This afternoon, your New York Islanders will
face the Columbus Blue Jackets in their alternate black jerseys for the final
time. Arthur Staple mentions,
"Isles are 7-11-5 in black
third jersey since it was introduced in 2011. Also 0-3-0 in Stadium Series jersey,
which is new third sweater." While
Kyle Okposo (lower body) will be back in the line up for today's game,
Visnovsky (upper body) and Grabner are still out.
Columbus has a chance
to regain a spot in playoff position with a win today. So will the depleted Isles
be up to play spoilers and get a win against a Columbus team that they are
0-2 against this season? The Islanders
have some young players in the line up that are getting NHL game experience
despite falling out of a playoff race.
The final games of this season will have more value to the organization
than they might appear.
Forwards: Lee-Nielsen-Okposo;
Bailey-Nelson-Clutterbuck; Martin-Strome-McDonald; Halmo-Cizikas-Sundstrom.
D-Pairings: de Haan-Hamonic; Hickey-Czuczman;
Carkner-Donovan.
Evgeni Nabokov is in
net with Anders Nilsson on the bench.
The Isles came out in front of 15,008 NVMC fans,
ready to face an inspired Blue Jackets team.
They were skating, finishing their checks, moving the puck well and
following up on the play. Team defense
seems more dialed in today and playing real well in their own zone, especially
on rebounds. Czuczman with a much better flow to his game as well,
playing the body and good hockey sense.
Cal Clutterbuck (Nielsen & Sundstrom) gets the Isles on the board
with his 10th of the season, 1-0 Isles.
It's Johan Sundstrom's first career NHL point. Isles & Blue Jackets are tied in shots, 8-8.
The second period
brings much of the same in context of gameplay. While Columbus is playing hard, the Isles are outplaying them to a
man. Its a good effort to see. Casey Cizikas resumes his me against the
world efforts and does his best to make things happen. Travis Hamonic (de Haan) with a "Bobby
Orr" like rush, slicing through the Columbus defense and puts it by
Bobrovsky for a 2-0 Isles lead. What a
great play by Hammer who has really been leading by example. CBJ with a 16-15 edge on shots in the
period.
In the third, the Isles are on script to start
the period. Columbus has elevated their
game and have really been pushing into the Islanders zone to get shots on
net. Nabokov and the D, equal to the
task so far. Blake Comeau's
cheap shot on Ryan Strome is answered by Isles Mike Halmo. Halmo crushes Comeau in the fight, but gets the misconduct. Columbus finishes the game on the PP, but
are unable to score despite out shooting NY 17-9 in the period and 41-32 in the
game. The Islanders take 2 huge playoff
pts. from Columbus and get the 2-0 win at home.
Cal Clutterbuck, Travis Hamonic, Casey Cizikas & Frans
Nielsen (first time in career he has reached 50pt mark) continue to be a stabilizing veteran presence for New York.
Evgeni Nabokov also had a strong veteran game
today. He had 41 saves in his 58th
career shut out and 3rd of the season.
After being named first star, Ruttgaizer asked Nabokov if he ever
thought he would have had that many shut outs in his career. He answered, "I'm not done yet Peter." No disrespect, but here's hoping that if he returns to the Isles, it is nothing more than in a back up
role.
To constantly complain about falling out of the
playoffs and the disappointments of this season is something that cant be fixed
at this time and to dwell on that now isn't productive. Accountability remains a cornerstone, but as a fan, lets try and see the positives we can
get from the remainder of this season. When the team has checked and has played team defense, they have won with all their goalies. Credit
Strome, Czuczman, Lee, Sundstrom, Nelson,
Halmo, de Haan & Donovan for playing big minutes and doing their best to
not just fill in, but play well enough to get tough wins like the one earned tonight.
Per Peter Botte, "If we've learned anything, nobody does late-season
"Fools Gold" better than the Isles."
I know there is still a LONG way to go for this
Organization, especially in the off season, but I love the efforts of the young
guys. They continue to impress with
strong play against teams that aren't just playing through to finish the
season. These opponents are still
trying to rally for positioning or just make the playoffs in general. These are not easy games to keep pace in and
finish with a win. If you don't think it was a big deal, just ask
Columbus how big those points were to them.
Isles Notes:
The Isles are on the road vs Carolina on Tuesday, 3/25 vs @7pm, vs Tampa Bay on Thursday, 3/27 @7:30pm and home on Saturday, 3/29 @7pm vs the Devils.
The Isles are on the road vs Carolina on Tuesday, 3/25 vs @7pm, vs Tampa Bay on Thursday, 3/27 @7:30pm and home on Saturday, 3/29 @7pm vs the Devils.
3/23 Per Arthur Staple, "Isles source confirms Eric Boulton signs 1-year
extension. Will be 38 next season, but still a willing enforcer."
3/21 Per
NYI, Lubo Visnovsky has suffered an
upper-body injury. No update on Grabner. Day-to-day.
Per WHL, Kevin Pulock
has been named to the Eastern Conf. 1st All-Star team, griffin Reinhart has been
named to the 2nd All-Star Team.
Sound Tigers Notes:
Per BST, The Sound
Tigers have signed forwards Ryan Walters and Brock Montpetit to ATOs.
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