Our New York
Islanders are now 27th in the league, last in the Metropolitan division and the
Eastern conference with 22 pts and a 9-10-4 record. The Isles have collected
points in 4 OT or SO loses and those have made somewhat of a difference at this point,
keeping them close enough to be dangerous. And while a lot has gone wrong,
(goal scoring struggles, holding leads, lack of physicality on the check,
missing PP with an up and down PK) afew good things have been happening amidst the things continue to plague the
team. They have definitely started to trend towards the positive,
like a 3 game winning streak which included an OT win vs Calgary, a comeback
win vs the Stanley Cup Champion Pens (scored twice in 3 seconds tying NHL
record) and a blowout 3rd period, good for a 3-0 shutout of the Caps last
night. It was Jaroslav Halak’s (4-6-4, 2.86gaa & .911 Sv%) 40th career
shutout. Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera have started to contribute more on the score-sheet and the team’s recent flurry of scoring big goals, very late in
games (twice in last 3) is a trend we would love to see continue.
The recent
surge could give ownership a reason to stay behind GM, Garth Snow and
Head Coach, Jack Capuano despite bad press throughout the NHL media pool and
even fan petitions to encourage change behind the bench. The Islanders
are playing better offensively and making a difference on the fore and back
check, and that is translating on the ice. Eric Hornick mentioned that the
Islanders have scored 1st in the last 4 games (3-1) and have won 3 straight for
the first time this season, putting them 1 game out from an NHL .500 record. He
has also pointed out for quite some time that the Isles magic number is 3. When
they score 3 goals, they win games. They are 8-1-1 when doing so this season
(37-4-2 last season) and can dictate the flow of a game, bringing more
consistent play instead of struggling to stay in the mix.
While rumors
abound on the team looking to find a top winger to play with franchise player
and Captain, John Tavares, recent line tweaking has yielded some results. The Nelson-Tavares, Bailey line and opened some space and started to give the
Islanders a little more bite. With Tavares, Nelson and Bailey all leading the
team in points (18,15 & 14), it was definitely worth a try. Defensively,
the Isles are enjoying an impact from their D joining the rush and playing well
as a unit. They have contributed 47 points and Scott Mayfield has 2 of those
points in 2 games played. Ryan Pullock and Adam Pelech look comfortable on the
ice and the team has several players that have value on the trade market. They
are a tight-knit group that spoke up on behalf of their coach, so we will have
to wait and see what happens in the next few games as chemistry may continue to
develop.
The Bridgeport
Sound Tigers are enjoying a 13-6-0 record and will play Binghamton on Saturday
night at 7pm. Eric Hornick, “Bracken Kearns continues to lead the Sound Tigers
in scoring (6-11-17), while Steve Bernier leads the team in goals with eight
goals. Toews is tied for the AHL rookie assist lead with those 12
helpers. Christopher Gibson, who hasn't played since an injury November 5th,
remains the team leader in victories (6-0-0) while McAdam is now 5-0-0.”
On Saturday,
December 3rd, the Islanders major AHL affiliate, Bridgeport Sound Tigers will
host a Star Wars night to benefit the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation. The team
will be raising money and auctioning off special Star Wars themed jerseys for
this great cause. The Sound Tigers have asked different organizations to
support them on the night and my wife and I felt a duty to respond. A few members of my international Star Wars charity group will be there, in costume with me to help
bring some spirit and smiles to the night. I’ll be the one dressed as a 181st
Tie Pilot, please stop by and say hello!
Isles Notes:
Sunday’s game
against the Detroit Red Wings will be the first time the Islanders see Frans
Nielsen as a member of the opposition, since leaving the team as a free agent
this summer.
12/1 Seidenberg
off IR, Pelech (upper) on IR.
Per Eric
Hornick, “JF Berube dressed as the back-up goalie for the sixth straight game.”
Berube has yet to play for the Islanders this season. Thomas Greiss is 5-4-0
with a 2.47gaa and a .919Sv%.
Per Brendan
Burke, “PK this season: First 6 games: 95.4% Next 8 games: 61.5% Last 8 games:
91.7% I offer no reason nor explanation, just numbers.”
Per IPB, “The
Islanders are said to have a team value of $385 million, which is good for the
18th spot in the NHL, according to Forbes.
Forbes
calculated the value of the team to have increased 18 percent from last
year.
New team
owners, Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin, paid $485 million to become majority
owners, replacing Charles Wang, who is now a minority investor in the
team.”
Per Daniel
Friedman, “@forbes also suggests team
will leave Barclays after 2017-18 season.”
Thomas Hickey
scored another O.T. game winner against Calgary on Monday to give the Islanders
a 2-1 win. Per Eric Hornick, “Thomas Hickey became the first defenseman in
Islander history to score four regular season overtime goals.”
D, Adam Pelech
left Monday night's 2-1 overtime win over the Calgary Flames with an upper-body
injury. Scott Mayfield in for Pelech against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, 11/30.
On 11/28 IN
1979: Billy Smith of the @NYIslanders
became first goalie in NHL history to be credited with a goal.
11/23 The
Islanders beat the Ducks in a bizarre 14 round shoot out. Thomas hickey scores
a controversial goal in 12 round to keep NY alive until Nick Leddy scored the
winning goal.
Sound Tigers
Notes:
11/29 The @NYIslanders have activated Ryan
Pulock (D) off the team's IR list and loaned him to the #SoundTigers.
Per Brian
Compton, “Pulock needs a couple of games to get back into game shape. Injury
kept him off the ice for a bit.”
11/16 D, Jesse
Graham and goaltender Eamon McAdam have been reassigned to the team
by the New York Islanders from the Missouri Mavericks (ECHL). In addition,
goaltender Josh Robinson has been released from his PTO and returned to
Missouri.
NHL Notes:
NBC to televise
2017 Honda @NHL All Star Game - orig.
scheduled for @NBCSN, first time on net
TV since '04.
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