Western Road Trip Starts Off Strong, Loses Steam

Islanders 4: Ducks 5 (OT)
Islanders 0: Kings 1

After the Isles' great win in Vancouver, they kind of lost a big one in Anaheim. After getting out to a good lead, they coughed up two goals in the final period and then immediately lost the game in the first seconds of overtime.

It happened like this: Richard Park, Kyle Okposo, Kyle Okposo, and John Tavares, in that order. Park crashed the net and got one past Jonas Hiller at 9:53, then Okposo made some pretty moves into the zone and deflected the puck off of Lubomir Visnovsky's skate for a goal in the last minute of the first period. That pulled the Isles to a 2-2 tie after Visnovsky and Matt Beleskey had scored to give the Ducks a lead. In the second, Okposo chased Hiller with a shot from a sharp angle that willed its way through Hiller's arm and into the back of the net. Then Tavares got a pass from Frans Nielsen and a great screen from Matt Moulson to break in Curtis McElhinney, who came on in relief for Hiller.

But after that, Jason Blake was in the right place at the right time, having a puck deflected off of him on the power play to pull the Ducks within one. Then Visnovsky scored his second in the final 30 seconds of regulation- a real shame, as Martin Biron was definitely making up for some earlier gaffes with some good saves. Then in overtime, Bruno Gervais skated through the neutral zone with the puck and coughed it up to Saku Koivu, who flew in on Biron all alone and placed the puck perfectly for the overtime winner at :14. A heartbreaker for sure, but at least the Isles were able to hold onto a point.

Perhaps even more frustrating than a loss like that is a loss by only one goal- especially if that one goal is the only one scored in the entire game. And last night, that goal was scored by the wrong team. Brad Richardson scored his 11th of the season for the L.A. Kings, and Jonathan Quick got his fourth shutout of the season with 26 saves. This sounded and looked like a pretty even matchup, the only difference being the one mistake by the Isles' defense to allow a screen in front of Dwayne Roloson for the eventual gamewinner. However, you know it's a good night for netminders when both goalies ended up getting stars in the game (Quick with the first, Roli with the second), and the Isles head back to New York for a matchup with those pesky backyard foes, the Rangers, on Wednesday night at MSG. If I can get the time and a feed for this one, then all will be right with the world, because there's nothing I love better than a good Rangers-Isles matchup and a night of trash-talk with my favorite Rangers fans!

Let's go Islanders!

JT Finds Points Galore in Vancouver Rout

Islanders 5: Canucks 2

Well, well, well... where has this #91 been?!

That's probably what many Isles fans are saying of center John Tavares today. He factored into all five Islander goals last night in Vancouver, scoring two and assisting on the other three, capping off a great night and a 5-2 win. Dylan Reese (who?) scored his first career NHL goal, while Freddy Meyer and Matt Moulson also tallied goals. Kyle Wellwood and Alexandre Burrows got the Canucks on the board.

Of course, I was unable to watch this game, but I got plenty of news about it thanks to my friend Matt- he gave me the shock of my life when he told me JT had scored two goals and had five points on the night. After struggling with production for much of the calendar year 2010, it seems as though Tavares has found some kind of start-up again. Who knows how long it might last- all I know is, I'm hoping it does for a while. Offense is one thing the Islanders really need, as everyone knows, so if we have our #1 draft pick putting up big numbers for the next couple of games (or even a goal or a couple of assists or something) it would definitely help.

As for me... I really, really need to get back to watching some games. NHL Center Ice, where are you?????? Day #34 of Islanders withdrawal, and it's getting severe. :(

The View from Section Blur

Ya so Angie is having computer issues so for now ya’ll are stuck with just me. Lucky you. Thing is, I’ve been uber busy so the Islanders and hockey in general this season have been a blur.

Brendan Witt has left the building. That sucks. What sucks more is too many Isles fans yapping about how #32 didn’t fit into the system (which may not have been a bad thing mind you), was too slow of a skater blah blah blah blah. How short of a memory some Isles fans have. When Ted Nolan left as coach it was Brendan Witt who was the glue that held the team together and dare I say the fan base. Everyone, meaning everyone collectively looked to Witt when Isles fans were like WTF? is with this ownership and with the future of the team? It’s one thing for a player to be a commodity to management, but it’s a sad day when someone as dedicated to this team and a lover of Long Island becomes a commodity to a fan base that Brendan Witt served well both on and off the ice.

Moving on –

Let’s see…Angie covered Andy Sutton being traded, Isles win over Chicago followed by loss to Atlanta…uh hold on….ring ring…yes this is she who is this…Satan is that you? I thought you were in hell?...oh you’re on the Bruins now?...same thing?...what? Comeau? Hat-trick? Hell froze over? Excellent. Quite possibly Mr. “six goals in two games” figured it was better to play like he is able than to be right as I suggested some blog posts ago…or not as the case may be.

Islanders lost to the Bruins 3-2, Satan came to town for real, Mark Streit earned his 200th career NHL point, Josh Bailey scored his 14th goal of the season (you can do better than that though…stickwork stickwork stickwork) and Matt Moulson scored his 23rd goal of the season, excuse me Mighty Matt Moulson as I understand him to be…the dark horse coming from behind and now in front as the Isles leading scorer.

The Isles then tripped to Philly. Let’s get the most important point out of the way –
(Getty Image)

THERE WILL BE NO MORE OF THAT MARTIN BIRON! I don’t care if you played for that team, you are an Islander now so knock it off.

Although not at the Wachovia Center for this game, I was able to watch it on TV until sometime late in the 2nd period, once the energy of the Islanders shifted, I turned the game off to avoid the outcome - although my friend AJ was more than happy to text me updates. FlyerDork. Despite the fact that the Isles started off strong with goals from both John Tavares and Kyle Okposo in the 1st period, the Flyers won afriggingain! 15 in a row. What a way to ruin a game that started out so well for the Isles with three penalties in the 3rd period causing two goals for the Flyers. High-sticking and boarding were the penalties – will they ever learn?

Was able to watch most of the St. Louis game. To sum it up – ping pong hockey ending with Martin Biron looking completely unaware he was a NHL goalie in a shoot out. Where he ‘went’, only Biron knows…or not as the case may be.

Rick DiPietro out for who knows how long, Doug Weight out for the rest of the season due to a shoulder boo-boo and to make this rainy day darker – the Flyers beat Chicago today.

My eyes burn when seeing Phoenix that high in league standings? How the h-e double hockey sticks did that happen?

Tonight the Isles host the Devils (7pm) and then host the Maple Leafs tomorrow (5pm).

LET’S GO ISLANDERS!!

ps. the WTF? is with this ownership and with the future of the team? still stands.

Post-Olympics, Isles Start With a Trade, Then With a Bang, Then a Whimper

I've missed almost this entire week's worth of hockey action, to my chagrin, mainly because of my relocation to Western New York (which I've mentioned in earlier posts). I tell you, though, one thing that Buffalo is crazy about is their hockey. In almost every store you go to, there's something Sabres or hockey-related. It's quite comforting, actually, seeing as New Yorkers never show this much devotion to either the Rangers or the Isles. Still, I'm not showing any signs of changing my allegiance, to many Isles fans' delight, and I promise to be more diligent in my posting as time goes by. It's all just a matter of sitting down and getting to watch the games online (though my computer doesn't handle online video streams well, I don't think).

Anyway, the Islanders have been busy bees since the closing ceremonies, first trading away defenseman Andy Sutton to Ottawa (what?) for a second round pick. I'm not going to lie; I don't like this trade. I think we definitely could have gotten more than just that pick for Andy, and moreover, um... where are we going to get size on this team, particularly on the blueline? At 6'6, Sutton ain't a guy you miss on the ice. I mean, sure, Streit has a hell of a shot, Hillen is a blur, Meyer can hit with the best of them. But they're all six feet tall or shorter (emphasis on shorter- the tallest one is Streit at six feet even). We need size, and we just traded away not only our biggest player, but a guy who (when healthy and not suspended) can shot block like no other, and throw out the biggest (clean, most of the time) hits possible. We had better hope that we can either sign him in FA once more or get another big guy there.

There was also some speculation as to whether either goalie- Dwayne Roloson or Martin Biron- would be moved. Twitter was, well, atwitter with rumors, and some even guaranteed a 95% chance that Roloson would go. Well, the deadline came and went, and a proposed deal to the Flyers did not come to fruition. The other players supposedly being shopped- Biron, Richard Park and Sean Bergenheim- stayed put as well. And the games continued.

The Isles started out well with a 5-3 victory against Chicago. Blake Comeau, somewhat of an enigma for the team, had a hat trick in the win, and Jon Sim and Richard Park scored the other two goals. Streit had two assists and Roloson made 41 saves to seal the deal, and it looked as though Sutton wasn't going to be missed much (just like it did when he had gotten suspended earlier in the year)... but then last night happened.

What, exactly? A 6-3 Thrashing- yes, a Thrashing, by the aptly named Thrashers of Atlanta. Roloson was pretty far off his game in this one, as was his defense. He allowed three goals in the first before being pulled, but Atlanta still managed to get to a 4-0 lead before the buzzer. Mark Streit cut that lead to 4-1 with 20 seconds left. Then in the second, the Thrashers reached a 6-1 lead before being cut off. When all was said and done, Niclas Bergfors, Nik Antropov, Clarke MacArthur, Maxim Afinigenov and Evgeny Artyukhin had all scored (Antropov with two). Rob Schremp and Tim Jackman stopped a bit of the bleeding with goals of their own, but it was too late to come back completely in a game where there were a few soft goals and definite mistakes on defense that cost the Islanders. I didn't watch the entire thing, only saw some highlights online (thank God for nhl.com's extensive game highlights! One thing that I absolutely love on their site), but I'm kind of glad I wasn't able to see too much of the carnage.

Next game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 pm against Boston, so make sure you catch it in lovely HD on MSG Plus. I'll (hopefully) be watching... and praying what happened last night doesn't happen again.