Islanders Off-Season 2015: Isles Down Devils

Kyle Okposo, Ryan Strome, Frans Nielsen, Travis Hamonic and Brock Nelson are joining John Tavares and the Your New York Islanders to face the New Jersey Devils at the Barclays Center. 

Forwards:  Lee-Tavares-Strome, Nelson-Nielsen-Okposo, Dal Colle-Beauvillier-Petrov, Vaive-Wright-Johnston.

18 - Ryan Strome
21 - Kyle Okposo
26 - James Wright
27 - Anders Lee
29 - Brock Nelson
45 - Justin Vaive
51 - Frans Nielsen
52 - Ross Johnston
71 - Michael Dal Colle
72 - Anthony Beauvillier
90 - Kirill Petrov
91 - John Tavares

Defensive Pairings:  de Haan-Hamonic, Czuczman-Mayfield, Strait-Pulock.

3 - Travis Hamonic
6 - Ryan Pulock
24 - Kevin Czuczman
37 - Brian Strait
42 - Scott Mayfield
44 - Calvin de Haan

Kevin Poulin starters & Christopher Gibson will finish the game in goal.

In the first, the Isles open with some good pressure and Brock Nelson puts it behind Schneider after a giveaway for a SHG, 1-0 NY at the 3:57 mark. Shortly afterwards, Travis Hamonic takes a John Tavares pass from Anders Lee and fires one from the slot for a 2-0 lead.  Its Hamonic’s first game back since April 10th.  Isles had 12 shots and Kevin Poulin with 9 saves.

Stempniak gathers in his rebound off Poulin’s glove and tucks it in on a wraparound through traffic to bring the Devils within a goal, 2-1 Isles in the 2^nd.  It’s the first even strength goal for the Devils in nearly 8 periods.  Shots are 23-21 Devils with a 14-9 advantage in 2^nd.

Christopher Gibson starts the 3^rd for the Islanders.  Devils pull Schneider for the final :50, but Gibson preserves the win for NY.  Play was slow for much of the period.  Isles with a 6-4 edge in shots and a 28-27 Devils edge in the game.  Brian Strait goes to the dressing room after blocking a shot as time expires.  John Tavares did not appreciate Palmieri's elbow lead toward his head. That will probably be filed away for later.

In the NHL mandated 3 on 3 OT demonstration, Isles generated some good pressure in the NJ zone.  Devils call a timeout with 3:04 remaining.  Gibson surrendered a goal (Kennedy) in the extra session after Petrov lost his stick.

Observations:  Kevin Czuczman guilty of a few too many (3) penalties.  Ryan Strome looks really comfortable with Tavares & Lee.  Anthony Beauvillier plays a solid Casey Cizikas type game.  Kevin Poulin looked pretty comfortable and played two pretty solid periods in net. Kevin Gibson looked good as well, especially late.

The Isles PP went 0/5 and the PK was 5/5.

The 1^st and 2^nd stars of the game were Travis Hamonic and Brock Nelson.

"This is a group that we believe in. We look at each other like family. We look at each other and say "We Can Do This Together."  Matt Martin

Isles Notes:



Islanders are 2-1-0 on the preseason.

Former Washington Capitals GM George McPhee was named as a special advisor to Islanders GM Garth Snow.  McPhee was the former agent and is a longtime friend of Garth Snow and will aid Snow and the Isles scouting staff.

MSG+ has added two Isles preseason games to its schedule: 9/25 @ PHI 10/4 @ WSH.

Islanders & Barclays Center seen in badtaste.