A Major Step Back, Among a Mini Controversy

Islanders 1: Wild 4

Two offensive presences re-entered the lineup last night- but it didn't matter in the end, because once more, one goal was all the Islanders could muster last night, as they fell to the Minnesota Wild, 4-1.

The third period, in the wake of a 1-1 stalemate, was where Minnesota rallied, with three goals to bury the Islanders in their losing streak, which is now at eight games. This was after the Isles had a 1-0 lead in the second period, achieved by Richard Park, who now has three goals and five points in three games. (Weight provided the primary assist, and his 998th career point.) Joey MacDonald made highlight reel-worthy saves, but ultimately got buried as the Wild proceeded to outshoot New York 28-9, holding the Isles to 16 shots total (season low). He finished the night with 35 saves, having allowed goals by Stephane Villeux, Colton Gillies (Clark's nephew, who scored his first career goal against his uncle's old team), Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

With that said, not much else can be told, other than that the Isles can only move on from last night, as they play in Nashville tonight at 8 pm. They also have to move on from the slight controversy stirred up across blogs and message boards, caused by defenseman and alternate captain Brendan Witt of all people. Witt criticized coach Scott Gordon's system, saying among other things, "Personally, I think it's more of a risky type of game... There's a lot of odd-man rushes. But that's the way he wants us to play, and until he decides he wants to change that, we're going to play that way."

The quotes, as reported by Greg Logan, caused quite the buzz among Isles fans and led many to believe that Witt, after signing for an extension this past summer, wants off the Island. Personally, I believe that it was the frustration over the losing streak showing itself; however, I would still keep an eye out for other indications of restlessness from the defenseman. As he and the other veterans go, so go the rest of the team, and Gordon can ill afford to lose them at this point. As for Witt, although he is one of my favorite players, there's no denying he could have gone about this a different way than the media if it's true that he would like to help and, as reported after the fact to Chris Botta, he would like to stay on the Islanders. There are always things to improve regarding the system, but even so, dirty laundry should always stay in the hamper, not aired out in public. Gordon stayed professional about it, only saying that he and Witt did talk about his comments and that "Brendan is correct that our defensive zone coverage has struggled, which is why we spent the last two days addressing it..." Although some may think that this will help Brendan pay his ticket out of New York, there's no telling what may happen before the trade deadline.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-spwitt195970667dec19,0,4317357.story?track=rss