Your New York Islanders returned home to face the Carolina
Hurricanes for the second game of a home at home series to start the
season. Saturday's game would be the
final NYI home opener at the NVMC after the team declared they would be moving
to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The
move was necessary after several attempts were blocked by the county to update
the coliseum or build a new arena on its current site. But you know all that. You also know what happened last night, but
humor me and let's talk about the memory that was made.
Forwards: Conacher-Tavares-Okposo
Grabovski-Nelson-Strome Bailey-Nielsen-Kulemin Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.
Defensive Pairings: Leddy-Boychuk Hickey-Hamonic
Strait-Reinhart.
Chad Johnson in goal with Halak backing up.
Several players told the media that they noticed tailgaters
in the parking lot when they arrived at the Coliseum in the morning. It obviously impacted them and it showed. The
team came out to start the game without individual introductions and skated to
encircle the logo at center ice and saluted the crowd. A great gesture by the team and a great way
to start off the night. The Islanders
came out flying and were clearly feeding off a sold out Nassau Coliseum
crowd. Per Anthony
Stabile, "Players were extremely impressed & grateful for the
energetic crowd. Bailey said it's the loudest a crowd has been since the
playoffs."
In the first period, John Tavares (Nelson & Boychuk) and
Cory Conacher (Tavares & Okposo) scored for the Isles. They would enter the second tied 2-2. Brock Nelson (Boychuk & Okposo) and Josh
Bailey (Nielsen & Kulemin) would then score to make it a 4-2 game. The Islanders would surrender a goal late in
the third, but won the game 4-3 with a
strong effort. Chad Johnson had 21
saves on the night with a .875 Sv%.
PK needed to improve.
At times, the unit seemed scattered and disorganized in their
assignments. That sloppiness kept
Carolina in the game. Brian Strait looked especially horrible. You may indeed see Matt Donovan get his shot
against the Rangers on Tuesday.
Hurricanes got away with taking too many liberties against
the Isles. The physicality was matched
by the Islanders whether or not a penalty was called against them. John Tavares has instilled the attitude that
disrespect would not be tolerated in game 1, and his team has clearly bought
into that concept moving forward.
Brock Nelson is made a statement in the first two
games. He has 6 pts (3 & 3 for 6
pts.) while John Tavares & Johnny Boychuk have 5 pts, Kyle Okposo has 3,
Ryan Strome & Frans Nielsen have 2 pts so far. Six other players have a point.
Credit Josh Bailey for turning some hard work into results. Aside from the goal, Bailey had several good
defensive plays including some important clears late in the game as time
expired in the third to help preserve the win.
Josh Bailey was the third star & John Tavares was first star in the
game.
Chad Johnson gave the quote of the night to
Islanders.nhl.com. “As an opposing player you make that walk from the
Marriott [to the Coliseum] and you call it the gauntlet,” he said. “You can
tell the people here are really knowledgeable about hockey, they are cheering
at the right moments, they aren’t just cheering to cheer.”
I had a great time tailgating with Craig
Richardson and my friends in the New York Islanders Hardcore group, big supporters
of KoC for quite some time. As luck
would have it, I was seated next to Paul Eggs & Chris Egbert of Real Islander Fans. Two huge supporters of
mine that I was able to talk with all game long and get to know better. I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Kevin Judge of
Bleed Orange and Blue in person, another big, long-time supporter on KoC. The list of important people is too large to
note here and please don't be offended if I didn't mention all of you by
name. I was so glad to connect with
each of you and match the people with the avatars I interact with each and
every day. I was glad to get to know you
a little more as people & even though we may not live close enough for many
social calls, it doesn't mean we haven't shared a sacred space talking
Islanders hockey for all this time. The support I get on Facebook, Google & New York Islanders Reddit enable me to spread my message and for that I am grateful to everyone who takes time out of their day to actually read what I have posted. I
guess what I am trying to say is that it was an extra special event for
me. I know a lot of us realized that
the Isles time at the NVMC started coming to a close as soon as we got to the
tailgate celebrations. We knew that all
of these familiar rituals would have to change soon. But please understand that while I am bitter about the events
that created the need for the team to have to move, I'm not bitter about the
team moving to the Barclays Center. I
am quite psyched they will be at a state of the art arena in Brooklyn instead
of Kansas City or Quebec.
The years and years I spent going to the old
barn in Uniondale are times that will remain close to my heart. Watching the legendary teams win 4 cups and
19 consecutive playoff series were unreal.
Coming to the Coliseum has always been special to me, but the fans I
have met over that time are the real prize.
We can celebrate the final season for what it is. The last hurrah for a storied franchise in
our special place. We look past the cracked
concourse and crumbling façade and see the great moments in Islanders
history. That can never be taken away
from us. But what we can do is create
new memories at a new arena in Brooklyn.
We can create new rituals with the current players on the team. A group of guys that we have watched grow up
before our eyes and hope to see progress into something special. They are certainly off to a good start this
season.
Greatest impression made on me last night about
this Isles team was their character. They have it throughout the roster. From
John Tavares to Kyle Okposo to Casey Cizikas. The other impression made last
night, which is no less important is the amazing, passionate & deserving
fan base I am a part of. Truly, the 7th player on the ice.
I'm honored to cheer along side of all of you.
Isles Notes:
The Islanders meet the Rangers in MSG @ 7pm on Tuesday,
10/14, face the Sharks at home on Thursday,
10/16 and meet the Penguins on Saturday, 10/18, 7pm starts.
Former Islander, Trevor Gillies has been suspended one game
by the AHL, and is investigating the incident further. Reports of Gillies, "slamming a players
to the ice," were over stated to say the least. While Gillies has crossed the line in the past, the event in
question has been exaggerated by media reports.
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