Your New York Islanders are in Montreal to face
the Canadiens. Kevin Poulin will start
for New York against his hometown team and Isles will try to rediscover their
winning ways and reverse their offensive slump. The Isles have been out scored 12-4 in their last few games.
Per Arthur Staple,
Hamonic: "I think we spend too much time talking about the past -- good or
bad. It's time to stop talking and start doing something."
Forwards:
Lines:
Nelson-Tavares-Okposo, Grabner-Nielsen-Bailey, Bouchard-Regin-McDonald,
Boulton-Cizikas-Martin.
D-Pairings: MacDonald-Hamonic, Hickey-Donovan,
Ness-Carkner.
Kevin Poulin is in
net with Evgeni Nabokov on the bench.
In the first, The
Isles moving the puck and generating chances, but they need to police the
neutral zone a little better Montreal
has gotten some good return pressure and put shots against Poulin, who looks
comfortable so far. Shots were 11-10 in
the period. Although the Isles
controlled the early part of the period, Montreal turned it up in the later
part and Poulin has really made a statement with his play thus far. Solid.
The second period
starts with Ness , McDonald getting caught a little out of place and Gallagher
gives Montreal an early 1-0 lead. Carey
Price looking good early as Isles with strong pressure, putting pucks on
net. After going 0 for 24 on the PP,
Pierre-Marc Bouchard ties the game at 1-1 for the Isles. Grabner puts the puck over the glass, PP for
Montreal. Lars Eller convers on the PP,
Montreal retakes the lead 2-1. Credit Poulin for the
the first two saves on that flurry.
Hickey's double minor allows Diaz to make it 3-1 Montreal in the final
minute of the period. The Isles need to
keep their crease empty and defensive zone clear. Isles lead 20-18 in sog.
The third period
needs to see the Isles play with some grit to give them a chance in this
one. Brock Nelson takes a
Tavares feed and makes pulls the Isles within one, its 3-2 Montreal. Goal was being reviewed for being kicked in,
but it stands. Galchenyuk is left alone
in front of the Isles net and slides puck past a sprawling Poulin, 4-2 Montreal. More struggling by the Isles top d-pairing. Theses are basic defensive zone failures and
the players keep committing the same errors, it falls on the head coach to
manage his players and correct the issues before they become habits or
slumps. Travis Hamonic appears to be
injured after sliding hard into the boards off a Pacioretty hit. Time expires as Isles go 0-4 on this road
trip and lose to Montreal 4-2. Kevin
Poulin finished, going 27/31 with a .871Sv%.
A few thoughts on the
game tonight. Even changing Capuano at
this point would probably just make Doug Weight coach before he is ready. Despite the Isles scoring a PP goal, the
special teams still haven't contributed enough.
Their offense should be better with the talent available and their
defense are missing responsibilities regularly. No discipline. The
Islanders physicality has gone away.
Their crease is always occupied and no more punishments seem to be
enforced as much as they are needed to be.
Especially when a top D-Man like Hamonic was slammed into the boards by
Pacioretty. Too little, too late. Michael Grabner has gone 17 goals without a
game and his speed threat for the Isles PK (now last in the NHL) is nullified by
his inability to finish or convert a scoring opportunity. While some of the call ups are looking good,
I'd rather see them make more mistakes while they learn to improve the Islanders
long term instead of Carker getting ice time.
With his play with the BST, Ryan Strome should get a look on the Isles
soon. Kevin Poulin should be inserted as the starter to gain the experience and mental toughness of an NHL starting goaltender.
All is not lost, but
it gets harder and harder to take. I
get your frustration, but I will continue to cheer this team on despite
frustration. I think there are moves to
be made, but I am not sure if they will be.
There is still time. But it's running out.
Isles Notes:
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