Campoli's Two Help Avoid Unlucky Seven

Blue Jackets 3: Islanders 4 (OT)

One year ago last night, the Islanders won Al Arbour's 1,500th game for him in dramatic fashion against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last night, with Arbour no longer present behind the bench, they did so once more- with a little too much drama than a fan would hope for.

Indeed, Isles fans likely thought they were stuck with the worst possible case of deja vu ever reported- yet another game only played for 40 minutes, and yet another 3-goal lead squandered over the third period. But the Isles of last night learned their lesson, and found a way to deny the Columbus Blue Jackets another point- and that way came in the form of Chris Campoli.

The first period was uneventful, but that was just the way Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock wanted it to be- methodical, almost lethargic, as to lull the Isles into a false sense of security and then break out and catch them by surprise. However, that never happened over the first 40 minutes of the game. The Jackets maintained puck possession and faceoffs in the first, outshooting the Isles 13-7 and winning twice the amount of draws (12-6). However, they failed to knock one past Joey MacDonald, who looked well-rested and pretty much on his game.

The Isles took over and poured it on in the second period. First came the hardworking Richard Park, who stuffed it past Fredrik Norrena (25 saves) for his first of the year, which made me and Christine very happy. (After all, Park is one of the Isles we cheer on often.) The Isles took penalty after penalty, but the Jackets, falling flat fast, were unable to score; in fact, the most blatant sign of their frustration early on came when Fredrik Modin missed a wide-open net, shooting the puck wide. Bill Guerin took what was perhaps the most frustrating penalty midway through, but made up for it about three seconds after coming out of the box, as Joey Mac headmanned a great play to Richard Park, who banked it up the left side and hit Guerin on the breakaway. Norrena couldn't stay patient, diving right for the two-pad stack, and Guerin went left, slipping it right past for the 2-0 lead. Then Campoli got going shorthanded, with a scrum in front resulting in the puck bouncing onto his stick, and then into the net. 3-0, Isles. 20 minutes left to play. Sounded easy to any other team.

But nothing comes easy for either the Isles or their fans lately, and after what was probably a very sound tongue-lashing on the Jackets by Hitchcock, they came out ready to play, as the Isles' skates seemingly got stuck on the ice-again. Marc Methot scored a wrap-around goal to cut the lead to 3-1. Then, 1:12 later, new Jacket R.J. Umberger tipped it in on the power-play, after six solid penalty kills for the Isles (which still needs to be remedied- why so many penalties??). Another Umberger goal tied the score at 3 and had Isles fans' heads spinning. The Jackets continued to outshoot the Isles all game, not to mention throughout the third period (at one point, they were outshooting New York 8-3), and they stole one point after a game pretty much dominated by the Isles, at least in the second.

Overtime came, and with that the calm, collected play of Joey Mac, as coach Scott Gordon noted that his play was key to keeping the Isles on top. He kept good positioning all game, made clean glove saves, and also had some noteworthy stops that the crowd was too happy to acknowledge. And then finally, Mike Comrie broke out with the puck. He hung onto it perhaps for too long, and lost it, but Bruno Gervais picked it up and shot for a Norrena save, and the rebound came right to Campoli, whose first shot bounced out of the net but was apparently a goal. For good measure, after a short celebration, Campoli picked it up once more and shot another bullseye, this time for the OT win- one a bit delayed in coming, but a win all the same, and a reason for Gordon to breathe a sigh of relief.

Tonight, the Isles look to carry the momentum over to the Garden for their first road matchup with the Rangers on Election Night. No saying who the players would vote for, and for good measure, we choose to keep sports and politics apart *wink*. It should be a spirited game tonight, as it always is between city rivals in the Battle of New York.

LET'S GO ISLANDERS!!

A Monumental Breakdown

Canadiens 5: Islanders 4

It was the classic example of counting your chickens, and it turned into a nightmare worthy of Freddie Kruger for Islanders fans at the Coliseum last night. They watched in horror as a 4-1 lead turned into a 5-4 deficit in the third period, and as the team let two points slip from their fingers. Instead of their first win in weeks, it turned into their worst start to date- 2-7-1. All of this after the best 40 minutes of Isles hockey you could ask for.
What went wrong?

The game started with an early Montreal goal by Alexei Kovalev, just 2:03 in. 22 seconds later, an Andrei Markov penalty allowed the Isles to answer fast, off the stick of former Habs D Mark Streit, to the chagrin of the many Habs fans having traveled from the north to occupy the Coliseum's most expensive seats. Then, the Isles would take their first lead since October 16, as goaltender Carey Price got caught daydreaming and let a softie slip past for Jon Sim to celebrate over. At the other end, goaltender Yann Danis, in his first start of the season, recovered well from the early hiccup, making 10 saves, including a breakway pad stop on Saku Koivu.

Then, in the second, the floodgates opened.
Alex Tanguay took a penalty 57 seconds in to give the Isles a power-play, and one of the nicest plays to date ensued- Trent Hunter to Doug Weight to Bill Guerin, who redirected the puck past Price for a 3-1 lead. A toe-to-toe bout between Georges Laraque and newcomer, 6'8'' Mitch Fritz would not swing the momentum in the Habs' favor, and Frans Nielsen scored his first of the year on a pretty backhand over a committed Price before the closing horn. Only one penalty was taken by the Isles to this point, and the PK made sure Montreal didn't capitalize and come to life. The Islanders were rolling now, winning nearly three-fourths of faceoffs and playing their best, most complete game yet.

And then, somehow, they simply strayed from the game plan. And kept taking draws in their own zone. And let Montreal take shot after shot, and faceoff after faceoff, and every loose puck, seemingly. And then Tomas Plekanec scored twice in 2:07. The Isles D started to scramble, and got lost in their own zone, as Chris Higgins scored to tie the score at 4. And then, as the rowdy Habs fans screamed themselves hoarse, Alexei Kovalev scored his second. And made the score 5-4. The Isles would manage a couple of shots on goal before the end, but Carey Price somehow became Henrik Lundqvist, and stopped everything. And the Isles, after 40 minutes of brilliance, of outshooting, outskating, and outscoring, unraveled before everyone's eyes. The look on Scott Gordon's face said it all- what in the world can be done?

5-4. 2-7-1. All numbers, but they lower the boom on what is a very young and brutal season for the Islanders thus far. It'll take more than words to take the bad taste out of their mouths after this one.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!

At first Maddy decided to go as Michael Phelps for Halloween but after some thought she opted to go as her favorite Islander Brendan Witt.


Resemblance? You be the judge.

(no animals were harmed during picture taking however many treats were given as compensation for the cats pointing and laughing)

New Third Jersey

Before the Isles v. Rangers game I was invited to join my friend Dom for the Islanders Business Club's revealing of the third jersey. A guy I met at the event stated the Isles changed the color to navy blue to make it more marketable. However as my next door neighbor at the games, Tom pointed out that the navy blue looks like black on the ice, which makes the players look more like Flyers than Islanders. I would think Tom's point trumps marketability.

Too bad this guy doesn't have a pulse, we could use him on D.


Bobby Nystrom and Clark Gillies. Bobby Nystrom was (and still is) my favorite Islander. As a young kid I couldn't tell who was who on the ice but Nystrom was easy to follow because his blonde hair stuck out of his helmet. I wore #23 for almost all of my athletic days...playing R/L wing to boot.

Strides Made, But One Point's All They Get

Islanders 2 : Flyers 3 (OT)

The desperation level was high going into last night's game at the Wachovia Center, and the Isles responded uneasily at first, and then well as time went by. Losers for four straight prior to this game, they worked hard and played well, pressuring on the forecheck and killing every penalty they took.

Until the very last.

Jeff Carter snakebit the Isles for two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Flyers got past the Isles 3-2 in front of a huge crowd still giddy over the previous night's World Series win for the Phillies. The Islanders, at the bottom of the NHL standings with only 5 points, are steadily finding their way to the net and ways to at least prolong a game and make it possible for them to win, but somehow that is not happening.

It started perhaps right off the opening faceoff, as the Flyers attempted to stuff the puck past Joey MacDonald straightaway. Then a series of lost draws by the Isles led to the first goal, a pretty passing play finished by Mike Knuble at 7:45. After that, the Isles had the chance to regroup and play hard, evening the score on the power play on a rocket of a shot by Bill Guerin after Scottie Upshall went into the box for hooking.

From then on, the Isles and Flyers played pretty much on a par with one another, which is a little surprising once you consider the situations of both teams- the Isles losing games, the Flyers on a winning streak. The defense and penalty killing was solid, especially on plays by Nate Thompson and Sutton (who made his presence felt in his season debut, much to the relief of Isles fans). On offense, chances were again generated, especially by the Weight line on the forecheck and also by Kyle Okposo and Trent Hunter. Richard Park also showed off his speed and smart play in some instances. Shortly after the Guerin goal, however, the Isles found themselves once again chasing for a tie after Carter's first goal, on a well-done redirection.

The second period yielded no scoring, but the Isles were definitely more comfortable and found more ways to get to the net, although Martin Biron (34 saves) was very solid. MacDonald, who made 25 saves of his own and who had gotten tweaked in the side after Sutton pushed Scott Hartnell into the crease, also escaped a much more severe injury in the second, thanks to his throat guard- a stray skate blade nearly slashed him across the neck. Thankfully, he was all right, and played extremely well, also getting help from the posts.

In the third, the Isles really started to move, keeping the Flyers in their own zone and constantly winning back the puck. Then, finally, Andy Hilbert scored late, as the puck bounced off of Ossi Vaananen, to tie it up (2nd goal of the season), and the underdogs- and seemingly, upstarts- pushed the game into OT. There, they got a pristine chance on a penalty by Kimmo Timonen to put the game away, but couldn't, on a couple of flubs by Guerin and the rest of the forward line. Then, Frans Nielsen inexplicably reached out and grabbed a Flyer, putting him in the box and putting the Isles on the PK once more. There, although they won a key faceoff and killed much of the time, with less than a minute to go before a shootout Thompson attempted a soft backhand clear that landed on a Philly stick, and gave them a chance to regroup, where Carter scored his second of the game, eighth on the season, and the game winner, making the Isles losers of five straight but snapping their four-game pointless streak.

Now, it's all about coming back home to face the high-flying Montreal Canadiens (7-1-1), who have proved hard to beat in the past no matter their record, against the Isles. They played well in this game despite the outcome; they need to find a way to carry that play over to home ice, minus the penalties and missed chances. Skate, shoot, and score- that's the name of the game.

LET'S GO ISLANDERS!

Effort, Check. Entertaining, Check. Win?...Win?...

Rangers 4 : Islanders 2

The worst part of a loss like this is that, despite the huge effort by the Isles over two and a half periods, and despite the penalty-riddled but respectable game they played, their fans still didn't find it in them to stay the course, as the score climbed late in a game between two very different-looking teams. The Rangers, now 9-2-1, skated off the ice to the sounds of the cheers of their own fans, still in the enemy's building. The Islanders, at 2-6-0, skated away to the opposing crowd's jeering.

The Rangers extended the Isles' losing streak to 4, scoring two third-period goals to make the final score 4-2. In the first minute, Chris Drury was credited with a fluky goal from behind the net in which Bill Guerin accidentally flicked the puck toward Joey MacDonald (in net again for the injured-again- Rick DiPietro) and MacDonald kicked it in. However, he rebounded nicely, stopping every shot afterward, and Kyle Okposo's hard work was finally rewarded in the last minute of the first period, as he scored his first goal of the season to tie things up at 1.

By the second, the pace was established, and the game took on a spirit of its own. Not much physical play ensued, although Aaron Voros and Nate Thompson did get into a lively scrum midway through, and both goaltenders- MacDonald (39 saves) and Henrik Lundqvist (30 saves)-and teams overall played very well, heightening the entertainment level as the game progressed. The Isles generated good chances, not only by Okposo, who had what was easily his best game to date last night, but by Frans Nielsen and recently returned defenseman Chris Campoli, who had nice defensive plays and offensive presence. But nothing came out of it, and soon enough, Ryan Callahan was able to capitalize by getting in between two Isles in front and slipping the puck through to make it 2-1.

The third period saw the Isles lose a step, then two, then tire out completely, as the Rangers rallied and put them away for good, first on a Gomez goal (his third) at 6:52, then Drury's second of the year and the game at 12:34. Mark Streit would cut their lead to 2 with the Isles' third shorthanded goal of the season (although otherwise, penalties were again a big part of the problem), but the Isles had nothing left. Thus, the Rangers are riding high, while the Isles look to start over on Thursday at Philadelphia.

Notes: Okposo had 7 shots on goal... DiPietro is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed lower body injury, unrelated to previous injuries, while D Brendan Witt will miss 3-4 weeks with a lower body injury as well... Andy Sutton is set to make his season debut on Thursday at Philadelphia, while Jack Hillen will be sent to Bridgeport... D Freddy Meyer also sustained an abdominal injury and is listed as day-to-day... Brett Skinner was called up from Bridgeport.

To Disclose or Not to Disclose Injuries

Much to do is going on about the Isles resistance to disclose player injuries. If the intention is strategy I’m all for it. If your opponent knows you hurt your shoulder where do you think he is going to purposefully make contact with your body? Doubt it would be your hip. From what I’ve read and heard there seems to be the attitude, by some, that they have a right to know. No you don’t. Anything revealed that would create player vulnerability doesn’t belong out in the public. Goalie hurt his left knee? Shoot em’ down low. It would be just plain silly to give an opponent this kind of advantage, an advantage they would be silly not to capitalize on.

The Difference Between Losing and Failing

Islanders 3 : Carolina 4

What a game. Much improved effort by the Isles that resulted in a cushioned loss. Although teams would prefer to have a W in their game outcome column, losing games is going happen, and at times is necessary for the greater good of the team – the larger picture of learning and building momentum which is the main outcome I’d like to see for the Isles this season. Tonight their consistent effort proved that there is a difference between losing and failing. The loss was cushioned by 60 shots taken on goal, the most shots taken in Isles history. But there was a downside to this number – 60 shots only yielded 3 goals, gave Hurricane’s Cam Ward a chance to claim 57 saves, and had to stand against Carolina taking fewer shots on goal, 28, yet still winning the game. And so tonight the Isles also proved that quantity does not always equal quality.

I showed up to the game at the beginning of the 2nd period, Carolina was up 2-0 and chatter was going about DP’s giveaway. Turned out it was Chad LaRose scoring for Carolina (3:43) after he caught DP’s attempt at clearing the puck and Rob Brind’Amour also scored for Carolina (8:49) in the 1st period from what I was told, off a rebound.

So began the 2nd period with DP not in net. I realize a back up goalie has to be prepared for anything but wonder if Joey MacDonald ever thought he would be getting this much ice time. From the sound of the crowd and comments being made around me, MacDonald sure has the support from Isles fans, and in net he seems to be holding his own overall. Freddy Meyer put the Isles on the scoreboard with his first goal of the season (3:56) after Andy Hilbert sent the puck in from behind the net. A few minutes later Nate Thompson and Nate Gleason went at it and then went to the sin bin, five minutes for fighting. Along came Freddy Meyer’s pass being picked up by Carolina’s Eric Staal that led to a breakaway goal (10:51), a wrist shot that by all means looked like it was going in before it went in. And here’s where it got a little kooky – Carolina racked up three penalties – Niclas Wallin (interference) at 12:09, Sergei Samsonov serving a slashing penalty for Cam Ward at 14:33, and Josef Melichar serving two minutes for holding at 18:08. Shots on goal during the second period were Isles 21, Carolina 7. This data would seem to build a case for the Isles scoring at least one goal on the power play but to their credit, Cam Ward did his job well and his teammates kept rebound opportunities to a minimum. Bill Guerin went into the bin for roughing as the 2nd period was about to end.

Even though the Isles were down 3-1 at the start of the 3rd period, the effort they were making made a comeback win seem possible - there was no doubt that cheering fans believed this to be true. Although nothing came of the power play when Dennis Seidenberg was in the bin for holding, a sign of hope did come when Sean Bergenheim scored a shorthanded goal (backhand, 5:45), while Mark Streit was serving two minutes for stick holding. But about two minutes later Carolina’s Chad Larose scored his second goal of the game with a wrist shot (7:11). Another power play opportunity came and went when Josef Melichar sat for tripping but all was not lost – while Ryan Bayda was in the bin for roughing, Streit scored on the power play (10:34), with a beautiful slap shot that like Staal’s goal, looked like it was going in before it went in. So there we were, Carolina 4, Isles 3 with the last minute of the game upon the Isles. And then it happened…fans who were already walking up the stairs to leave stopped to look behind them to see why the crowd was in an uproar and fans who were getting up to leave sat back down in their seats. That’s what happened when Carolina’s Tim Gleason covered the puck in the crease which led to the Isles being granted a penalty shot with seconds remaining on the clock. Quite possibly due to his having played for Carolina, Doug Weight was chosen to take the shot. I guess one could say that an advantage would be his familiarity with Ward’s style but wouldn’t then the opposite be true? – Ward’s familiarity with Weight’s? I thought the psychological aspect of the choice didn’t put the Weight at an advantage. My pick would have been Sean Bergenheim. So far this season Bergenheim seems really present on ice so that is why I would have picked him…plus he already scored on Ward why not make it two. I’m not sure what kind of shot Weight was going for but from my view it seemed like he didn’t get enough lift on the puck – it didn’t seem like the shot had enough ummph to get beyond a goalie who was coming off 3 periods of stopping shot after shot. Slice it dice it, the puck didn’t go in.

Two notes…

In the 3rd period Doug Weight checked Brandon Sutter as Sutter was reaching for the puck while committing the ice hockey no-no of having his head down. This caused Sutter to fall down and go boom – unconscious it appeared although he left the ice on his own two skates, questionable though is if he knew what year it was. Yeah I get it, this is a contact sport and fighting is a part of the game but what is being called a ‘clean hit’ doesn’t seem clean at all. Maybe I’m a wuss when it comes to these kinds of things or totally lack the hockey acumen to understand the place this kind of ‘clean hit’ has in the game. The way I see it is that these guys have fathers, mothers, siblings, wives, children and so on – people who depend on them outside of hockey. Potentially ending someone’s career or even worse causing permanent physical harm doesn’t have a place in the game. Now it’s put to anticipating if there will be any retaliation actually not if but what kind of retaliation towards Weight there will be the next time these two teams meet. And with too many Isles out as it is, can the Isles afford another player on the injured list?

Captain Bill 'Papa Bear' Guerin has finally won me over, yeah I know he’d been losing sleep over this. Last season his on ice demeanor perplexed me but this season he is defining his role with clear boundaries. A captain is someone I want to be able to look to for a reaction when something goes down with his team – my eyes automatically seeking him out – now they do. This is not to say he hasn’t served his teammates in the past but something seems different in the leadership vibe he is emitting.

Next up is the Rangers. Like their fans, the team is as significant as you make them out to be.

LET’S GO ISLANDERS!!

Sin Bin Extravaganza

Islanders 3 : Dallas 5

What I realized at this game? Even though I love watching hockey ‘live’, witnessing tonight the Ice Girls twirling around, the Ice Breakers attempting to do whatever they were hired to do, Isles fans booing their own team as if they have already given up on them, the loud mouth guy who sits in front of me providing loud mouth commentary the ENTIRE game, a fight breaking out in the 3rd period that left 2 young kids clinging to their dad as he tried to climb the stairs away from the fight…watching the games on TV has its advantages. Add to that me sitting in the middle of Dom and Anthony who amuse themselves by torturing me with their ‘in your face’ cheers for the Ice Girls and Ice Breakers. Lucky for them they are funny.

Speaking of giving up on, did the Isles fans who booed the team not get the memo stating there is a new coach? Do they not realize that this means the team will go through a transition period adjusting to a new system? Or that this was only the 6th game of the season? Although, booing your own team is a sucky thing to do no matter what game it is.

Speaking of sucky – in the first period Brendan Witt was injured and then left the game with what has been reported as a ‘lower body injury’. By the look on Witt’s face as he rocked back and forth on the bench, it was indeed a painful experience.

Speaking of painful – the game outcome. With Dallas getting hammered by the Devils on Wednesday night 5-0, one would think the Isles had a decent chance at winning this one. With the total shots on goal for tonight’s game being Isles 27, Dallas 29 one might think a winning outcome would have also been possible. Nope and nope.

Shortly into the 1st period Thomas Pock and Sean Avery had an ‘exchange of ideas’ in front of the net with Kyle Okposo joining in that led to his taking a seat in the penalty box for roughing. While sitting in the bin reflecting upon his transgression, Loui Eriksson scored for Dallas (3:30). It was at 6:01 in the period that the Isles seemed to come alive but it wasn’t enough to prevent Dallas from heading to the locker room with a 3 goal lead. Brendan Morrow scored on a tip in (14:13), Sean Bergenheim served two minutes for roughing and Loui Eriksson scored again with a backhand (18:22). Both goals at full strength.

The second period started off with noticing Witt was not on the bench. Yikes. Soon after came a sin bin extravaganza. I was jotting notes when it all started but it involved Trent Hunter and then both teams, resulting in Stephane Robidas (kneeing), Sean Avery (roughing), Sean Bergenheim (roughing), and James Neal serving for Avery (roughing) heading for a time out. About a minute later Philippe Boucher joined his hockey brethren, two minutes for cross checking. Below is my Treo’s attempt at capturing the sight of 4 Dallas players standing in the bin.

Add this all together and what do you get? The Isles getting a two minute 5 on 3 advantage with the puck making friends with the goal posts instead of the net. And as if that wasn’t enough penalty to and fro, a few minutes went by before Mike Comrie served two minutes for too many men on the ice. After that it seemed as though things were settling down until Rick DiPietro caused a few of us to hold our breath when he skated away from the net as a Dallas player skated his way. It was much to do about nothing thank goodness. Bill Guerin broke up some ice hockey ping pong by scoring his second goal of the season, a solid wrist shot assisted by Bergenheim (10:16). The rest of the period made way for Dallas scoring two goals, Krystofer Barch (13:05) and Mike Ribeiro (18:27), with Ribeiro scoring a shorthanded goal as Bergenheim sat in the penalty box for the 3rd time (roughing).

With Dallas up 5-1 at the start of the third period, little hope of a comeback was in the air. While Mark Fistric was serving time for tripping, Mark Streit’s snap shot sailed passed Marty Turco, his first goal of the season (3:28). Following penalties on Doug Weight (elbowing) and Philippe Boucher (interference), Jon Sim ended the game with a snap shot goal (19:57), his first of the season.

The highlight of this game? My niece Kelsey texting me during the second period to see if I was at the game. In 2007 I took Kelsey to her first NHL game, Isles vs. Flyers in Philly. Her interest in ice hockey, as an Islander fan of course, has set in and in November I will be taking Kelsey to her first Islander home game. It’s good to be the Aunt.

LET’S GO ISLANDERS!

DiPietro Back in Net, But Isles Fall Flat

Islanders 0 : Panthers 2

Prior to this game, Tomas Vokoun had been rocked in the crease by the Minnesota Wild, allowing four goals against in 39 minutes of play. One would have hoped that, based on that performance, the opposing offense would have taken advantage yet again and thrown 4 or past him.

Instead, however, the Islanders gave Vokoun a huge break.

Without a pure goalscorer, the Isles (2-3-0) need all hands on deck each night on offense to ensure a win, but that didn't happen last night, as they were blanked 2-0 at Bankatlantic Center, stretching the Panthers' winning streak to five games over this season to date and last year. On the Panthers, Nick Boynton scored on a crossbar shot from Keith Ballard only 24 seconds in, as the Isles were caught completely unawares on defense, and then at 8:48 of the second, Nathan Horton, attracting four Isles to him, passed to a wide-open Cory Stillman on the PP to make it 2-0. That would be all they needed, as even Bill Guerin's six shots, Kyle Okposo's four, and a scattered amount of chances by Jeff Tambellini were unable to sneak past Vokoun.

The quality of shots taken by the Isles and Panthers were decidedly different from each other, in that Florida found ways to get past DiPietro (34 saves in a solid effort after the 24-second hiccup), and the Isles elected to make it easy for Vokoun, no thanks to the aggressive Panthers D either. Also, while the Panthers put the body on early and often, the Isles were hesitant and almost content to let the other team push them around and get to the puck. This is a team that always, always finds a way to win against us no matter what their record may be, and that means we need to shut them down at all costs, particularly their hot buttons on offense- Horton and David Booth, who are consistent "Islander-killers." Instead, the Isles seemed to pass up good opportunities to do so.

Now, with a four-day break in between last night and Thursday's home game against Dallas, the Isles have to regroup and come out strong against Marty Turco, Sean Avery and Mike Modano. The penalties also were of no help to them in this game, and it's almost, as Howie Rose mentioned, a trick of relearning what you can and cannot do in this no-longer "new" NHL. No matter what it may be, the Isles have to learn fast if they want to succeed. Scott Gordon's "shooters-first" mentality is proving to be a good idea, but if they pass up on the best plays, it might all be for naught.