Happier "NEW" Year

On Saturday, December 31, 2011, legendary Islanders' defensemen, Ken Morrow was given the honors of the Islanders hall of fame induction. Your New York Islanders gave you their fans, a solid effort against the Edmonton Oilers with a 4-1 win in the old barn. A better team effort was necessary for the streaky Isles who still need to find a consistent output of their game in order to take the next crucial step. Steve Staios would return to the line up, Mike Mottau (upper body inj.) was scratched.

John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Matt Martin lead the way as the three stars of the game and the rest of the Islanders played very well around them. Matt Martin really stood out again bringing a more complete physical but disciplined game with a balanced offensive presence to the contest. Islanders.nhl.com reports that “Matt Moulsonplayed in his 200th consecutive game as an Islander and John Tavares scored his 150th point.”

The power play (2/3) and penalty kill (4/4 vs the third best PP in NHL) was great for the Isles. Evgeni Nabokov was good again letting up one goal on 29 shots with a .966 Sv%. Islanders’head coach, Jack Capuano says goaltending and special teams were the difference in the 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

2012 will see your New York Islanders face the Kirk Muller led, Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow night. The Islanders, with a 13-17-6 record need to win a majority of their remaining games in order to keep playoff hopes alive. With 84 goals scored vs 113 goals against, the Isles offense really needs to continue their surge for the team to compete and win. Stronger play by the defense is also necessary to help out the team goaltending, which has been pretty good so far this season.

Here’s to a better start in 2012 and a happier new year.

Isles Notes:

Forward lines at practice: Moulson-Tavares-Okposo, Rolston-Nielsen-Parenteau, Grabner-Bailey-Martin, Niederreiter-Reasoner-Wallace.

DiPietro, Nabokov and Nilsson in the nets.

Per the New York Islanders, F Micheal Haley has been returned on loan to Bridgeport.

Tom Mascioli of Isles Info tweeted, Isles end 2011 with a 4-1 defeat of the Oilers. 6-0-1 in their last 7 NYE games.

Eric Hornick says Isles now 14-1-7 in last 22 games at home versus Western Conference.