Islanders Make Dallas See Stars

Your New York Islanders host Tyler Seguin and the revamped Dallas Stars tonight at the NVMC.  The teams will meet again in Dallas on Sunday, January 12th at 6 pm.  The Isles will be looking to get back on the winning track and start a new winning streak. 

26 Thomas Vanek – 91 John Tavares – 29 Brock Nelson
16 Peter Regin– 51 Frans Nielsen – 12 Josh Bailey
40 Michael Grabner – 18 Ryan Strome – 15 Cal Clutterbuck
17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 13 Colin McDonald

37 Brain Strait - 47 Andrew MacDonald
44 Calvin de Haan – 3 Travis Hamonic
46 Matt Donovan - 14 Thomas Hickey

20 Evgeni Nabokov in net with 60 Kevin Poulin on the bench.

Kyle Okposo will be out tonight to be with his wife after the birth of his first child.  That means Brock Nelson will get another shot with J.T. and T.V. on the first line.

 

The Dallas Stars jumped to a 1-0 lead after a defensive give away from the recently recalled Matt Donovan.  Donovan is a strong prospect who earned another shot with the Isles from some solid play in Bridgeport.  Hopefully, he can put it behind him and refocus to make the most of this chance.  Evgeni Nabokov (7/8 with an .875Sv% before injury) stretched out to make a save and looks to have hurt himself.  I hate to think he could have re-injured himself.  If that is the case, The Isles will need a younger goaltender ready to carry the starting load that is good enough to keep them in the game each and every night.  Is that Kevin Poulin?  Kevin Poulin came on in relief and looked screened on his first shot against, 2-0 Dallas.  The Islanders battle through a tough period, but remain focused.  Per Eric Hornick, "Hamonic: "We've shown we can come back in games in the past -- two big periods coming up."

 

The second period would see Ryan Strome score a PPG (Vanek & Tavares) and his first career NHL goal to put the Isles on the board, 3-1 Dallas.  John Tavares (Vanek) ties the score about 5 minutes later at 2-2.  Just after the 9 minute mark, Peter Regin is set up (Bailey & Hickey) to give the Isles a 3-2 lead in the game.  Kevin Poulin has settled in and looks much better in net for New York.  Dallas ties the game at 3-3 off a penatly call on Casey Cizikas, who was caught retaliating.  Brock Nelson (Cizikas & de Haan with his 1st NHL point) gives the Islanders the lead again with just :27 seconds left in the period, 4-3 New York.  Isles have a 25-17 shots advantage after two.

 

Brian Strait uses Dallas D as a screen and goes 5-hole to give the Isles a 5-3 lead. Casey Cizikas victimized again on a penalty call of goaltender interference when he bumped into the net and Lehtonen fell to ice like he was shot, Isles good for the kill.  John Tavares scores a PPG (Nielsen & MacDonald) to give the surging Isles a 6-3 lead over the Stars.  MacDonald & Hamonic are victimized late in the period, but give the Isles a 5 on 3 PP opportunity.  John Tavares (MacDonald & Cizikas) gets his 5th NHL hat trick on a PPG through a Matt Martin screen in front of the crease. That makes 300th career point, 51 pts (in 43 games) on the year & 5 points on the night for Tavares.  Final score is 7-3 New York.  How is that for secondary scoring?  Isles outshot Stars 43-23, were 3/6 on the PP and won an impressive 45 faceoffs in the circle.  Oh, and Tyler Seguin? Not a factor tonight.

Stars of the game tonight:  1) Tavares   2) Strome   3) Vanek

 

Ryan Strome, Calvin de Haan, Brock Nelson & Kevin Poulin (13/15 with an .875Sv%) all figured prominently in tonight's win for the the Islanders.  The system is turning out quality players that are answering the organizations need for more than just roster spots.  These players, while having times to stumble as they learn, have really shown a reason to believe in Garth Snows rebuild.  When they play the amount of minutes that is asked of them and show improvement at this level, they are learning on-the-job and showing what we can expect in the future.

What else can you say about John Tavares?  He is an elite NHL player and the pride of the New York Islanders.  I wonder if he will make Team Canada?  Peter Regin who is often maligned, played very well tonight on second line with Nielsen and Bailey.  His defensive game is usually strong, but he added a big goal to the scorecard tonight.  Isles gain 2 points and improve to 15-22-7 with 37 pts in another "best of the season" type performance.

Isles came back with a character game here tonight. They went down 2-0, saw Nabby get hurt & could have mailed it in after that. Instead, they buckled down and fought their way back into the game.  Their fore and back checking were awesome and they played with the grit and snarl to get themselves back into it.  If this teams resilience & fire can be summoned when it is needed, they will be deadly. 

 

 

Consistency.

Isles Notes:


UPDATE:  Per NYI, "Evgeni Nabokov placed on IR w/ lower-body injury. Anders Nilsson recalled on emergency basis."

 

Per Scott Cullen, "Islanders D Andrew MacDonald 8 A in past 5 GP; C John Tavares 7 G, 6 A in past 6 GP; LW Thomas Vanek 5 G, 9 A during 9-game point streak."

 

Per Jeff Mannix, "Corey Trivino will make his Portland Pirates (Phoenix Coyotes) debut tonight. He signed a PTO earlier this week.  Trivino scored 5-19-24 in 29 games for the ECHL Stockton Thunder this season."