping up with the rest of the team appeared sloppy at times. Obviously, a decision will not be made based on one game, but I would agree with Chris Botta's statements. Don't think that the decision was made overnight.
As far as my opinion, after originally thinking he would stay, I've thought differently over the last week or so.
When the league figures out his style, his game - how will Niederreiter play? Will he be as effective as he is now? I'm not sure anyone can confidently say yes, when you factor in taking the beatings for a much longer period of time.
Don't discount Scott Gordon's thought process in any of this either. Despite the comments he made yesterday, he is going to do what he thinks is best to make the team win right now. He finds himself in the very unusual situation of fighting for his Islander life as coach. If he feels that his chances of success are better with having Martin, Rob Schremp, Michael Grabner or even prospects David Ullstrom or Jesse Joensuu in the lineup, he will let it be known. I don't think that this team is better off with Ullstrom or Joensuu over Niederreiter, but with the other guys I think the team will be fine.
Niederreiter will be a better player than all of those guys in the long run, but right now the others are so much further ahead in terms of development, obviously. Martin still has some developing of his own to do, but I liked a lot of what I saw out of him last night, and some of it is similar to what Niederreiter provides, with Martin adding some more aggression and slightly better skating.
I know some people talk about injuries as playing a factor in the decision, but I don't see that being the case here. As I mentioned just before, if Gordon thinks this team is better off with one guy over another, he'll say so. Schremp is going to get back in the lineup once he comes back. The Islanders need someone with his creativity, not to mention his improved skating. Kyle Okposo is a non factor essentially since his return can be anywhere from December to February, but that is still murky. Jon Sim and Trent Hunter have been filling bottom line roles, and that is not something Niederreiter should be doing at this stage. He needs to consistently be playing 14, 15 minutes a night if he's going to stick.
We'll find out most likely today the fate of Niederreiter, but I wouldn't bank on him staying here. Don't discount the impact Gordon has, and don't read too much into those quotes from yesterday. Expect Matt Martin's stay to last a little longer until Schremp/Hunter/Grabner are ready to go.
When news breaks, I'll try and have something for you. Until then, we play the waiting game.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 27, 2010
Isles Take on Canadiens, 7:30 PM
7:07: Trent Hunter is not in the line-up tonight either. Trevor Gillies will be taking his place. Trevor has averaged under two minutes of ice time per game this season.
4:45 PM: The Islanders are in Montreal tonight to take on the Canadiens. As originally thought, Dwayne Roloson gets the start for the Islanders with Rick DiPietro having played the last two games. Roloson's last start was in Toronto. I doubt he'll show much rust though, if any. It took a couple of games at the beginning of the year before he got a nod, and he had a nice performance against Washington in that game.
Josh Bailey returns to the lineup after missing time with the hip pointer injury. I'm very happy the Islanders took it slow with Josh so that he could get to 100%. Very excited to see him get back on the ice tonight, and I would imagine the combination of him playing with Frans Nielsen and P.A. Parenteau will be a good one. Nielsen has quietly been having a strong start to the season, and Parenteau leads the team in points. Bailey has made those who have played with him better this season.
Matt Martin, in for the injured Michael Grabner, plays his first game of the year, and will be on a line with Doug Weight and Nino Niederreiter. This has the makings of a fun line to watch. Nino is playing in his 9th game, and a decision will be made about his future after the game. I have a feeling that he is going to be going back to Portland of the WHL. That's not from a source or anything, just something I'm feeling in my gut (more on my reasoning either later tonight or tomorrow).
Carey Price stars yet again for the Canadiens. The young goalie has certainly had his ups and downs since arriving on the scene a couple of years ago, but is off to a nice start this season. He has played in every game so far this season.
The Canadiens are a very fast team, with a virtually non-existant power-play so far this season. This, of course, is due in large part to the absence of Andrei Markov, who might return Friday for the 2nd part of the home-and-home. But in the meantime, the Islanders defensemen are going to have to do an extra good job of forcing the play to the outside. This Canadiens team is too quick and skilled to get caught out of position, no matter how big you are compared to them. Look for Milan Jurcina to have yet another steady game for the reason's I highlighted in this space yesterday.
This should be another fun one, in a building that hasn't been too kind to the Islanders in recent years. It's another early season test. Let's hope they break this hex tonight.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
4:45 PM: The Islanders are in Montreal tonight to take on the Canadiens. As originally thought, Dwayne Roloson gets the start for the Islanders with Rick DiPietro having played the last two games. Roloson's last start was in Toronto. I doubt he'll show much rust though, if any. It took a couple of games at the beginning of the year before he got a nod, and he had a nice performance against Washington in that game.
Josh Bailey returns to the lineup after missing time with the hip pointer injury. I'm very happy the Islanders took it slow with Josh so that he could get to 100%. Very excited to see him get back on the ice tonight, and I would imagine the combination of him playing with Frans Nielsen and P.A. Parenteau will be a good one. Nielsen has quietly been having a strong start to the season, and Parenteau leads the team in points. Bailey has made those who have played with him better this season.
Matt Martin, in for the injured Michael Grabner, plays his first game of the year, and will be on a line with Doug Weight and Nino Niederreiter. This has the makings of a fun line to watch. Nino is playing in his 9th game, and a decision will be made about his future after the game. I have a feeling that he is going to be going back to Portland of the WHL. That's not from a source or anything, just something I'm feeling in my gut (more on my reasoning either later tonight or tomorrow).
Carey Price stars yet again for the Canadiens. The young goalie has certainly had his ups and downs since arriving on the scene a couple of years ago, but is off to a nice start this season. He has played in every game so far this season.
The Canadiens are a very fast team, with a virtually non-existant power-play so far this season. This, of course, is due in large part to the absence of Andrei Markov, who might return Friday for the 2nd part of the home-and-home. But in the meantime, the Islanders defensemen are going to have to do an extra good job of forcing the play to the outside. This Canadiens team is too quick and skilled to get caught out of position, no matter how big you are compared to them. Look for Milan Jurcina to have yet another steady game for the reason's I highlighted in this space yesterday.
This should be another fun one, in a building that hasn't been too kind to the Islanders in recent years. It's another early season test. Let's hope they break this hex tonight.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 26, 2010
MacDonald Injury Gives Jurcina Opportunity to Continue Solid Play
Milan Jurcina might not be the flashiest name on this Islanders squad, however Scott Gordon has been using Jurcina in a role he is very well suited for, on the 3rd pairing providing some steady play for just under 20 minutes a night.
After the game against Colorado, I had asked Milan about his confidence level as it appeared to me he was playing the best he has at any point in his career.
"Yeah, it's a big thing with the confidence. A game like that (two goals vs. Colorado), it's a big boost for the confidence," Jurcina said.
Obviously, the story of that game was the offensive outburst. But there were a number of things in that game he did well including throwing some hits and making a couple of nice defensive plays.
The injury to Andrew MacDonald (4-6 weeks after hand surgery) opens up the free spot for Jack Hillen and Bruno Gervais to battle it out. But Jurcina now has a chance to fill in some of the void that is being left by MacDonald.
Since he came up with the Islanders in the middle of last season, one key aspect of MacDonald's game has been blocking shots. Jurcina has a big body to put in front of the net, but he has always had inconsistency issues when it comes to playing the body and trying to get in front of pucks.
Ever since that game against Colorado, Jurcina seems to have been using that size to his advantage with some consistency. He has brought himself up to 11th in the league among defensemen in hits with 20, and his 16 blocked shots are ironically one behind MacDonald's total of 17.
The game against Florida was a good performance for the Slovakian defenseman as he had a season high five hits in the game. Against Tampa, he had three blocked shots. He has become one of the key defensemen on the penalty kill as his 3:41 of PK time per game leads all Islanders defensemen. More often than I can remember seeing him do, I notice he is tying up opposing forwards and doing a real nice job of forcing the play to the outside.
Aside from the game against Colorado, there has not been much of anything offensively. Jurcina has an excellent shot that he has always had problems getting on net. As far as I'm concerned, we need him more for his size and defensive ability more than the offense right now.
As far as my knowledge of Jurcina goes, thinking back to his time in Boston and Washington for the most part, this is certainly the best I have seen him play. Being re-united with Scott Gordon seems to have helped him out a bit, and being brought in with three other new defensemen, all with NHL experience has really helped the Islanders in the early going this season as they try to turn around what was one of the league's worst defensive corps last season.
Jurcina is going to have to continue his recent play, and not just until MacDonald returns. A consistent Jurcina using his body to his advantage is the best thing we could have asked for after signing him to the one year, $1 million contract, and so far he is proving to be a solid, yet unheralded addition to the blue line.
MATT MARTIN TO PLAY: With Michael Grabner day-to-day, it was announced that the forward will not go on the trip to Montreal for Wednesday's game. This opens up a spot for Matt Martin, who was practicing on a line with Doug Weight and Nino Niederreiter.
Yesterday, Grabner sounded very hopeful on his Twitter account as far as playing in Montreal, which made me wonder why Martin stayed up through the night. I had thought that it was perhaps because the Islanders were going to decide to send Niederreiter back to juniors, but alas another theory shot to pieces. Oh well.
It's exciting to see Martin get his chance this early in the season, and against a team that took some shots in the preseason. Mike Cammalleri slashed Niederreiter and earned a one-game suspension as a result. Don't expect that to happen again.
This is all we have for now, in what has been a relatively quiet couple of off days. If something pops up throughout the day, be sure to check back here for some thoughts.
CHECK OUT SUNDAY'S PODCAST: For anyone who may not have gotten it yet, the podcast is up and available here. Enjoy!
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
After the game against Colorado, I had asked Milan about his confidence level as it appeared to me he was playing the best he has at any point in his career.
"Yeah, it's a big thing with the confidence. A game like that (two goals vs. Colorado), it's a big boost for the confidence," Jurcina said.
Obviously, the story of that game was the offensive outburst. But there were a number of things in that game he did well including throwing some hits and making a couple of nice defensive plays.
The injury to Andrew MacDonald (4-6 weeks after hand surgery) opens up the free spot for Jack Hillen and Bruno Gervais to battle it out. But Jurcina now has a chance to fill in some of the void that is being left by MacDonald.
Since he came up with the Islanders in the middle of last season, one key aspect of MacDonald's game has been blocking shots. Jurcina has a big body to put in front of the net, but he has always had inconsistency issues when it comes to playing the body and trying to get in front of pucks.
Ever since that game against Colorado, Jurcina seems to have been using that size to his advantage with some consistency. He has brought himself up to 11th in the league among defensemen in hits with 20, and his 16 blocked shots are ironically one behind MacDonald's total of 17.
The game against Florida was a good performance for the Slovakian defenseman as he had a season high five hits in the game. Against Tampa, he had three blocked shots. He has become one of the key defensemen on the penalty kill as his 3:41 of PK time per game leads all Islanders defensemen. More often than I can remember seeing him do, I notice he is tying up opposing forwards and doing a real nice job of forcing the play to the outside.
Aside from the game against Colorado, there has not been much of anything offensively. Jurcina has an excellent shot that he has always had problems getting on net. As far as I'm concerned, we need him more for his size and defensive ability more than the offense right now.
As far as my knowledge of Jurcina goes, thinking back to his time in Boston and Washington for the most part, this is certainly the best I have seen him play. Being re-united with Scott Gordon seems to have helped him out a bit, and being brought in with three other new defensemen, all with NHL experience has really helped the Islanders in the early going this season as they try to turn around what was one of the league's worst defensive corps last season.
Jurcina is going to have to continue his recent play, and not just until MacDonald returns. A consistent Jurcina using his body to his advantage is the best thing we could have asked for after signing him to the one year, $1 million contract, and so far he is proving to be a solid, yet unheralded addition to the blue line.
MATT MARTIN TO PLAY: With Michael Grabner day-to-day, it was announced that the forward will not go on the trip to Montreal for Wednesday's game. This opens up a spot for Matt Martin, who was practicing on a line with Doug Weight and Nino Niederreiter.
Yesterday, Grabner sounded very hopeful on his Twitter account as far as playing in Montreal, which made me wonder why Martin stayed up through the night. I had thought that it was perhaps because the Islanders were going to decide to send Niederreiter back to juniors, but alas another theory shot to pieces. Oh well.
It's exciting to see Martin get his chance this early in the season, and against a team that took some shots in the preseason. Mike Cammalleri slashed Niederreiter and earned a one-game suspension as a result. Don't expect that to happen again.
This is all we have for now, in what has been a relatively quiet couple of off days. If something pops up throughout the day, be sure to check back here for some thoughts.
CHECK OUT SUNDAY'S PODCAST: For anyone who may not have gotten it yet, the podcast is up and available here. Enjoy!
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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