Your New York Islanders
announced that goaltender, Jaroslav Halak has been placed on IR (lower body) retroactive
to December 20th before the Christmas break, despite a few “maintenance”
days. The Islanders have recalled Kevin
Poulin on an emergency basis from the BST.
Poulin is 10-6-4 with a 2.41 gaa and a .928Sv% and is coming off a 2-0
shut-out against Providence last night. The
good news is that Halak practiced in net with Chad Johnson today and could
return to the line-up as early as Monday if his injury is in check. This could be seen as bad news for Chad
Johnson, in that the organization seems to be giving Poulin a chance to show
what he can do instead of going back to Johnson who had a good effort in the
loss to Montreal. Per Arthur Staple,
Capuano said, "Kevin (Poulin) deserves a shot. He played well in camp, he
played well last night. He's earned it."
Its Poulin’s first start since January 27th.
Tonight, Kevin Poulin
and the Islanders will face Ted Nolan, Matt Moulson and the struggling, but
improving Sabres in Buffalo. The Sabres
are 10-3-0 in their last 13 games. A
dangerous game for any team that finds themselves in a similar situation. The Isles will need a complete, 60 minute
effort tonight. A balanced scoring attack
& a solid defensive effort will be required to get a win tonight.
Forwards: Bailey-Tavares-Okposo,
Grabovski-Nielsen-Kulemin, Lee-Nelson-Strome, Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.
Defensive Pairings: de
Haan-Hamonic, Leddy-Boychuk, Visnovsky-Hickey.
Kevin Poulin gets the
start in net with Chad Johnson backing up.
In the first period, the
Islanders got on the board early off a goal from Nick Leddy (Okposo &
Bailey) through a John Tavares screen. 1-0 New York.
There is a much needed goal by the defense. Kevin Poulin looks good on his first few
shots of the game, including one against Matt Moulson in close. John Tavares is leading by example with
strong two way play again tonight. Lubo Visnovsky
has definitely been the best Isles defensemen tonight, including a nice effort
to break up a Buffalo scoring chance. Isles finish the period behind 10-9 in shots,
but will start the 2nd on a PP thanks to Stewart hit on Clutterbuck
at the end of the period.
Isles fail to score on
the opening power play of the period. Okposo
is called for trying to check a stick, Isles to the PK. Weak call, but Isles kill it off. Isles return to the PK on Hickey’s trip
against Ennis and kill that one. Bailey
forces a Buffalo turn over and John Tavares scores on the backhand to make it 2-0
Isles. Tavares ties Okposo for the team lead in
points at 30. Tavares is really starting
to elevate his game and that is a very good thing. John Tavares (Bailey & Okposo) scores
again to give the Isles a 3-0 lead. de Haan
called for tripping against Larsson. The
PK kills off another one. The Isles have
made their share of mistakes, but have tightened up defensively to help out
Kevin Poulin who has gotten better as the game has gone on. First line clicking with another good effort
tonight. Josh Bailey has started to look
like he belongs with JT & KO. Shots are
at 19-17 Isles by the end of the period.
Enroth comes up big on a
Frans Nielsen shot off a nice feed from Thomas Hickey early in the third
period. Deslauriers gets one for Buffalo
at the 6:39 mark, 3-1 Islanders. Gut
check time for Kevin Poulin and the Isles. Casey Cizikas has had another quietly
effective game for New York. Stafford
gets a call for goaltender interference against Poulin. Credit KP for selling that one. Isles to the PP. Girgensons gets a SHG to make the score
3-2. It’s the first SHG surrendered by
the Isles. Time out New York. de Haan
burned by Stewart, who goes five hole to beat Poulin & the game at 3-3. Three goals on 4 shots by the NHL’s worst
offensive team in 5:02. Islanders are
reeling here late in the third period and have fallen off defensively. Poulin has responsibility here, but it’s not
all on him. Sabres call a time with 26.6
remaining to draw up a play. Isles
finish regulation 33-23 in shots and trail 34-21 in face offs. Somehow, this game is going to O.T. The Islanders blow a 3-0 lead and salvage a
point. They will try for 2.
In overtime, the Isles have
a few good chances and Kevin Poulin makes a nice stop on Girgensons. Thomas Hickey is the Isles MVP in the
period. Isles were 0/2 on the PP and 3/3
on the PK. This game is somehow heading
to a shoot-out.
Moulson is stopped by
Poulin!
Kyle Okposo is stopped
by Enroth.
Ennis scores.
Frans Nielsen misses the
net.
Girgensons is stopped by
Poulin!
John Tavares is stopped
by Enroth. Game over.
The Islanders lose to the Buffalo Sabres
4-3 in the S.O.
The positives have been
addressed in the period recaps, but the real failures are as follows: Islanders blow a 3-0 lead, fail again on the
PP, mismanage momentum & lose for the first time this season in the extra session. Kevin Poulin
(23/26 with a .885Sv%) could have been better, but he was not the cause for
the loss. The cause: Another weak third period & failing defense
were the primary culprits tonight. Credit the
Sabres for fighting hard, but the game was given away by the Islanders. 23-11-1.
Time to refocus.
Capitals visit the NVMC
@ 7pm on Monday.
Isles Notes:
Per @TheGoalieGuild, “Poulin
starting tonight for the Islanders, making them the 12th team to use a 3rd
goalie this season.”
The Islanders have
reassigned goaltender Kent Simpson to the BST from the Stockton Thunder.
Isles G prospect Ilya
Sorokin recorded a 3-2 S.O. win in net for Russia vs. Denmark at the WJC
yesterday.
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