Scapegoat?

Your New York Islanders had a home at home series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  These two teams have a history and do not like each other and it was evident in both of the games.  The Islanders line up looked like this:

Forward lines: Moulson-Tavares-Okposo; Grabner-Nielsen-Parenteau; Rolston-Bailey-Martin; Wallace-Panolfo-Niederreiter.

Altered D-pairs: Hamonic-MacDonald; Streit-Reese; Eaton-Jurcina.

Montoya in Goal.

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In Game 1, the Islanders looked flat and fell by the score of 3-0.  They played with grit, but were guilty of sloppy play throughout the game.  At times, the Isles seemed to be getting it in sync, but failed to complete the comeback.

Tonight, the Islanders took a 2-0 lead, only to fall by the score of 4-3 in O.T.

The effort was much better in Game 2 than the previous game in Toronto.  The offensive pressure was there and their compete level was evident.  Al Montoya looked pretty good, coming off a concussion that sidelined him on December 20th.  The teams defensive effort was suspect yet again.

Tavares and Bailey scored for the Islanders’ first two goals.  It was JT’s 13^th point in 14 games and Bailey’s 2^nd short-handed goal in a week.  P.A. Parenteau scores the tieing goal with 13 seconds in the game to force O.T. with Montoya on the bench for the extra attacker.

During the O.T., Grabovski knocks down Matt Moulson, no call by the officials, giving Toronto a fast break opportunity for MacArthur’s game winning goal.  Al Montoya makes the grab, but his glove is over goal line.

As if watching the game wasn't enough of a reminder, the posts are all over Twitter.  Kessel, Grabovski and Phaneuf were among the many Maple leafs taking liberties at the Islanders expense against John Tavares, Jay Pandolfo, Matt Martin, Andrew MacDonald and Brian Rolston to name a few.  That would be two games against Toronto, or 6 periods without a power play opportunity for the Islanders.

The officiating was awful again.  So bad, that I feel the NHL should be held accountable and the officials made to answer for their inability to do their job correctly.  The team, management and fans are all disgusted with the way calls have been made this season.  Its easy to blame others for failure, but the calls have really been bad and had an effect on the Isles ability to stay in a game, several times this season.  Arthur Staple reports that John Tavares spoke to one of the refs going off the ice after taking Phil Kessel's stick to his face: "You're a ------- joke!"

Isles Notes:

JT’s 12 game scoring streak came to an end last night in Toronto.

Arthur Staple points out; will the folks who wondered why Tavares chose to stay with the Islanders also wonder the same about P.K. Subban this summer with Montreal and Taylor Hall next summer with Edmonton?

Dylan Reese continues to play as Staios is scratched.

Evgeni Nabokov was named 3rd star of week by NHL, and in goal vs. the Maple leafs last night, his 15th start in last 16 games.

Casey Cizikas has been named to replace Calvin de Haan as Bridgeport's representative to the AHL All-Star game in Atlantic City on January 29^th and 30^th.

The Isles are 19-22-7 with 45pts, ranked 13^th in the Eastern conference.

The Islanders face the Hurricanes in Carolina on Monday, January 31st at 7PM.