Cappy: "We were pretty good in the third."

Your New York Islanders face the LA Kings without Jonathan Quick, who has a groin strain.  Kevin Poulin gets his third consecutive start and in in position to solidify his position as the teams #1 goaltender if he continues to play as well as he has been playing.

Forwards:  Nelson-Tavares-Okposo; Bouchard-Nielsen-Bailey; Grabner-Regin-McDonald; Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.

D-Pairings:  MacDonald-Hamonic; Hickey-Donovan; Ness-Carkner.

Making his third consecutive start in goal is Kevin Poulin with Nabokov on the bench.

 

In a back and forth first period, Kevin Poulin made 10 saves and kept the game scoreless for the Isles.  It wasn't until the second period that a hard working Casey Cizikas (Martin & Clutterbuck) and Aaron Ness (Tavares) scored for New York.  It was Ness' first NHL goal and first NHL point.  The period was a microcosm of everything the Islanders could do right and they played a solid period in front of a confident goaltender who helped them take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. Domination.  Isles had 15 sog while the Kings had 5.

 

 

 

 

The third period would be different.  The Isles have been outscored in the third periods 20-11 and this one would be no different.  After scoring in the first five minutes, the Kings took advantage of a PP chance and evened the score at the 12:15 mark.  The go ahead goal came in the final three minutes and that's where the scoring would end.  The Isles put a desperate flurry in the closing minute, but the game would end in a 3-2 Kings win.  Despite the tying and winning goal being deflected, the Isles still fumbled the lead and lost the game.  Isles were out shot 9-3 in the period, but had the edge 25-24 in the game.

Kevin Poulin was good tonight.  While he went 21-24 with an .875Sv%, he really kept the Isles in this one throughout the game.  He deserves the start again next game.  For whatever reason, the team finds a way to unravel, especially in the 3rd period.  Cheers to Aaron Ness on his first goal.  A great way to reward his strong efforts thus far in relief on the Isles blue line.

 

 

Colin McDonald put a check on Trevor Lewis in the third period that is sure to be investigated by the league as a hit to the head.  I felt Coach Capuano had a few opportunities to call a time out as the Kings were crawling back into the game, but choose not to do so.  Capuano:  "We were pretty good in the third."  I am speechless

 

Should the Coach be held accountable?  I don't think the Dynasty Islanders would have done what they did without Al Arbour, despite all the great players on the roster. 

 

 

How about you?