Jekyll & Hyde
The Isles' 5-3 loss to the Flyers last night epitomizes the story of the split personality New York Islanders. The Jekyll Islanders come out flying. They come out skating and hitting and shooting. They give you everything they have because they know the only way they will beat you is if they outwork you. On the contrary, the Hyde Islanders are not so anxious. They are not desperate to create scoring chances out of determination and grit. They are not willing to pay the price in front of the net to score the “garbage” goal. The Hyde Islanders like to try tricky plays—drop passes, no-look passes, through the legs behind the back, oh wait, another turnover. The Jeyklls came out in the first period last night, and it’s a shame the Hydes took over after that.
The turning point in the game last night was clearly the 4 minute power play, a majority which was in effect as the Isles started the 2nd period. Instead of applying instant pressure in a game that the Isles led 3-1, the Isles sat back and remained content as if they were going to sit on a two goal lead for 40 minutes. The Isles registered no shots on that PP, and the play of the Isles made me question whether reality is registering in Ted Nolan’s brain. 5 minutes into the 2nd, we all knew the Hydes were taking over the game. And as usual, Nolan did very little to fire up his squad. Did anyone notice the Flyers’ coach take a premature timeout in the first period, just to yell at his team? I’m still waiting to see that kind of fire from Nolan. I’m waiting for him to show that a listless effort with a two goal lead at home is unacceptable. I won’t hold my breath while I wait.
Mike Comrie turned the puck over at least 10 times last night, and was not penalized at all. MAB would have been shipped to Serbia. Hunter is simply not productive. His defensive efforts are overshadowed by his lack of offensive output. And we now know he’s a terrible fighter.
I thought AJ played way too much last night. He saw important minutes—PK minutes, PP minutes—too many minutes for a defenseman that Nolan hadn’t even played at D yet this season (remember the AJ offensive experiment?). He made some decent plays, but for the most part looked sluggish and offbeat.
The Isles need to inject some youthful legs into their lackluster offense. The speedy Blake Comeau was the most exciting Islander last night. On every shift, he seemed to create something out of nothing (which is quite impossible when your linemates are Andy “stone-hands” Hilbert and Tim “why do I have an NHL job?” Jackman. This loss cannot be attributed to unfortunate bounces when the Isles lacked a legitimate scoring chance for 2/3 of the game.
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7 comments:
Yup...................Bill
After the first period last night, it seemed the team was satisfied with the 3 goals they had scored and the two goal lead they had. While the players do performing on the ice, it is the coaching staff's job to make sure the players are hungry out there on the ice. With that solid chunk of powerplay time to start the 2nd period, the Isles could have pretty sealed the coffin on the game but instead decided to just take the time off the clock. This itself ultimately decided the fate of last nights game as all the momentum created in the first period was thrown out. It seems this team does better when they create little to no offense in the first 30 mins and finish the game off strong. Just once I would love to see this team play a full 60 mintues of hockey.
The best news of the weekend has come with the return of both Witt and Martinek for Monday's Game. Berard and AJ can now reclaim their seats in the press box. Hopefully FMIV can keep up his solid play until Campoli comes back.
Another collapse....another failure to maintain a lead.....another point lost in the standings.
Ho Hum. This is starting to become routine around here.
The handwriting is one the wall for the Isles. The hand you see on the ice is what the "brain trust" is going to go with for the rest of the year. We will NOT see Tambellini, Neilsen or Walter with the big club unless there is a complete downturn.
It seems that this bunch are very staisfied with mediocrity. Win one, lose two. Win three, lose five but get those OT points. We will hang around 8 th place and maybe squeak in again this year, only to be blown out in the first round.
I am so sick of this mentality.
Anybody else?..........Bill
I didn't see a collapse. I saw a puck that was going wide bounce off Gervias' leg. And Hunter screening DiPietro and a puck going through both of their legs. The Islanders should have won that game and had it not been for a bad bounce and two bad penalties, they would have.
Sounds like an excuse to me. Bill I'm with you. This team will seemingly be satisfied with mediocrity for years to come. I still would like to see a fire sale at the deadline. It's coming up sooner than we'd like to think.
Let's hope this team continues to play mediocrity for the next week n half to two weeks. This is our only chance for a potential fire sale to happen as the Isles would most likely be out of a playoff spot at that time.
This fire sale would also allow both Okposo and Tambellini to make the jump over the sound and onto the island. They have both been playing superbly since Okposo joined the team.
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