With Ryan Strome making his NHL debut tonight,
the Islanders will face the struggling Montreal Canadiens. Both teams will come out hungry, but the
Islanders will see Evgeni Nabokov back in their net. Hopefully, these changes will jumpstart their game.
Forwards:
Vanek-Tavares-Okposo;
Grabner-Nielsen-Bailey; Nelson-Strome-Clutterbuck; Boulton-Regin-Martin.
D-Pairings:
de Haan-Hamonic;
MacDonald-Hickey; Strait-Ness
Evgeni Nabokov gets the start with Kevin Poulin
on the bench.
Right from the start, tonight's game was fast
paced and pretty well executed on defense for both teams. Eric Boulton dropped George Parros with a
solid punch to the jaw. Parros would
not return. There was plenty of puck
movement and checking to a man, but a smothering coverage from the shooting arc
in front of the nets. The Isles need to
open up their offensive scheme and have a more creative attack scheme. Going into the second intermission, the game
is scoreless.
To start the period, Lars Eller hit John Tavares with what what was classified as a hit to the head. Arthur Staple quoted Tavares, " Tavares said he didn't mind Eller hit. "It was mostly my shoulder. I didn't think it was too bad a hit." Evgeni Nabokov (23/23) was stellar in the third as he found his rhythm, making huge saves to keep the game scoreless and go to O.T. Shots were 23-21 Montreal after regulation play.
In the 4 on 4 O.T. period, Aaron Ness and Thomas
Hickey pairing made multiple mistakes early in the period, including giving up
the puck at Nabokov's net resulting in 2 Montreal shots on goal, the second
making it in to a mostly open net.
Montreal wins the game 1-0. The
Isles get 1 point in the standings, but lose another game in a most frustrating
way. Ultimately, another defensive
breakdown. It would have been nice to
get Nabokov (and the team) the win. I
question having that pairing out in O.T at that moment, but I obviously know
nothing about what makes good NHL coaching.
The good things: The Isles were out hitting Montreal and their PK was good going
2/2. Eric Boulton continues to up his
game beyond the physical stuff. He is a
responsible and decent hockey player.
Calvin de Haan was much better in the game, as was Brian Strait. Michael Grabner has looked good on the PK
and has played a much more physical game than we are use to seeing him
play. Cal Clutterbuck with a good
effort as well. Evgeni Nabokov was a
bit rusty, but found his groove in the third period and made some big
saves. Ryan Strome looked comfortable
and played some big minutes on 5 on 5 and PP situations.
Isles Notes:
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