Tonight, the Boston Bruins are at the NVMC to
face your New York Islanders. Tonight
represents another big 2 points against a quality team before the outdoor game
vs. the Rangers on Wednesday. But the
real exciting news of the night is Lubo Visnovsky and Evgeni Nabokov are back
in the line up and Travis Hamonic is said to be day-to-day for a return to the
line up. What difference will they make
if any moving forward?
Forwards:
Vanek-Tavares-Okposo;
Regin-Nielsen-Bailey; Grabner-Nelson-Clutterbuck; Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.
D-Pairings: Strait-MacDonald; Hickey-Visnovsky; de
Haan-Carkner.
Kevin Poulin is in
net with Evgeni Nabokov on the bench.
The Islanders start
the game on a very slow and sluggish pace, and quickly find themselves as badly
outshot as 18-2 at one point. Shortly
afterwards, the Bruins get an odd goal to make it 1-0 Boston. A PP chance gets the Isles back on the
shooting side of things until Frans Nielsen ties it at 1-1 with a nice wrist
shot from in close off a feed from Kyle Okposo. Credit the Isles and Kevin Poulin for surviving that
onslaught. Michael Grabner breaks out,
but shoots wide on a break away chance.
Eric Hornick mentions, "Isles were outshot 18-2 in first 12 mins;
outshot Boston 10-0 in last 8 ."
Shots finished at 18-12 Boston.
The Isles finished the period with a much stronger effort.
The Isles start the
second period on a PP, but failed to score and look a little scattered. Boston takes a 2-1 goal lead with a
breakdown in front of the net with Poulin out of position. The Islanders regroup and start pressuring
the Boston net with sustained pressure.
Michael Grabner scores (Okposo & Hickey) to tie the game at
2-2. Bruins come back and score on a
delayed penalty call, 3-2 Boston.
Immediately afterwards, Okposo goes off for a cross check, Boston to
another PP. Michael Grabner bursts out
for another break away, Okposo joins the rush from the box and a beautiful
passing play between the two leads to the tying goal from Okposo, 3-3. Hickey gets turned around and allows
Soderburg to put a goal over a sprawling poulin in the closing seconds of the
period, 4-3 Bruins. The Isles defense
needs to tighten up. They cant keep
this up if the team wants to win.
Poulin is not having his most consistent effort either. This team can not keep giving up 3-4 goals a
night and expect the scoring to bail them out each time. Isles now leading SoG 29-27 in the
game.
Isles start the third
on another PP opportunity. Isles come
up empty and allow Boston to to make it 5-3 off some uninspired defensive
pressure. de Haan, MacDonald and Poulin
looked bad on that goal. Isles are
disorganized and out of sorts, no fore or back
check or applying the necessary pressure against the Bruins. Poulin victimized again, 6-3 Bruins is the final. Nabokov comes in to relieve Kevin Poulin (30-36
with an .833Sv%) who had a tough night.
Evgeni Nabokov was 1-1 in the net.
Shots totals finished at 37-37, but once again the Isles PP was 0/5. Lubo
Visnovsky looked pretty good, although a little bit rusty as expected. Kyle Okposo had a strong effort tonight.
Isles complete a 3
game home stand and only get 1 point.
They cant let up this many goals each game, especially having to
constantly come from behind and expect to win consistently. I am not a fan of Capuano's style of
coaching. Good coaching is more that desperately juggling lines as the ship is
sinking. Tonight's game was an example
of why the Isles just aren't where Boston is yet. It takes time, personnel and
luck. There are a lot of good pieces in place here, don't panic. As fans, we tend to dissect every bitter loss and
over emphasize team failures. That doesn't
mean there isn't reason for concern. The
Isles defense and goaltending were in need of upgrades since the summer off season, and they are
still there today. Despite a rich prospect
pool, the Isles have a lot of gifted players on the clock right now, so success
and taking steps forward are a must.
They cant afford to just rely on that pool and that guys like Reinhart & Pulock are coming,
when break downs like the ones in tonight's game are so prevalent. Replacing an aging Nabokov must be done
soon. If the team gets a healthy, veteran
goaltender who can keep them in games consistently, it will be easier for blue
chip defensemen to cut their teeth while playing a role on the Isles blue
line.
The players aren't
happy about this effort tonight. They
wont need any more motivation to face the Rangers in back to back games over
the next few days, especially the next game coming on Wednesday in Yankee
Stadium.
Per Brett Cyrgalis,
"Grabner on Wednesday's game: "It's the biggest game of the year for
us."
Isles Notes:
The Islanders have 1
more game to make a decision on Calvin de Haan and the Olympic break.
Per Kerry Fraser,
"When "a distinct kicking motion" isn't in the slightest bit
distinct!"
Per Brett
Cyrgalis," reached an agreement with WCBS 880AM to broadcast the game on
Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. Chris King and Rob Joyce will be on call."
Per NHL,
"Announced attendance of 50,105 at Yankee Stadium pushed total attendance
for the first three outdoor games of the 2013-14 season to 209,695."
Per Chris Botta,
"50,000+ tickets sold for Isles - NYR game at Yankee Stadium. Sellout
almost certain in next 18 hours."
Travis Mills.
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