PuckingOpinion

"If you have deep pockets and have a desire to win, please call Charles Wang."

Great White North, ON • Canada • 27 Years Old • Male

Isles Snap Skid + Random Thoughts

Yesterday the Islanders were able to stop a three game skid by beating the Ottawa Senators on home ice. No, it’s not a typo. The Islanders actually won a game on home ice. I caught only bits and pieces of the game. Afternoon games are not made for people with kids, unless you’re at the game.

Brad Boyes got the Islanders on the board first with a nice shot over the glove of Robin Lehner. Back and forth play continued throughout the first with no other tallies.

The lone goal in the second period would belong to Ottawa as rookie Mika Zibanejad fired home his fourth of the season after coming straight into the zone off the bench for a gift.

Grabner would score in the third with three and half minutes to play, lifting the Islanders hopes of getting two points at Nassau. A little bad luck with a touch of stupidity by Kyle Okposo sent the Sens to the PP with under two to go. On the Sens PP, Travis Hamonic mustered up a beauty tip-in goal off of Patrick Wiercioch’s slapper to tie the game for the Sens.

Another OT.

Thankfully, OT solved nothing and the Isles went to the shootout. Frans Nielsen did what he does in shootouts and scored first. Silfverberg couldn’t get his quick release to find the back of the net for the Sens. Boyes and Alfredsson would trade busts in the second round before John Tavares scored a highlight reel shootout goal to win the game.

Islanders Three Stars:
1.Grabner
2.Tavares
3.Boyes

A few extra stats for you stat lovers out there.

Hits: Ottawa 40 New York 33

Takeaways: New York 7 Ottawa 5

Giveaways: Ottawa 17 New York 14

Blocked Shots: Ottawa 24 New York 16

Face-offs: New York 51% Ottawa 49%

New York hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at Nassau.



Randoms

I’m becoming less and less a fan of Mark Streit with every passing moment. Out of the 7 shot attempts he had in yesterday’s game not one hit the net. He had 4 shots blocked by the Sens and 3 shots miss the net. He also led the Islanders with 4 giveaways, only returning the favor with one takeaway. I think a deadline deal involving Streit should happen and the Isles move on.

If Kyle Okposo can string together a good stretch of hockey games he could definitely attract some suitors at the deadline and bring a prospect back towards Long Island, or Brooklyn if the lease gets bought out.

Evgeni Nabokov is very delayed on his movements East-West in the crease, so don’t let a few cross ice saves fool you, the shooter didn’t put it where he wanted it.

I wish the Oilers and Islanders rumours would cool down. There is nothing in the Oilers organisation that is worth swapping for, outside of their million untouchable players. You don’t build winners by taking another teams garbage, especially a team who is tied with you in points in the basement of the league.

Sticking with the rumour talk, the Isles making a deal to a non-playoff team makes no sense. Most of the players that would be dealt are rental players and rentals yield the most return by going to a team looking to make a run by overpaying for interm help.

Yesterday was game 22 for the Islanders. At the mid-way point of the season I’m going to have a post outlining what I think the Isles should do in the off-season. I’m fully aware that the cap floor is the ultimate goal by Scrooge McWang so I’ve kept that number in mind. I’ve built a playoff team that can compete on a budget, at least I think I did. Here’s a few players that no longer exist in New York on my make-believe Isles roster next year: Okposo, Boyes, Visnovsky, Streit.



Thanks for reading, you can find me on twitter @chiassontb

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to leave a comment.