Maybe I talked about Joey MacDonald a little too early.

45 saves against a playoff team with the Islanders defense. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Most goalies would have just lied down and died in that situation, but MacDonald was solid. It’s too bad his teammates couldn’t match his intensity.

If the rumors are true that he has a one-way contract for next season, things are going to be extremely interesting this offseason, especially considering how well Dubie has played this year. If MacDonald starts the last two games of the season and plays well, this situation can only get crazier.

While I have already stressed my opinion that I believe Dubie is the man to backup Rick DiPietro, it’s hard to argue how good MacDonald was last night.

The Islanders defense was also solid in the first period, as they cleared the front of the net and kept guys like Zach Parise and Patrik Elias out of the slot, but afterwards, the Devils were in full control. It was like a hockey clinic the rest of the way and the only thing keeping the Isles in that game was MacDonald. Unfortunately, like it has worked out for most of the season, the Islanders goaltending wasn’t enough to keep them in the game and the offense couldn’t punch in a few. The Isles even got a few opportunities to cash in with that man advantage, but again, like they’ve been pretty much all season, they were unable to click and get quality shots on the opposition.

It wasn’t that Martin Brodeur was amazing last night either, Joe Vasicek’s goal was proof of that; the Isles just couldn’t generate any real offensive chances. They weren’t skating very hard and were really struggling to maintain possession in the neutral zone. The toughness and gritty play that a lot of the youngsters were bringing to the ice over the past half dozen games seemingly disappeared. Guys like Matt Keith and Kip Brennan weren’t given much ice-time and other seedlings like Kyle Okposo and Mathew Spiller didn’t play their most spirited games either.

Sean Bergenheim however, played one of his best games as an Islander in my opinion. Aside from drawing an assist on the Vasicek goal, Bergenheim was probably the only player on the team busting his hump on the ice, aside from MacDonald. His skating has gotten progressively better as the season has gone on and it’s going to be fun to watch him continue to develop.

With two games left to go this season, watching the youngsters is pretty much the only reason left to tune in.

Maybe they can step it up against the Rangers and give some of the diehards something to smile about.

Posted under Post Game Rants