3 games - 5 points... If you build it..
Islanders lost a tough game in a shoot out last night. While it would appear to be a set back we have to look at who they were playing and again understand that this team has only had 6 games together. Wait till 10 games before you start to get upset.
Nashville is not the same team they were last year. This team is STACKED with talent. Paul Kariya, Sullivan, Arnott, JP Dumont (remember him? We draft him and when he gets good trade him.), lehtonon, Sullivan, Suter, Hordichuk, Timonen, etc. This is a Very solid team with an unbelievable goalie in Vokoun. I am happy with 1 point. The Islanders had many chances, but could not get the puck in the net. They were skating well most of the game and crashed the net often. Isles had 2 goals taken away because the net was off its moorings (the net was off the moorings about 10 times last night and We never got a power play out of it). I will point out that any player with the last name Tootoo who decides to make his number 22 deserves to be creamed everytime he steps on the ice….. There is no cutsie in hockey!!
The defense: Poti actually had a very solid game...I was pleasantly surprised. This is his type of game that stressed speed more then anything else. Radek Martinek is really becoming a very talented defensemen. He skates like Kenny Johnson and he hits. Hill played well again. Witt had his worst game as an Islander. He seemed to be struggling to keep up the speed and had very few hits. He also had another penalty.
Offense: I was happy to see Sillinger score again. I think he is going to be a 35+ goal scorer for the Isles this year. We really need Satan and Hunter to get it going as well. The good thing is we have a lot of guys who can put some pucks in the net. Sillinger, Yashin, Kozlov, York, Satan, Blake, Bates, and Hunter are all capable of scoring 20 goals or more. We also could still see a young gun in the system like Ryan O’Marra or Tambollini come up and get in the mix. They just need to have a couple of guys clicking at all times. This team is very well balanced. They do not need points to come just from the first or second line. They have Talent on all 4 lines.
Goalie: Dunham had another great game. He stopped over 30 shots and robbed a couple of Predators on shots they thought were clearly in the net. The best thing about Snow being the GM is the Islanders got to look at a few talented goalies in their system and choose the best as DP back up. I will add that before the shootout Dunham took a very hard slap shot in the face that had him down on the ice for about 5 minutes. He finished the game and OT, but did not do very well in the shootout. Sullivan and Kariya both beat him on a one timer over the glove hand. Vokoun on the other hand was very sharp the whole game including the shootout. He stopped Satan shot after a move that I thought clearly had him beat.
Overall I am still happy with the play of the team... just need to keep the energy to the level it was the last few games for all 3 periods.
sidenote: Renney was asked before he played the Devils if he was hoping to get revenge for last years loss in the first round of the playoffs. He said he did not even think about the playoff loss till he read the paper in the morning. Does anyone believe this? Do you really think that the Rangers did not circle every game they play against the team that swept them in the first round of the playoffs and put their superstar on the IR. I remember when Isles lost to Toronto in 7 games. I was circling games the day the schedule came out. Don't kid yourself Renney everyone knows your dying to beat the Devils ...no matter what you say to the press.
Nashville is not the same team they were last year. This team is STACKED with talent. Paul Kariya, Sullivan, Arnott, JP Dumont (remember him? We draft him and when he gets good trade him.), lehtonon, Sullivan, Suter, Hordichuk, Timonen, etc. This is a Very solid team with an unbelievable goalie in Vokoun. I am happy with 1 point. The Islanders had many chances, but could not get the puck in the net. They were skating well most of the game and crashed the net often. Isles had 2 goals taken away because the net was off its moorings (the net was off the moorings about 10 times last night and We never got a power play out of it). I will point out that any player with the last name Tootoo who decides to make his number 22 deserves to be creamed everytime he steps on the ice….. There is no cutsie in hockey!!
The defense: Poti actually had a very solid game...I was pleasantly surprised. This is his type of game that stressed speed more then anything else. Radek Martinek is really becoming a very talented defensemen. He skates like Kenny Johnson and he hits. Hill played well again. Witt had his worst game as an Islander. He seemed to be struggling to keep up the speed and had very few hits. He also had another penalty.
Offense: I was happy to see Sillinger score again. I think he is going to be a 35+ goal scorer for the Isles this year. We really need Satan and Hunter to get it going as well. The good thing is we have a lot of guys who can put some pucks in the net. Sillinger, Yashin, Kozlov, York, Satan, Blake, Bates, and Hunter are all capable of scoring 20 goals or more. We also could still see a young gun in the system like Ryan O’Marra or Tambollini come up and get in the mix. They just need to have a couple of guys clicking at all times. This team is very well balanced. They do not need points to come just from the first or second line. They have Talent on all 4 lines.
Goalie: Dunham had another great game. He stopped over 30 shots and robbed a couple of Predators on shots they thought were clearly in the net. The best thing about Snow being the GM is the Islanders got to look at a few talented goalies in their system and choose the best as DP back up. I will add that before the shootout Dunham took a very hard slap shot in the face that had him down on the ice for about 5 minutes. He finished the game and OT, but did not do very well in the shootout. Sullivan and Kariya both beat him on a one timer over the glove hand. Vokoun on the other hand was very sharp the whole game including the shootout. He stopped Satan shot after a move that I thought clearly had him beat.
Overall I am still happy with the play of the team... just need to keep the energy to the level it was the last few games for all 3 periods.
sidenote: Renney was asked before he played the Devils if he was hoping to get revenge for last years loss in the first round of the playoffs. He said he did not even think about the playoff loss till he read the paper in the morning. Does anyone believe this? Do you really think that the Rangers did not circle every game they play against the team that swept them in the first round of the playoffs and put their superstar on the IR. I remember when Isles lost to Toronto in 7 games. I was circling games the day the schedule came out. Don't kid yourself Renney everyone knows your dying to beat the Devils ...no matter what you say to the press.
posted by New York Islander chatter at 11:32 AM
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