Your New York Islanders went into Florida last night to face
the pesky Panthers who, despite being down two goaltenders, are in a fight to
remain in the playoff chase. Michal
Neuvirth (15 of 18 with a .833Sv%) got his first start as an Islander and said
he had trouble finding a rhythm while facing only 18 shots. While the Islanders had several takeaway
opportunities and 3 comebacks in a gritty, physical game, they also had trouble
finding their rhythm & generating much through the neutral zone for most of
the contest and it cost them by way of a 4-3 overtime loss.
Gundbranson opened the scoring for Florida with a deflection
off Casey Cizikas by the midpoint of the first period. The Isles would come out hard in the second
& John Tavares (Lee) scored his career high 32nd goal of the
season to tie the game at 1-1 with a nice top shelf backhander in close. Bjugstad scored a few minutes later to put
the Panthers ahead again but Nick Leddy (Tavares & Nielsen) would add a PPG
for his 10th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 late in the
period. Florida reacquired the lead
after a Huberdeau tally half way through the third, but New York would answer a
few minutes later when Josh Bailey (Tavares) put one in from near the blue line
to tie the score once again at 3-3. With
a late PP in regulation, the Isles moved the puck well and got several good chances
to net the game winner as the period wound down, but couldn’t finish. The game went to overtime.
New York had 2 shots to Florida’s 1 in O.T., but neither
team could find a way to score. Despite
another good effort, the Isles fell short to lose in the shootout by the score
of 4-3 after Frans Nielsen, John Tavares and Josh Bailey failed to convert in the
extra session. I am not sure about the
dead stop/sliding into Neuvirth shootout goal by Huberdeau to win the game, but
it hardly matters now. Some points of
concern were nothing new. The Isles PP
needs to improve and they are turning the puck over a little too much lately for
my liking. And Frans Nielsen and the
Isles have lost a little of their shootout magic, losing 3 of their last 4.
The Isles did manage to grab a point and John Tavares had another
solid, getting 1 & 2 for 3 points and was named 2nd star of the
game. Tavares is now alone at the top of
the NHL in points with 70 (Ovechkin & Backstrom with 69) and has made a
statement about being a serious contender for MVP considerations. The Isles outshot the Panthers 28-18 through
overtime and were 1 for 3 on the PP and 0/1 on the PK.
The Islanders finish their road trip in Toronto on Monday with
another dangerous game against the struggling leafs. They will follow up with a critical Tuesday matchup
against the Rangers, who will have an increased workload to finish the season,
but hold a 4 games at hand advantage on the Isles. The game will be the final regular season Isles-Rangers game at the NVMC.
Isles Notes:
Kyle Okposo continued skating with the team in practice this
morning.
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