Eastern Quarter Finals, Game 2 - Islanders vs. Pittsburgh
Sidney Crosby will be in the Penguins line up for game 2. He is 20-55-75 in 41 games played vs the Isles.
John Tavares and Matt Moulson
will be on different lines for the start of the game. Carkner and Ullstrom are in the line up. Your New York Islanders are trying to stir
things up to take the next step in the playoffs. I would say keep the line up that helped the team go on their end
of the season run, but I'll settle for a genuine, hard fought effort to erase
the nightmare that was game 1.
John Tavares was smothered by
Morrow while Letang and rest of team harassed Tavares at every turn. The Isles need to protect JT, but get their
other lines working, have the defense be accountable for rebounds and jump up
into the play when they can. Its a 7
game series and game 1 is over. What
will happen tonight?
Forwards: Bailey-Tavares-Boyes,
Moulson-Nielsen-Okposo, Ullstrom-Aucoin-McDonald, Grabner-Cizikas-Martin.
Defensive Pairings: Streit-Carkner, Hamonic-MacDonald,
Strait-Visnovsky.
Evgeni Nabokov is in net with Kevin Poulin behind the
bench.
The first period
will see "Martin-Cizikas-McDonald"
line starts tonight for Isles. Looks
like Capuano trying to keep Pens -- and you and me -- guessing. (Arthur
Staple.)" The Penguins go up 1-0
via Malkin just :43 into the game.
Isles already failing to clear the area in front of Nabokov and control
the defensive zone. Pens to the PP at
about the 17:30 mark. PP goal for
Crosby, 2-0 Penguins. Cizikas draws a
penalty to get the Isles on a PP. Nice adjustment
on the PP, Matt Moulson (Tavares & Streit) puts New York on the board, 2-1
Penguins. Crosby comes right back to
make it 3-1 Penguins. Pens call time
out. Evgeni Nabokov may be off his
game, but the Isles have forgotten how to play defense. The offense is more active and getting more
decent chances than in last game. Pens
call a timeout. Boyes draws another PP,
fail to convert. Love the efforts by
Cizikas and McDonald so far. Isles
really taking it Penguins, moving the puck well and generating pressure. They need to work Fleury hard. Just need to do a better job in their own
zone. Isles outshooting Penguins 20-12.
Both teams at 4 skaters to start
the second period.
Ullstrom-Aucoin-McDonald line working Penguins hard, Ullstrom has looked
good so far after his layoff. Okposo
and Niskanen get into an epic bout, 5 minute majors each. Niskanen's face is covered in blood. Colin McDonald takes a lose puck around the
net and tucks it inbetween Fleury's left skate and the post, 3-2 the score. Nabokov getting better as game goes on. Pens to a PP from Visnovsky. Strait draws a PP from Igilna after he
knocks Crosby down. 4 on 4 for
:30. Good pressure with the 5 on 4,
Visnovsky from the box. Time
expires. Matt Martin (Bailey &
Neilsen) puts it off end boards and in, game tied at 3-3. Isles continue to create blue line turnovers
and work the puck back into Pens zone, moving puck well. Fleury is letting up big rebounds. Ullstrom making things happen. John Tavares is called for a 4:00 minor,
Pens to PP. Much stronger defensive
effort by the Isles on the double minor.
Team clearing rebounds, moving loose pucks and protecting Nabokov. Period ends with seconds left on the
PP. This has been the Isles best period
by far. Isles out shoot Pens 14-13 in
the period, and 34-25 in the game so far.
The Isles complete a huge PK to
start the third period. Nabokov with
two huge saves early. The game has
gotten chippy with both teams applying the pressure. Kyle Okposo (Moulson & Streit) sends it off the boards behind
Fleury and gets a "fortuitous" bounce, 4-3 Isles late in the third
period. Fleury put that one in
himself. Brian
Strait seemed to be in his groove and played well. Under a minute remaing, Penguins net is empty. Time expires and the Isles with a storybook
type win in Pittsburgh for game 2.
Shots in the third were even at 8-8, Isles with a 42-33 edge in the
game. Evgeni Nabokov went 30-33 and a
.909Sv%.
Recap:
The Isles embarassed
themselves in game 1. Tonight, they
came out with something to prove and were stomped right out of the gate and
down 2-0 early in the first. It would
have been easy to quit, say its Pittsburgh, then wait to go home and regroup. Not this team. Remember, we witnessed a turning point towards the end of the
season. This team has learned how to
win and even though they faltered in final few games, the never say die spirit
is in there. It took some grit and some
emotion to match a talented team like Pittsburgh tonight. It took team leaders like Tavares, Moulson,
Visnovsky, Martin & Nabokov to grab hold of this thing and make it
behave. The Isles used their line up to
fight back into the game and got momentum from Kyle Okposo doing whatever it
took to show how bad he wanted to win. He fought and bloodied his
opponent. The Isles rallied after that
and won a tough road game.
The Islanders go
home on Sunday to face the Penguins at the NVMC. The old barn will be rocking and our intimidation factor will
test this veteran team. Our fans will
let them know where they are. Section
329 will be in their ear all night long.
Credit the team for coming back to win and overcoming adversity as a
team. They fought for each other and
answered the challange. As Evgeni
Nabokov said, Its going to get harder and we have to be ready.
"We didn't
panic. We just kept going at them and found a way to win. That was a big win
for us." - Okposo
"It’s huge. For
us being in the playoffs & losing the 1st game the way we did, this game
was a little bit of a statement game." -Nabokov
#beLIeve
#STRONGisland
Grail Knight of the game is a new
category for KoC that awards a player for his standout performance that kept
his team in the game, helped them win or just never surrendered.
Grail Knight for Game 2: Kyle Okposo played well in the game and
dropped the gloves in the second period, sparking a huge Islanders comeback.
@IFiBklyn Thanks to everyone who came out to our Gamewatch tonight, it was a huge success!
Isles Notes:
Retweet #Islesfans! Never Say Die!!!!@NYIslanders playoff song here!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKNuoaGHO0 … … … … … … … #beLIeve# STRONGisland @FFDP
Retweet #Islesfans! Never Say Die!!!!@NYIslanders playoff song here!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKNuoaGHO0 … … … … … … … #beLIeve# STRONGisland @FFDP
B.D. Gallof mentions,
"Playoffs: great step for Isles- great statement of progress, great exp
for players, indicator of where they are & where need to go as org."
In IIHF play, Nino Niederreiter
first star of the game as Switzerland wins 3-1 vs. Sweden. @MrDanHu
Brenden Kichton has been named
WHL D-Man of the year.
Yesterday, Developers pitched
their plans to develop a new NVMC. Forest
City, Ratner Co. exec Brett Yorkman says Islanders would play 6 games a yr at
coliseum & have received 100 commitments for other events if they are
chosen to develop NVMC. MSG was in on
the bidding to develop a new Colisieum.
So a possibility of updated & improved Coliseum to host of relocated
AHL Rangers affiliate on very site of the Isles last American Dynasty. Why not.
NHL Notes:
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