The fact that the Isles won by a score of only 5-3 is quite impressive when you consider how the game began early in the first.
In what has become a rare occurrence, the Islanders actually scored the games first goal on a nice play with Matt Moulson hammering home a rebound in front. It was the wingers 1st since signing his new deal.
The teams would go on to trade goals, leaving little time in between. After 20 minutes, we were all tied at three.
Kevin Poulin had some trouble on the first couple of goals that the Sens scored. The first one I'm pinning on both he and Milan Jurcina, who didn't have one of his finest nights. There needs to be some better communication there, and as Howie Rose mentioned on the telecast, perhaps they haven't played together enough to have those kinks worked out. Jurcina has been in and out of the lineup all season with various injuries.
Rob Schremp was able to break out of his little slump, notching two goals and earning the game's first star. I still wasn't overly impressed with his play, but being in the right spot at the right time is something he was getting away from, normally opting to curl back to the blue line for a low percentage shot. Glad to see him get back to some of the little things that were making him successful. Hopefully he can continue to turn it around.
Ty Wishart made his Isles debut and registered two assists. He looked comfortable out there and made some good first passes out of the zone. I had an opportunity to speak with Ty after practice Friday. We played that interview during the show that we recorded on Saturday. I plan to write a story on it in the next day or two, so be sure to look for that.
All in all it was a good effort for the Isles in what ended up being a scrappy game. The Senators took some unusually dumb penalties but were fortunate enough the Isles had some problems with the man advantage tonight expect for that one big 5-on-3 coming out of the 2nd period. Robin Lehner replaced Brian Elliot after the 1st period and provided much better rebound control and made more timely saves. Overall, the rookie stopped 23 of 24.
The Isles have a couple of days off before taking on the Maple Leafs at home on Tuesday.
To listen to the show recorded Saturday afternoon, including that Wishart interview, download it from our podcast site or watch through our UStream page.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Sens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sens. Show all posts
February 6, 2011
November 5, 2010
Isles Drop 6th in a Row to Sens
The Islanders dropped their 6th in a row last night as they fell by a score of 4-1 to a very hot Ottawa Senators team. Jason Spezza had a goal and three assists as he led his team to victory.
The Isles lone goal came on the powerplay from Matt Moulson in the 3rd period. While the overall effort was better than the previous two games, there was still fairly disappointing aspects of the game.
The biggest thing that upset me was the team didn't appear to become "alive" until Moulson scored that goal. Early on, the Islanders got a five-minute major powerplay after Zack Smith's boarding call on Trevor Gillies. The Islanders failed to show much of anything during that powerplay. That is not good when you are going at it for five minutes, no matter how you slice it. It made it very easy for Ottawa to kill off.
Dwayne Roloson certainly had his share of gaffes in net as well as the David Hale and Spezza goals were weak and need to be stopped. You could see from the reaction of Roloson that he would agree. The first goal, which came from Sergei Gonchar was on a nice play, but both Bruno Gervais and Josh Bailey blew the assignments there. Both players seemed to have drifted over towards the right of Roloson leaving that area of the ice wide open. This is a breakdown that seems to be happening more often than not, and I see an awful lot of scrambling on the part of the Islanders to try and get back into position constantly.
Some people are relating this to the system that they team is playing, and there are some rumblings starting to surface about the status of the team. The rumblings actually started based on a Tweet from TSN's Darren Dreger:
This caught my eye because it got me thinking about Scott Gordon and if his job might actually be in trouble. It is no secret that this is the last year of Gordon's contract and that he and the team had some high expectations for this season. I won't get too into details now, but firing him would be the wrong move. We really don't know what we have in some of the young guys here, and the rest of the team has been sub par for various reasons. I'm planning to write more about this subject later, but for the time being I just wanted to throw it out there.
The Isles now turn their attention to the Philadelphia Flyers once again as they look to avenge the 6-1 drubbing that was handed to them last Saturday. Should be an interesting one. If they lose again and the skid hits seven, then you can be sure the rumblings will begin to enter the insane range.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Isles lone goal came on the powerplay from Matt Moulson in the 3rd period. While the overall effort was better than the previous two games, there was still fairly disappointing aspects of the game.
The biggest thing that upset me was the team didn't appear to become "alive" until Moulson scored that goal. Early on, the Islanders got a five-minute major powerplay after Zack Smith's boarding call on Trevor Gillies. The Islanders failed to show much of anything during that powerplay. That is not good when you are going at it for five minutes, no matter how you slice it. It made it very easy for Ottawa to kill off.
Dwayne Roloson certainly had his share of gaffes in net as well as the David Hale and Spezza goals were weak and need to be stopped. You could see from the reaction of Roloson that he would agree. The first goal, which came from Sergei Gonchar was on a nice play, but both Bruno Gervais and Josh Bailey blew the assignments there. Both players seemed to have drifted over towards the right of Roloson leaving that area of the ice wide open. This is a breakdown that seems to be happening more often than not, and I see an awful lot of scrambling on the part of the Islanders to try and get back into position constantly.
Some people are relating this to the system that they team is playing, and there are some rumblings starting to surface about the status of the team. The rumblings actually started based on a Tweet from TSN's Darren Dreger:
How many more can the Isles lose before things turn sour? Not many.
This caught my eye because it got me thinking about Scott Gordon and if his job might actually be in trouble. It is no secret that this is the last year of Gordon's contract and that he and the team had some high expectations for this season. I won't get too into details now, but firing him would be the wrong move. We really don't know what we have in some of the young guys here, and the rest of the team has been sub par for various reasons. I'm planning to write more about this subject later, but for the time being I just wanted to throw it out there.
The Isles now turn their attention to the Philadelphia Flyers once again as they look to avenge the 6-1 drubbing that was handed to them last Saturday. Should be an interesting one. If they lose again and the skid hits seven, then you can be sure the rumblings will begin to enter the insane range.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
November 4, 2010
Isles in Ottawa to Try and Stop the Skid
The bleeding continues.
The Islanders dropped their 5th straight game, losing to the Hurricanes 7-2. The Isles have been outscored 13-3 in their last two games. You don't need any analysis on that, as it is self explanatory.
It is really unfortunate to see the turn that this one took considering how the Isles started out. They seemed to be getting the better chances in the first few minutes of the game, with one of the stronger players being Michael Grabner. When he was out, I spoke about the Islanders missing his speed and creativity. That much was apparent if you saw his play early on. It might seem very simple, but if you saw the beginning, you saw two good Islanders chances on Cam Ward, both created by Grabner's ability to use his speed to elude defenders and come around from behind the net and get the puck towards the slot area.
Aside from that, the rest of the game left a lot to be desired. Rick DiPietro's game was not good as he gave up way too many soft goals. The first goal of the game was a real killer as DiPietro wandered out behind the net, only to lose the puck and have it end up in the slot area for Joe Corvo to easily put it in. That seemed to give the team a whole "not again" attitude.
For those of you who listened to our latest podcast, Sean and I had a little back-and-forth disagreement about the psyche of a young team. I downplayed the idea that when you have a such a young team, the memories of recent performances, including the past couple of seasons, still rears it's ugly head at times. I have to admit that I may have been a little off because it certainly seems that it is playing a factor of some kind. Butch Goring even mentioned something along those lines during last night's telecast.
The Islanders take on a very hot Ottawa Senators team tonight that has won four of it's past five games. Brian Elliot gets the nod as he looks to continue his streak of hot play. The Islanders are countering with Dwayne Roloson, as Scott Gordon announced a couple of days ago. Even if he didn't, I think it would have been a safe bet given the performances in the last two games.
One would hope that the Islanders figure out how to right the ship, because while the injuries have killed them right now, especially on the blueline, there is no excuse for being completely manhandled for two games in a row. Something seems to be a bit off, and guys aren't going as hard as they were, especially on the forecheck. That has to change. If the Isles play the way that they are supposed to, and they can do it, then I think they match up well with the Senators.
Obviously, they have to watch out for the big guns of Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, both of whom have recently returned from injuries. Sergei Gonchar started out really slow, but seems to be coming around as late to contribute to the Sens streak.
Sooner or later, the Islanders are going to need some production again out of John Tavares, Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey. I think out of all three, Bailey has been the most consistent when it comes to the forecheck and play away from the puck, but he has been far from perfect.
The team definitely seems to have a different feel to it in games where Roloson starts. If that happens again tonight, and the Islanders snap out of their funk, then one has to wonder how Gordon works the goaltending rotation for the future. But we'll worry about that bridge when, and if, we come to it.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders dropped their 5th straight game, losing to the Hurricanes 7-2. The Isles have been outscored 13-3 in their last two games. You don't need any analysis on that, as it is self explanatory.
It is really unfortunate to see the turn that this one took considering how the Isles started out. They seemed to be getting the better chances in the first few minutes of the game, with one of the stronger players being Michael Grabner. When he was out, I spoke about the Islanders missing his speed and creativity. That much was apparent if you saw his play early on. It might seem very simple, but if you saw the beginning, you saw two good Islanders chances on Cam Ward, both created by Grabner's ability to use his speed to elude defenders and come around from behind the net and get the puck towards the slot area.
Aside from that, the rest of the game left a lot to be desired. Rick DiPietro's game was not good as he gave up way too many soft goals. The first goal of the game was a real killer as DiPietro wandered out behind the net, only to lose the puck and have it end up in the slot area for Joe Corvo to easily put it in. That seemed to give the team a whole "not again" attitude.
For those of you who listened to our latest podcast, Sean and I had a little back-and-forth disagreement about the psyche of a young team. I downplayed the idea that when you have a such a young team, the memories of recent performances, including the past couple of seasons, still rears it's ugly head at times. I have to admit that I may have been a little off because it certainly seems that it is playing a factor of some kind. Butch Goring even mentioned something along those lines during last night's telecast.
The Islanders take on a very hot Ottawa Senators team tonight that has won four of it's past five games. Brian Elliot gets the nod as he looks to continue his streak of hot play. The Islanders are countering with Dwayne Roloson, as Scott Gordon announced a couple of days ago. Even if he didn't, I think it would have been a safe bet given the performances in the last two games.
One would hope that the Islanders figure out how to right the ship, because while the injuries have killed them right now, especially on the blueline, there is no excuse for being completely manhandled for two games in a row. Something seems to be a bit off, and guys aren't going as hard as they were, especially on the forecheck. That has to change. If the Isles play the way that they are supposed to, and they can do it, then I think they match up well with the Senators.
Obviously, they have to watch out for the big guns of Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, both of whom have recently returned from injuries. Sergei Gonchar started out really slow, but seems to be coming around as late to contribute to the Sens streak.
Sooner or later, the Islanders are going to need some production again out of John Tavares, Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey. I think out of all three, Bailey has been the most consistent when it comes to the forecheck and play away from the puck, but he has been far from perfect.
The team definitely seems to have a different feel to it in games where Roloson starts. If that happens again tonight, and the Islanders snap out of their funk, then one has to wonder how Gordon works the goaltending rotation for the future. But we'll worry about that bridge when, and if, we come to it.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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