Your 3rd in the east, New York
Islanders are in Toronto to face the 15th place Maple Leafs. It’s another dangerous “weaker” opponent that
New York had better be ready to play.
Especially on the eve of an Isles-Rangers match on tap for Tuesday. Michal Neuvirth gets another start in net & Tyler Kennedy is
in for Colin McDonald and will play with Michael Grabner & Brock Nelson in
his Isles debut, according to Arthur Staple, which means the fourth line has
become the fourth line again. Nazem
Kadri was scratched tonight for Leafs for being late to practice.
Lee-Tavares-Bailey,
Kulemin-Nielsen-Strome, Grabner-Nelson-Kennedy, Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.
de Haan-Hamonic,
Leddy-Boychuk, Hickey-Visnovsky.
Michal Neuvirth gets the
start with Jaroslav Halak backing up.
Just 3 minutes into the
first period, Anders Lee is called for hooking on Reilly. Shortly after, Van Riemsdyk is called for
roughing on Calvin de Haan. Both teams exchange
PP chances early in the first period, but fail to score. While the Isles are having trouble finding their
game again in the first, Tyler Kennedy starts his Islanders career with a
gritty, tenacious back check as expected.
Ryan Strome called for a weak high stick on Phaneuf, Isles back to the
PK. Shortly after, Cal Clutterbuck
called for tripping on Bozak. 5 on 3 for
a minute, Isles PK comes up big in each.
. Ryan Strome gets beat badly
& Booth gives the Leafs a late 1st period goal with 1:37 remaining, 1-0
Toronto. As good as they are, Isles really
need to stop keeping bad teams in the game & giving up late goals. A big
negative heading into spring indeed. Bernier
has been really good for Toronto, shots were even at 12-12.
Isles come out a little
flat in the second until Travis Hamonic works hard enough to draw a holding call
on Erixon, but the Isles fail to generate much on the PP. Bernier comes up big again, robbing JT &
Josh Bailey from in close. Holland makes
it a 2-0 Toronto lead mid-way through the second period. Kessel follows up with a slash on Frans Nielsen,
but the Isles fall short again on the PP.
Isles & Leafs exchange PP chances again, nothing happens as a result. Nick Leddy looks hurt and goes to the bench. Period ends with the Isles ahead in shots 11-6,
but down to the Leafs by a 2-0 score.
New York had better find another gear, because despite gaining points
lately, have developed a lot of holes in their game and seem to be grinding
listlessly at times. Tonight will be a costly
wakeup call and tomorrow night can be a nightmare if this team doesn't snap
back & play like we know they can.
Nick Leddy is not on the
Isles bench to start the third. Capuano
juggling lines again as Kennedy goes with JT & Bailey. John Tavares drops it to Tyler Kennedy (Tavares
& Bailey) who rips it past Bernier for his first points as an Islander, to
make it a 2-1 game 1:32 into the period.
Van Riemsdyk converts off a
turnover, 3-1 Toronto. Ryan Strome draws
a holding penalty from Booth. Huge PP
for the Isles and Frans Nielsen (Lee & Bailey) gets it done with a PPG, 3-2
the score. Casey Cizikas (Hamonic) puts
in a shot from the crease. Isles score
twice in 30 seconds to tie the game at 3-3. Michal Neuvirth makes a huge save on Reilly to
keep the game tied. Bernier with a
couple on saves late as time expires. Isles
had a 19-6 advantage in shots for the period, 42-24 in regulation. 1/5 on the PP and 4/4 on the PK. This game will go to overtime. The fact that the Isles will get a least a
point in this game is grand theft.
In the overtime period, Brock
Nelson rings one off the post, but John Tavares silences the crowd with the
O.T. winner, his 33rd goal and 72 league leading point of the season. Islanders win 4-3 on a 2-1 shots advantage in
the extra session. Isles pick up 6
points of a possible 8 (2-0-2) on this road trip.
The Isles had a balanced
scoring attack once they found their groove.
Credit Capuano for having the pulse of his players for his line shake ups. John Tavares with 2 points on the night,
including his 8th O.T. goal (4th of the season) and most
in Islanders history. Michal Neuvirth (22
of 25 with an .880Sv%) should find his rhythm as he plays with a new defense
and Tyler Kennedy is clearly as advertised. A gritty pest that has some mitts (1G
& 1 A). And let’s hope there is good
news on Nick Leddy soon.
Tonight’s game was
another reminder that all though this team has their shortcomings, they’re
having a banner year and they never quit working hard. Who knows how far they will get in this year’s
playoff run, but when it comes down to it, you can never count this team out. 90 points.
90. Tied for most in the east (MON).
Rangers tomorrow.
Sound Tigers Notes:
Justin Courtnall has
been traded to the Syracuse Crunch for future considerations.
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