Sunday, February 24, 2013

Disadvantage: Islanders


 
Tonight, your New York Islanders start a 7 game homestand when they face the Carolina Hurricanes.  It was the last contest vs. the Hurricanes where all the problems and inconsistencies became painfully exposed for New York.  John Tavares and Travis Hamonic showed their frustrations and the season seemed to feel all but lost.  Since then, the Isles have gone 4-2 and are only a point out of eight position in the Eastern Conference standings.

 

Forwards: Moulson-Tavares-Boyes, Bailey-Nielsen-Aucoin, Grabner-Reasoner-Okposo, Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.

Defensive Pairings:  MacDonald-Hamonic, Streit-Martinek, Hickey-Visnovsky.

Kevin Poulin gets his first start of the NHL season tonight.  Evgeni Nabokov is backing up.

 


With 10,048 fans watching in the first period, the Islanders look strong.  Kevin Poulin looks calm and poised in his play so far.  Matt Moulson (Boyes and Tavares) scores on a nice rush to make it 1-0 Isles.  The Islanders are applying some strong pressure and a hard fore check, really playing well.  John Tavares (Moulson) scores off a nice wrist shot to make it 2-0 Isles!  Somehow, the Islanders were out shot 14-5 in the period they seemed to dominate.
 
 

The second period opens with more aggressive play from New York.  Kevin Poulin not getting much work here in the second thus far, he needs to stay sharp.  Casey Cizikas continues to bring energy to the Isles game.  Bad call against Martin, gives Canes a fluky PP goal.  2-1 Islanders.  And just :45 after, Carolina scores again, it's 2-2 game.  Although the Isles played poorly on defense there, that goal is one Poulin wants back.  Despite that, Poulin has played well so far overall.  The Islanders cant let a bad minute erase two good periods of play.  The Isles out shot the Canes 14-3 in the period, but were outscored 2-0.  Game tied at 2-2.
 
 

In the third period, the Islanders need to answer this challenge and show they have matured and keep up the pressure on Carolina.  Aside from a couple of rushes, the Isles look a little flat in the third.  Kevin Poulin has comeback to make a few nice saves.  More questionable efforts on the Isles defense and an odd man rush gives Carolina a 3-2 lead mid-way through the third period.  Cam Ward has really tightened up for the Hurricanes.  The Isles seem snake bitten late in the period.  Coach Capuano pulls Poulin in the final minutes and puts Reasoner and a struggling Okposo on the ice.  Why?  An empty net goal gives the Canes a 4-2 lead and the win in tonight's game.  Carolina finished the game with a 28-25 advantage in shots on net.
 
 

JT ties (Stamkos) for the NHL lead in goals scored.  That's 13 goals in 15 games.  Matt Moulson scored his 10th goal tonight.  That makes the Islanders the only NHL team with double digit line mates.  Kevin Poulin looked OK in his season debut with the Isles.  He was 24 of 27 with a .889Sv% in the loss.  Poulin should get better as he gets more practice with the team.
 
 

Marty Reasoner has been good on face-offs this season and has a few assists, but terrible on ice the rest of the time.  Kyle Okposo struggled through out the game tonight and still looks lost.
 


Once again, the Isles crumpled after bad luck, adversity or what ever you want to call it came up to challenge them.  When you out play a team and don't put them away, you keep them in the game to come back and beat you.  Tonight's game was yet another example of this principle.  Again, I blame the coaching of Jack Capuano.  His teams inability to play a complete game at home is ridiculous.



In a post game interview, Islanders Head Coach, Jack Capuano said they (Isles) shouldn't have been up 2-0 to start the game.  He said that he was aware of no emotion or spirit in the room before the game, "I saw it going into the game."  When asked how it could be fixed, he said he "couldn't figure it out for the life of him."  Maybe this team would benefit from a proven NHL coach who has won at this level and proven some proficiency over his career.
 
 

The only consistency of this promising young team has is their inconsistency.  Jack Capuano should stop blaming his star players.  He should stop blaming his Captain and take responsibility for HIS teams preparedness and compete level.  He has created an overall lack of confidence and fostered a losing culture with his coaching. 
 
 
Own it.
 


 
 

Isles Notes:
 

Radek Martinek will replace Finley in tonight's lineup and Kevin Poulin will get the start tonight for their season debut.
 

Kevin Poulin:  In 6 games last season, he was 3.04 GAA, .907 Save Pct. with 2 wins & 4 losses.


Islanders have worst home record in the NHL at 2-7 so far this season fter tonights loss.  They rank 6th best in NHL on the road at 6-3-1.  Per Eric Hornick, " so good on road, but match 2nd worst home start in their history (had 3 pts in 72-73, and 4 pts in 89-90 and this year) ."

 
The Islanders will face the Boston Bruins on Tuesday @7:30, the Toronto Maple Leafs @7:00 on Thursday and a 3:00 against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.



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