This past weekend, your New York Islanders had another two
important games against another pair of really good teams. They would
face the Redwings in Detroit on Friday and the Tampa Bay Lightning at the NVMC on
Saturday. on Friday 12/19, Johnny Boychuk and
Travis Hamonic were removed from the Isles IR
list. That meant they would be ready to return to the line up in time to
help your New York against the Detroit Redwings.
Forwards: Bailey-Tavares-Okposo, Grabovski-Nielsen-Kulemin,
Lee-Nelson-Strome, Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.
Defensive Pairings: Leddy-Boychuk, de Haan-Hamonic,
Visnovsky-Hickey.
Jaroslav Halak was in net with Chad Johnson on the bench.
After a Zetterberg goal in the first, Brock Nelson (Grabovski
& Lee) would tie the score at 1-1 near the end of the period. Jimmy
Howard (later named third star of the gamed) would leave the game due to injury
after the first period and was replaced by Petr Mrazek at the start of the second
period and had a strong effort in net for the Wings to be named second star of
the night. But Anders Lee (Nelson) would put the Isles ahead for what would be the 2-1 final. It was Lee's 6th goal of the season. New York really pressed in the
offensive zone and finished with a 16-7 advantage in shots. The Isles were awesome in the third period and were very strong
defensively throughout the contest. Boychuk & Hamonic endured a rough NHL game back from injury and were a major component of their
defensive stand. “We got the lead and we were able to just eat clock
there in the second and third,” Brock Nelson said. “We did a good job of
keeping them in their own zone. I thought we did a really good job
defensively.” The third line was again dominant for the Isles and were clearly the difference for them. Three solid draft picks by Garth Snow, developed in the Isles system and making a name for themselves in the NHL this season.
The Isles outshot Detroit 32-18 and had the edge in faceoffs
28-24. Their PP was once again 0/3 and the PK was perfect, going 2/2 on
the night. Jaro Halak was 17/18 with a .944Sv% and named first star of
the game.
The line up would remain the same for Saturdays game against
the Tampa Bay Lightning and so would the relentless effort of your New York
Islanders in front of their 7th sellout crowd. While there was no scoring
in the first two periods, the third would have some anxious moments for
Isles fans. The game was a slow paced contest in which the Isles would
put tremendous pressure against a young goaltender named Andrei Vasilevskiy,
who at times seemed unbeatable in net. Ryan Strome hit the post, but
Connolly would give the Lightning a 1-0 lead off a strange deflection almost
hallway through the third. Instead of letting their frustrations derail their resolve, the Isles would continue to attack the Tampa net, even after TB drew first blood. Just after the 16:00 mark, John Tavares
(Okposo & Bailey) would finally tie the game 1-1 with a memorable goal scored
from his knees while falling to the ice. Anders Lee (Hamonic &
Nelson) would score just 12 seconds later to give the Isles a 2-1 lead.
Tampa would fight back with pressure in the Isles zone, but through a strong
check and even stronger goaltending, the Isles were able to repel their
assault. Nikolay Kulemin (Clutterbuck) would score an ENG at 18:49 of the
third to make it 3-1 for the Islanders. Despite a PP chance with 35.9
remaining, Jaroslav Halak continued his stellar play, good enough
for a .952Sv% in a 20 save effort to seal his second win for the Islanders in
back to back starts. As the team saluted the crowd at the end of the night, Anders Lee joined into the fans "Yes,Yes,Yes!" chant with synchronized arm pumps. Think these guys appreciate your support?
The Isles out shot
and outdrew Tampa Bay 48-21 in shots and 27-20 in the circle for the game. Their PK was perfect again at 2/2 and their
PP was scoreless, once again going 0/3.
The "Kid Line" was aces again. Anders Lee and John Tavares were the first & second stars of the
game. Vasilevskiy was the third
star and looked impressive for the Lightning, making 45 saves on several good
scoring opportunities for New York. There were some scary moments for Isles fans that included Strome, Okposo, Nelson and
Tavares seemingly injured. Tavares & Nelson, now reported
as OK, needed stitches after the game.
The Isles are now 23-10-0 and are in the midst of a 4 game
winning streak. Only Anaheim &
Pittsburgh have more points than the Isles at this point. They will look to extend their good fortune
against Montreal at the NVMC on Tuesday, 12/23 @ 7pm before the Christmas
break.
This is how it feels for diehard Isles fans to be rewarded
for their loyalty.
So the Isles are now 17-6
when Johnny Boychuk and 18-5 when Travis Hamonic are in the line up. “Every game, every win is a new standard for
us,” Hamonic said. “We know we can keep getting better. I know it’s still
early, there’s a long way to go and we understand that, but we’re starting to
put a pretty good foundation here to make a hard push for the second half of
the year.”
Adam Proteau said "The Islanders are for real. I don't
care how foreign that sounds on your tongue. Deal with it." Nice.
Isles Notes:
Per Arthur Staple, "Isles mini-locker nights for Bryan
Trottier (Jan. 16 vs PIT) and Mike Bossy (Jan. 29 vs. BOS) announced. Not
confirmed yet, but in the works: Night to welcome back multiple past Isles,
including John Tonelli. Pat LaFontaine returns to be honored Mar. 24.
Bobblehead nights for Okposo (Feb. 14), Martin (Feb. 28) and Tavares (Mar.
29)."
Per @EliasSports the
Isles are 1st team in NHL history to win their first 9 games that required
extra time in one season (3-0 OT, 6-0 SO).
On Saturday 12/20, Sebastian Collberg was reassigned by
the @NYIslanders to the #BST from the @StocktonThunder http://goo.gl/69RKLG
On 12/17, "Griffin Reinhart was returned on loan
to @TheSoundTigers."
"Michael Grabner (lower body) was placed on the
team's IR list retroactive to Dec 13."
Sound Tigers Notes:
Today's BST game against the Worcester Sharks
has been postponed and will be rescheduled to a later date.
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