Your New York Islanders are in Calgary to
face the red hot Flames, (see what I did there) who have been winners in their last 4 games. They have strong goaltending with
Hiller (2.31gaa & .917Sv%) and are very good at erasing leads lately, doing
so a league high 8 times when trailing by 2 goals, scoring 48 3rd period
goals this season. So if that scenario should arise,
Capuano’s Islanders had better be ready to finish what they start. No Isles team has gone 15 wins over the NHL
.500 mark in the post cup era. I know Calgary
native, Thomas Hickey will be ready. Take it away Jiggs!
Forwards:
Bailey-Tavares-Okposo,
Lee-Nielsen-Strome, Grabovski-Nelson-Kulemin, Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.
Defensive Pairings: de Haan-Hamonic, Leddy-Boychuk, Hickey-Visnovsky.
Jaroslav Halak will get the start with Chad
Johnson backing up.
The Islanders come out in the first period
with jump, fore-checking well and playing with an edge. Couldn’t ask for a
better effort to start the game. Boychuk
draws a penalty (Bouma) on a breakaway chance.
Boychuk is slow to get up. On the
faceoff, Stajan covers the puck, full 5 on 3 for the Isles. John Tavares (Strome & Okposo) takes a
beautiful pass from Ryan Strome & puts it in from just off the left post,
1-0 Islanders. Isles have about 40 seconds
remaining on the second PP, but fail to generate anything else. CGY without a shot on net half way through
the period. Halak stays focused &
makes a few nice saves late in the period, Calgary with a better effort. Period ends with Isles leading is shots 9-7
& dominating in the faceoff circle, 11-1.
Islanders keeping pace with the resurgent
flames in the second period. Nielsen
called for hooking at the 9 minute mark. Isles successful on the PK. Halak with a big stop in traffic to preserve
the lead. The Islanders kid line turns
up the pressure as the period expires.
Shots change to 9-6 CGY in the period, 16-15 in the game. Isles hold a 22-19 edge in face-offs.
Brock Nelson is hit with a Brodie slap shot
and hobbles to the bench at the start of the third period. John Tavares breaks in under pressure and
comes close to increasing the Isles lead.
Nelson is back on the ice. Strome
gets called for slashing, Isles finish the kill. Credit de Haan for some good special teams
play. Strome leaves the box & Tavares
gets called immediately for a high stick. Isles back to the PK. The Isles kill
another one with a strong SH chance by Kulemin. As bad as the PP is, the Isles PK has gotten better, Halak is a huge
reason for that. John Tavares (Okposo)
puts a wicked wrister past Hiller to make it 2-0 Islanders. Islanders respond with furious urgency in the
offensive zone. Hiller with a huge stop
on Anders Lee. With Hiller pulled early, Gaudreau scores late on
an odd bounce in the third to make it a 2-1 game with 3:25 left in the
game. Hiller goes to the bench again with 1:30
remaining. Halak with a huge save
against Monahan in the final minute.
Calgary calls a timeout with 2.1 seconds remaining. Islanders win 2-1.
Shots were 9-7 in the period and 24-23 in the
game and had a 34-24 face off margin.
Halak won his 18th of the season out of his last 20 starts
making 20 saves with a .957Sv%. He is
the only goalie in the NHL with two seven game winning streaks. The Isles were
1/2 on the PP and 3/3 on the PK. Per
Eric Hornick, “Isles now 16-2-1 in games with
a perfect PK and are 15-4-0 when scoring on the PP.” John Tavares & Jaro Halak were the 1st
& 3rd stars of the game.
The Isles reach the 15
game over .500 mark and are the first NHL team to 26 wins at 26-11-1. John Tavares and Jaro Halak played like the
elite players they are to bring their team to the next level again tonight. Calvin de Haan had a huge game on defense and
was the difference in front of the net. Most
importantly, the Islanders played their game. A tight, physical & transitional game while
responding to every challenge issued tonight. They
held a one goal lead through the game & got another big win. I present your 2015 New York Islanders.
Isles have a Dangerous game in Edmonton
on Sunday at 9:30PM.
Sound Tigers Notes:
Philippe Trudeau and the
BST have mutually agreed to terminate the goaltender's AHL contract.
Hockey Notes:
Team USA was eliminated from the WJC today,
losing to Russia by the score of 3-2.
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