Members of the Islanders Booster Club & Section 329
made the trip to Washington to cheer on their team and see Islander killer,
Alexander Ovechkin & the Capitals host your New York Islanders. Washington sits at the 3rd spot in
the metro, just 5 points behind the Islanders and 2 points behind the second
place Rangers. Arthur Staple told me that
Mikhail Grabovski could be out several weeks after his placement on injured
reserve with what has been called an “upper body injury.” The injury occurred from a hit delivered by
Eric Nystrom on Thursday’s game against the Predators. Kael Mouillierat is
the leading scorer for Bridgeport with 8 goals & 40 pts in 51 AHL games has
been recalled on an emergency basis. He will
make his NHL debut today wearing #48, centering a line with Martin &
McDonald. Calvin de Haan is in for Lubo
Visnovsky. Arthur Staple mentions Lubo
is expected to return to the lineup for tomorrow’s game against Vancouver.
Forwards: Lee-Tavares-Bailey,
Grabner-Nielsen-Strome, Kulemin-Nelson-Clutterbuck, Martin-Mouillierat-McDonald.
Defensive Pairings:
Leddy-Boychuk, Strait-Hamonic, de Haan-Hickey.
Chad Johnson gets the start with Jaro Halak backing up.
After a slow start to the game and a few key saves by
Chad Johnson, Travis Hamonic (Tavares & Bailey) puts the Islanders up 1-0
off a nice feed by Josh Bailey. That is
the 100th NHL point for Hamonic.
Just another example of how well Islanders defensemen have contributed
offensively this season. That marks the
sixth time that the Isles have scored first in consecutive games. Shortly afterwards though, Travis Hamonic is crushed
between Latta & Chimera behind the Islanders net and skates off slowly to
the bench. Hamonic returns for the next
shift and appears to be OK. The physical
edge to this game has definitely been elevated by both teams. Isles are caught on a bad change and will go
to the PK. Outstanding play by Johnny Boychuk
to negate a high percentage shot against for the Caps. Another strong PK
for the Isles. Hickey was hi-sticked by
Kuznetsov, Isles to the PP as the Washington advantage expires. New York unable to convert on the man
advantage. Niskanen ties the score at
1-1 with 40 seconds remaining in the first.
Another mistake late in the period resulting in another goal
against. Eric Hornick points out that
the Islanders have been outscored 8-0 in the final minute of a period. Shots are 6-4 Isles in the first.
Josh Bailey makes a great play to keep the puck in the
offensive zone early in the second period.
Both Bailey & Lee have really risen to the occasion of playing on
the first line. Chad Johnson stops
Ovechkin & bails out Thomas Hickey, who was trying to force a pass to
Calvin de Haan. The Capitals pressed
hard and took control of the play in the second half of the period with a 10-7
edge in shots for the period and 14-13 mark after two.
John Tavares goes sliding hard into the boards after a gutless
“Dale Hunter-esk” check by Wilson. Tavares is slow to get up. JT follows up being involved with a nice
scoring chance on Holtby. Matt Martin tangles with Wilson shortly after to answer
the liberty taken on Tavares. The
Islanders coming up with a strong effort in the final period with the score still
tied at 1-1, but Caps have been resilient.
Fehr puts a shot behind Johnson after Isles were beaten 3 on 2 to take
the lead with 5:34 remaining. Isles take
their time out with 1:27 remaining in regulation and Johnson stays on the
bench. John Tavares is unable to stuff
it in with a stray puck floating in the pile up in front of the Caps goal. Ryan Strome (Lee & Tavares) snipes it from
a minimal angle with 47 seconds left in the period to tie it at 2-2 and force
Over Time for the third time this season against the Capitals. Shots were 18-7 Isles to end regulation with
a 31-21 advantage for New York. Isles
were 0/1 on the PP and 1/1 on the PK. Chad
Johnson was 19 of 21 with a .905 Sv% after 3 periods of play.
In the O.T. period, Chad
Johnson made some big saves for the Isles, including a one on a partial break
away on Ovechkin. The Isles were outshot
by a 6-1 margin in the extra period.
Kuznetsov scores on Johnson.
Frans Nielsen is stopped by Holtby.
Backstrom is stopped by CJ!
JohnTavares is stopped by Holtby.
Ovechkin is stopped by CJ!
Ryan Strome is stopped by Holtby and Washington wins it
3-2 in the S.O.
Credit Washington for a strong and very well-played game today. The Islanders had a pretty good effort today as well. They managed to salvage a
point in a game they trailed in the final few minutes. Their biggest boon was a pretty well played defensive effort. In addition, they were able to stay out of the box for much of the game and closed out their opposition when they were man down. John
Tavares was awesome with key face-off wins and solid offensive contributions,
including 2 assists in the game. At 62 points on the season, he is just two points behind Backstrom for the league lead. Josh
Bailey had another strong game today.
His all-around play has been really strong this season, especially on
the check as well as his hustle to start the Isles on the rush.
Anders Lee & Ryan Strome made an impact as well. Both players had a point for the game and
were instrumental in getting the Islanders back in the game to force
overtime. These are two young guys who
continue to get better with each game and are becoming legitimate NHL threats for a good New
York team. Kael Mouillierat played well for the Islanders in his NHL debut. A showing that included some offensive chances,
some nice defensive plays & the fact that he wasn’t shy about playing the kind of physical game that the Islanders have made their trademark this season. It must also be noted that Travis Hamonic & Nick Leddy were solid two way players for the Islanders on defense.
Credit Chad Johnson on
another strong effort today. He is obviously working hard with goaltending
coach, Mike Dunham to improve his game. Johnson
has stopped 91 of 96 shots with a .947Sv% over his last 3 games.
The Isles welcome a rested Vancouver squad to the
Coliseum tomorrow night at 6pm for another big game against another quality
team.
Sound Tigers Notes:
Bridgeport Sound Tigers signed (F) Cam Reid to a PTO.
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