In the end, I felt horrible for my g/f, who had her first NHL spoiled by the exploits of Phil Kessel and the Bruins, who dominated the living crap out of an Islanders team that was sluggish in both ends of the ice.

Despite that however, you could see that Islander fans and the organization feel better about this team than their record indicates, especially Islanders head coach Scott Gordon.

“We have some elements of team identity to carry over into next season,” Gordon told the Associated Press after the game. “The second half of the season flew by with the attitude and commitment we had.”

After a dismal first half, the Isles were a different team in the second, as many of the youngsters carried them. Up until April, the Islanders were playing close to .500 hockey in the second half, no small feat for a team missing players like Rick DiPietro, Trent Hunter, Andy Sutton and Mike Sillinger. During that span, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim proved that could be everyday NHLers, while Josh Bailey and Jeff Tambellini showed that they may be able to contribute a bit more than they did earlier in the season as well [keep your fingers crossed.] Even the super youngin’s like Jesse Joensuu, Mike Iggulden, Trevor Smith and Joe Rechlicz have shown some potential and will be fighting for a job in training camp next year.

Doug Weight came back for the last few games of the season and showed his support for the team by signing a one-year extension, while Yann Danis fizzled out after a three-week stretch of excellent hockey in February and March.

Sounds like a Soap Opera doesn’t it? Now imagine writing something about a team like this every day for a year and watching half the other dudes and dudettes give up halfway through.

Seeing the Blog Box occupied only by the uber dependable Gary Harding for the last game of the season yesterday was pretty disappointing. Those guys have a privilege and to just give up because the team is losing says way more than any of their writing ever could.

That’s one of the reasons why I’d rather write at home [aside from the fact that I cover minor league hockey, live in Brooklyn, run three other sites and teach college English and journalism] anyway. What I’m trying to say here is that the Islanders should pay attention to these things very closely. When your most dedicated super fans can’t show up to watch the game from one of the best seats in the house and do something hundreds of young journalism students would die for, you know you have a problem.

Simply put, this team needs more offense, needs to stay healthy and needs a new building. Once that happens, all the fans that gave up will have a reason to believe again and this team can gain it’s respectability back.

Nothing short of John Tavares, the lighthouse project and Rick DiPietro back in net can fix that.

Site News: Now that the season is over, I will update less often, probably once or twice a week, in order to give myself a much needed break. Thank you to everyone that helped support me this season. Hopefully next season we’ll be able to talk Islanders hockey a bit longer.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Today, against the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins, the Islanders will try and go out in style the same way the did last season when they beat the Rangers on the last day last season.

If all goes well, the Bruins will dress Manny Fernandez, who got the start last night, and make sure he’s ready just in case uber-dependable Tim Thomas [Did you ever think you'd say that about the guy four years ago?] goes down for the playoff run. With the Islanders luck however, Thomas will be in net, as the Bruins too look to go out in style and crush an Islanders team that doesn’t stand a chance.

At any rate, should be an interesting match-up. Lets see if Kyle Okposo can have a good game as well and make sure the Islanders have a 20-goal scorer on this team this season. If not, it’s going to be something many Islanders fans remember for years to come.

Streit wants a sniper- Islanders All-Star defenseman Mark Streit knows what he wants the Islanders to go after this draft.

I’m sure many of you will agree with him as well.

“I think we need a sniper, a goal-scorer,” Streit told Newsday. “I think when Ricky (goalie Rick DiPietro) is healthy and we have our whole ‘D’ corps, we have a pretty good defense we can build on. We have a lot of good talent up front, and obviously, one other guy who could put the puck in the net wouldn’t hurt next year. But that’s out of my hands.”

I’ll be there- As part of my winning the 2008 Islanders blog of the year, I won a pair of tickets to any non-Rangers home game this season and decided a few weeks ago that today would be the perfect day. I’ll see you guys there. Driving all the way from Brooklyn, the Islanders better not let me down, or they’ll be hell to pay.

Pretty hard to do considering the fact that as a child, I’d watch Faces of Death while eating ice cream.

Nothing like cookies and cream and monkeys getting their brains bashed in if you ask me.

Last night’s game however, proved to be much more than disgusting; it was pitiful.

After Bill Guerin scored and looked down, it was obvious- even after being traded away a few weeks ago, for a paltry fifth round pick, he felt bad for his former team.

Six unanswered goals is hard to stomach and especially considering how hard the team came out in the first period.

What is even tougher to understand is how bad the Islanders powerplay was. Spoiling two separate five on three opportunities, the Islanders powerplay needs some serious work. However, with all the injuries the Islanders have dealt with as of late, what did you expect.

Even Islanders coach Scott Gordon knows his team will going to have a rough time competing the rest of the season.

“Right now, in our lineup, we don’t have a lot of firepower,” Gordon told the AP after the game. “I think we hit four posts during the course of the game. It’s not going to come as a surprise that the puck is not going to go in as easy as it would for some teams.”

In other news, the Islanders signed 2007 third-round pick Mark Katic and 2008 sixth round pick Justin DiBenedetto to three-year, entry-level contracts.

Katic is coming off his best season in juniors producing more than solid numbers of 13 goals, 41 assists and 54 points in 63 games. With Chris Campoli gone to Ottawa, Katic will first have to prove himself in Bridgeport, but will eventually at some point in the future have an opportunity to be the slick skating offensive defenseman the Islanders will need in the future to compliment Mark Streit.

Scoring 45 goals and 48 assists in 62 games with Sarnia this season, DiBenedetto proved he could still put up big numbers without Steven Stamkos around and with the team in need of young and talented forwards, DiBenedetto not only makes the organization deeper at the position, but he could challenge for significant time in Bridgeport next season.

If the injury bug takes over again next season, who knows, we may see both of these kids.

For time being however, they have both been assigned to Bridgeport.

It was simply unbearable to watch.

It was like watching Faces of Death. Gross, disgusting repugnant and debauchery all rolled into one, but with just enough intrigue to keep your eyes on it. For a while there, I thought the Hurricanes were going to go for the dozen; they were that good last night and yes, the Islanders were that bad.

As a youngster, I remember playing NHLPA 93 with my father and beating him so bad that my mother, who usually watched behind us, was scared for my safety. I’m talking games that ended in scores like 22-2, 21, 4 or even on a rare occasion 33-6. My dominance in virtual hockey has only gotten better over time, as a few months ago, I won a game of NHL 08 online by a score of 11-0 and outshot some kid in Toronto 42-8.

That, however, was a video game, where out shooting your opponent by 40 shots is happenstance.

Never in my life would I ever have thought that I could watch a game in the NHL where a team played that poorly.

Well, it happened last night.

In my heart of hearts, I wanted to believe that this was the 79 Montreal Canadiens and not a team that just clinched a playoff spot. I wanted to think it was Ken Dryden in net and Guy LaFleur scoring a hat trick rather than Cam Ward and Eric Staal [nothing against those guys, but they're not on that level just yet], but it wasn’t.

If it wasn’t obvious now, it is now, the Islanders are that bad.

Nabbing a goal and an assist against the Lightning, Park, along with Josh Bailey and Radek Martinek powered a 3-1 Islanders win.

It wasn’t very pretty though as the Isles amassed only 24 shots.

Nevertheless, they got two goals on the powerplay and got excellent goaltending from Yann Danis, making it almost the complete opposite of the game against the Canadiens the other day.

“It definitely was a bounce back game for him,” Gordon told the Associated Press about the play of Danis after the game. “He felt pretty good.”

Another player that looked good was Martinek. Every time I see him score a goal like that, it makes me wonder how he doesn’t score more often. Because of all the injuries he’s suffered over his career, it’s impossible to truly know what Martinek will be able to provide on offense, but I’ll never underestimate his ability on defense. In spite of that, it was good to see him get a goal that showed that he can shoot in this league.

Another guy that showed he could shoot last night was Bailey, who like many other youngsters on this team is beginning to find his place. The same thing goes for Jeff Tambellini who hit a goal post and added a few more big hits to his resume last night.

On another note, it was nice to see five youngsters in the lineup, especially Jamie Fraser, a fan favorite from Bridgeport get an opportunity to play. For those who don’t know much about him, here’s something a got from a press release from the ECHL.

Fraser is the sixth former ECHL player to make his debut this season with the New York Islanders joining Mitch Fritz, Andrew MacDonald, Kurtis McLean, Joel Rechlicz and Brett Skinner. The head coach of the Islanders is former ECHL player and coach Scott Gordon while former ECHL player Daniel Lacroix is an assistant coach for New York.

The 23-year-old Fraser joined the Stingrays after completing his junior career in 2005-06 and had one goal in three regular season games and two points (1g-1a) in six Kelly Cup Playoff games. He returned to South Carolina in 2006-07 and had 28 points (5g-23a) in 27 games while also playing in the American Hockey League where he had 14 points (3g-11a) in 43 games for Bridgeport and appeared in two games for Syracuse.

Of the five however, I have extremely high hopes for Jesse Joensuu and Mike Iggulden. Notching two assists last night, Joensuu has three points in five games and has made himself a factor. After a summer of getting himself bigger, meaner and stronger, I think Joensuu could be a great addition to the Isles. As far as Iggulden goes, I think he’s already proven he can be a guy that the team could use in a third or fourth line energy role, but if he continues to develop, he could be a good playmaking forward. He’s got a great nose for the net and has excellent instincts.

Hopefully they get a chance to stick around the rest of the way.

Calling up Sean Bentivoglio and Trevor Smith for the night, the team would have been better off calling up Kirk Cameron and Alan Thicke, because they were experiencing serious “growing pains.”

Without Okposo and Streit, the Islanders simply have no offense. Nothing against Bentivoglio or the sharp-shooting Smith, but they obviously don’t provide the same type of punch. In order for the Islanders to come out with a victory, they were going to have to play a perfect game and stay out of a penalty box.

That obviously didn’t happen and without McAmmond helping to man the penalty kill, the Islanders were eaten alive by a hungry Habs team.

“I’m upset about the penalties,” coach Scott Gordon told the Associated Press after the Islanders gave Montreal eight power plays last night. “If you’re going to take a penalty, it’s to save a goal. I don’t think there were too many saved goals tonight.”

On another note, I don’t think there was much of anything on the Islanders side of the ice last night. It wasn’t completely Yann Danis’ fault, as a pair of those goals came on the powerplay, but the Islanders defense was walked all over by the Canadiens.

Aside from Doug Weight dropping the gloves again and Jeff Tambellini’s rocket that for the moment got the Isles back in th game, this contest was an absolute stinker. I’ve said before, but with so many injuries, this team has to be perfect every night and last night, that was simply not the case.

“We’ve been playing pretty good, and this was a disappointing effort for our team,” veteran Islanders forward Doug Weight told the Associated Press.

However, in spite of the team’s play last night, the worst thing about the game was seeing Habs fans take over the building and hearing chats and nothing being called back by Isles’ fans makes me scared about the situation this fan base is in. A few years ago, when this team was making the playoffs, I don’t anything like that would have happened. Those Canadiens fans would have been drown out.

Overall, just like the situation the team is in right now, it seems like the fan base is going through similar problems.

It’s simply amazing to me that the Islanders continue to fight despite their place in the standings and their situation with injuries right now.

With Mark Streit out of the lineup last night as well, the rest of the NHL probably saw this game as an afterthought.

However, the Islanders came out hard and outworked the Capitals on several occasions, as the trio of Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen continue to get better every game. As I’ve mentioned before, Bailey has become a much more complete player, while Okposo isn’t scared to shoot anymore. Nielsen has developed into an excellent little playmaker, complimenting his already excellent ability in the face-off circle and in his own end.

During the telecast, Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe made mention of Bailey’s willingness to get in front of net and that when he’s on the ice an in front of the goalie and a goal is scored, it means just as much to him as a goal itself. To hear a 19-year-old talk that unselfishly about his game is great news for this team.

Nonetheless, Mike Green was aided by some sloppy play in their own end and spotty goaltending by Joey MacDonald, inducing an Isles loss that ended up much worse than it really was.

Overall, I think the fact that the Islanders were able to stick this out and keep the game tight was a testament to how far they’ve come this season, despite the fact that some may think that Washington just took the team lightly through the first 40 minutes.

Regardless, I feel like we are seeing a significant progression in the talent level of this team right now.

However, it goes to show just how much work this team still has ahead of them this offseason. It also proves just how important Streit is to this team, as several of the mistakes made by the young defensemen, mistakes, Streit, at +9 for the year, probably wouldn’t have made.

OMG moment of the night- Oh man, did you guys see when Okposo got stretched out in the third? Scary stuff. No word as of yet what the case is, but you hope the guy can play out the rest of the season and continue to show the rest of the league that he’s capable of leading a team on offense. I know he came back and played the rest of the game, but who knows what the case is at this point.

“We’ve been playing a lot better,” Okposo told the Associated Press. “We know we can win with the guys in this locker room.”

Things went the Islanders way early on as Radek Martinek scored on a shot from the point that Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Marty Biron failed to get the best view of. Frans Nielsen continued his excellent play as of late, but was a second too short, as his goal in traffic was null and void at the end of the first.

Jeff Tambellini doubled the Islanders lead in the second, swatting a puck out of mid-air [has someone been playing Wii-Sports lately?]. With one-year left on his contract, Tambellini has been a different player during the second half, scoring four of his six goals in the 21 games following the All-Star break, which would put him on pace for about 15 goals for the season. That I believe wouldn’t be too shabby for the kid this season, especially considering that many thought he’d start to show a bit more of a goal scorers touch this season. However, with his improved play, Tambellini should still have one last chance to prove if he can be a top six forward in this league.

With a 2-0 lead, the Isles got lucky when Mike Richards hit the post late in the period. Before that, the fists began to fly and the Flyers got some momentum the old fashioned way. Going into the third, they had the Islanders on their heels.

Scoring three unanswered goals in 3:55, the Flyers were quickly in the drivers seat, but just 32 seconds later, Mark Streit tallied to tie the game and eventually take it into overtime.

After an uneventful overtime period, the Islanders went into the shootout where Brendan Witt, ironically went first. Simply put, you cannot waste a spot like that on a player that despite having a heart of warrior, is not a goal scorer. Tambellini had a goal in the game and has always had success in that spot, why not throw him in there and continue to build his confidence?

I know the season’s been long over and the team would like to increase their odds of getting John Tavares and do so without being too obvious, but there it wasn’t.

Yes, Joey “Pickles” MacDonald isn’t ready to give up this season. Despite playing his heart out for most of the season, MacDonald in fact may be without a job next season and he knows it. That’s one of the reasons why he needed to be on top of his game last night. Making 42 saves and getting some help from the pipes behind him and two youngsters in Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey, the Islanders and Joey Mac earned a much-needed win against the Detroit Red Wings.

I can almost guarantee that Mikael Samuelsson and most of the Wings had trouble sleeping last night.

“Time and time again we had great opportunities, I thought our execution was really good, but I thought they were desperate,” Babcock told the Associated Press. “The goalie was good, they blocked shots, they competed really hard.”

Wow, that should be a line in an Alanis Morrisette song, The last place team was desperate and beat the first place team. Isn’t it ironic? Don’tcha think?

At any rate it shouldn’t matter how the Islanders won, just the fact that they did win and against a team like the Red Wings, is something that they should be uber proud of.

Josh Bailey has been talking more about improving his shot this summer and Kyle Okposo [who is another guy who has been getting better and better this season] has said on numerous occasions that he’s been working with him in practice on it. Starting to see a difference? I think so. He’s got much more confidence when the puck is on his stick and even though I believe he’s a great passer, he’s definitely got the ability to put the puck in the net more than he has this season. Seeing that development occur right before your eyes is pretty damn fun if you ask me. Earlier in the season, he would have been out by the circles, rather than in front of the net fighting for the garbage goal.

The same process is beginning to take place with “The Great Dane” as Nielsen seems to be getting better and better every time he steps out there. 29 points in 51 games may not be too enthralling, but considering the fact that he has 10 points in his past 13 games, it’s easy to see that he’s not the same player he was earlier in the season.

I think it’s fair to say that most of the youngsters are going through the same thing.

They are taking their Flintstones vitamins.

They are 10 million strong… and growing.

Sing it with me.

Between the penalties and the decrepit pace, I was practically sound asleep by the beginning of the third period.

The Minnesota Wild, as a team, have has much energy as a 90-year-old obese man and show as much emotion on the ice as a blind man watching a Charlie Chaplin film.

This team plays the system that Jacques Lemaire wants them to and in the end, may be held back from realizing their true potential. Guys like Marc-Andre Bergeron, Marian Gaborik and a handful of others could be producing much more if they were given more room and weren’t forced to play a system that slows the game down and doesn’t allow for creativity.

It’s like forcing a human to be a cylon and asking them to truly feel love.

OK; I promise that that will be the only Battlestar Galactica reference that I will make in this post.

Worst game of the season by far.

I wish I could end this post right now, but you guys deserve better than that.

Simply put, the Islanders fell victim to Minnesota’s system and weren’t able to use their speed. They were angry and frustrated, especially Kyle Okposo, who was talking more and showed more emotion than I’ve seen him show all season. I definitely see a leader growing here. In a few years I wouldn’t be surprised if he got an A or even a C. We all know he’s got the skill on the ice, but overall, I think he can be a very sound leader if he continues to stick up for his teammates.

The same thing goes for Blake Comeau, who is reminding me more and more of a guy like Patrick Flatley every day. Not an amazing skater, but a hard worker with an excellent shot, Comeau is quickly developing into a leader as well. Not what any of us would have thought at the beginning of the season when he was exiled to Bridgeport, right? Kind of crazy how a few months, combined with injuries, losses and trades can change things.

Bruno Gervais too has begun to show some more offensive ability, something that Islanders commentator Howie Rose attributed to him playing with Mark Streit. If he can continue to produce, who knows, the label of being just a solid defender could morph into “talented two-way defenseman.”

We’ll have to wait and see a bit more on that one though.

So again, while the Islanders effort last night had a heck of a lot to be desired, these kids aren’t finished showing the rest of th league what they are capable of. As a matter of fact, I really feel like they are just beginning to gel and become the cohesive unit that will eventually get back into the playoffs someday.

After a scoreless first, where the Isles where holding their own in both ends, they got off on the wrong foot on a Chris Neil goal in the second period that I personally think Yann Danis should have stopped in his sleep. I’m talking R.E.M. induced sleep here, like “losing his religion” sleep.

The second Ottawa however goal had more to do with the fact that the Isles had four players in front of the net and they allowed Filip Kuba to sneak in from the point than anything Danis did, as he was simply hung out to dry.

The pain continued as Mike Fisher and Dany “Why do I spell my name with one ‘N’” Heatley tallied to give them a 4-0 lead. Simply put, it wasn’t exactly pretty at this point, but like they have most of the season, the Isles fought back.

Joel Rechlicz was the guy doing most of the fighting and hitting. I don’t know what you guys think, but Tim Jackman may have some competition next season despite his new contract. The guy has the heart of a warrior and if he can continue to work on his skating ability, he can and will develop into a more than competent NHL tough guy.

Bailey’s first goal at 3:02 gave them a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t build off of that as Nick Foligno tallied to make it a 5-1 game. Bailey tallied again soon there after, but by then, the game was already over.

Same song. Isles lose, but there are some small positives. Seeing Bailey shoot some more and seeing Rechlicz stand up for himself, this team knows they still have a lot of work to do, but see that they’re progressing towards something.

“If you have a good night it makes it a lot sweeter if it’s a W,” Bailey told the Associated Press. “As far as myself, it was only a good third period. My first two periods were off big time and I think that goes along with the rest of the team, too. They played well and we have to give credit where credit is deserved.”

While there was no line sniffing or camel clutches last night in Carolina, the Islanders played a solid game for 60 minutes that should have been won had it not been for a few costly turnovers, effectively humbling a Carolina team that might be heading to the playoffs.

Nevertheless, the Islanders still see the game as a step in the right direction.

“I think it shows we have a lot of potential and we can score goals,” Tim Jackman, who had two assists in his first game since signing a new contract, told the Associated Press after the game. “When we’re doing the right things, good things happen.”

Even the Carolina players thought that the Islanders came out hard and of course, being the better team that they are, they banded together and made sure they held on to their playoff spot.

“Yeah, we sat back on our heels,” LaRose told the AP after the game. “Even in the first period, they got a lot of scoring chances. We were a little upset with ourselves after the second period. We did not play well in the second, and it showed. You know, we just didn’t want to come in here with any regrets after the game.”

When I think of where this game began to take a turn for the worse, I think of Brendan Witt’s turnover that led to Erik Cole crashing the net and a goal soon thereafter. That I think deflated the team and after that, they simply hung young goaltender Peter Mannino out to dry. Was he as solid as he was in his first start last week? I don’t think so, as Carolina’s play in the third period was something he nor the Islanders defense was ready for.

Much like any young team, the Islanders earned some more bumps and bruises last night, a process that will surely continue.

However, seeing four unanswered goals and two of them coming from Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo made the game an entertaining one.

It may be hard to see right now, but I feel like this team is beginning to start to develop an identity or style of play.

Peter Mannino is a god and you are not.

Well, at least until his next game.

Making 40 saves against any team in the NHL is no easy task, but against a team with nine players with over 35 points like the Chicago Blackhawks, it’s like trying to find all of Cloris Leachman’s liver spots. Seriously, the last time I saw Mannino in net, I thought he was in way over his head. He looked like Peter Griffin in the video store, trying to decide between two “Ernest” films.

But today was different. The Islanders defense was totally outmatched and Mannino did his best Yann Danis impersonation, stopping Chicago’s top players from the top of the circles, the blue line, on breakaways and in traffic.

“I felt good right away,” Mannino told the Associated Press after the game. “Chicago is an unbelievable offensive team and I wanted to get out the nerves as much as possible and stay focused. When you get a lot of shots, it helps, especially if you’re not letting them in right away.”

Well, the kid got his wish and was magnificent.

Chicago’s goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, making his first appearance after injuring his knee a few weeks ago however, was not. Only facing 19 shots, “The Bulin Wall” didn’t have what it took and ended up costing his team two points in the process.

It didn’t help matters that the Islanders powerplay was at its best. Mark Streit alone played a crucial role in today’s win by taking shots from the point and playing good instinctive hockey. Sometimes, when you have the ability a guy like Streit has, thinking less and just letting your instinct to score take over makes a huge difference. That’s exactly what happened today.

Another player that wasted no time helping the Isles was Richard Park. Islanders sideline reporter C.J. Papa said on the air on Saturday that the Islanders were going to take things slow with Park, who missed 11 games with busted ribs. While Papa was indeed correct, Park obviously didn’t get the message and has three points in his first two games back. Despite the fact that he got ice cold after starting the season white-hot, Park is still a more than useful player and someone that can teach the youngsters what they need to about this league while still being productive in both ends of the ice.

Players like that do not grow on trees my friends.

I think it’s going to be more than anyone could have asked for a few months ago.

Seeing Mark Streit dipsy-doodle his way around a few defenders after receiving a pass from Kyle Okposo is definitely something I’d like to see some more of.

Damn, is it me, or have I been saying that a lot lately?

I think the reason why I feel this way is because it’s the truth. This has been a different team over the past 10-15 games. Sure, they lack the pure offensive firepower to hold the ice with a team like Boston, but do they work hard and skate in all three zones or what? Once these kids get some more polish and get themselves in better shape over the offseason, I really think this team is a big signing and a few draft picks away from being a playoff contender. I really mean that.

Islanders coach Scott Gordon too sees the silver lining.

“We’re not an easy two points anymore,” Gordon told the Associated Press after yesterday’s loss to the Boston Bruins. “We were at the beginning of the year, but now our guys are playing at a pace that it really hasn’t mattered who the opposition has been.”

Gordon too attributes some of the success the team has had as of late to the exodus of a few “bad apples.”

“You know, we had a couple bad apples, too, that we got rid of,” Gordon told Newsday. “As a result of that, the chemistry in the locker room is what you would expect from a team that pulls together. They are pulling for each other, and they’re working with a purpose.”

Considering the way the team has played as of late, can you really blame him? Did anyone really think this team was going to be better off without Jon Sim, Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli? I surely didn’t. However, in their absence, people have stepped up with the added ice time they’ve been able to receive as a result and all of a sudden, this team is fun to watch again. It kind of makes you wonder where this team would be if these things could have been taken care of sooner.

However, much like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know what the Islanders were truly capable of this season.

From Bruno Gervais and Frans Nielsen fighting for the puck and to Kyle Okposo finishing the play and jumping into the arms of his teammates, this is what I want to see for the next few years.

If that wasn’t enough, I think the Islanders have struck gold with Mike Iggulden. Talk about net prescence. In every game he’s played this season, he’s gotten himself in a place to cause damage. Tonight was no different as he got himself right in the slot and took advantage of the fact that Josh Bailey, another kid who is playing good hockey over the past few games, was in front of the net, looking for a rebound as well. If Iggy can continue to play this way, I can see him on this team next season.

What do you guys think about that?

Personally, I could see him on a line with just about any of the youngsters. He doesn’t hurt any of them and is a good puck distributor in addition to possessing a good shot. I like his defensive game as well.

Right now, this team feels like they are beginning to form their identity. Void of real veterans besides Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt, the youngsters have taken control and are holding their own and the young veterans like Tim Jackman and Mark Streit are playing more than solid hockey as well.

Slowly, but surely, every signing by Mike Milbury or Garth Snow during the Ted Nolan era is either adjusting themselves to Scott Gordon’s system or is leaving via trade or free agency. As this trend continues, this team will get better and more exciting to watch.

It’s happening right now, can you see it?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve loved the fact that they can come out and play well against teams like New Jersey and Montreal that are trying to cement playoff spots. Because of that, the next few games against Boston and Chicago will be even more enjoyable to tune into. Now who said playing spoiler wasn’t fun? Sure, many fans of this team have given up on them this season, but the real fans will come back next season when they see all these kids come back meaner, faster and stronger.

It’s only a matter of time. Add in a few key signings and this team will be right where it needs to be. I can smell it. It’s just going to take some time. This band can play.

Tonight, simply put, was 60 minutes of fun hockey. Plenty of penalties due to hard work, a few fights and a plethora of great saves, especially the Carey Price stop on Jeff Tambellini late in the third made this one of my favorite games of the year.

Despite the loss, I’m sure the Islanders will take it.

Sean Bergenheim’s injury and a few defensive lapses aside [right now he's waiting to be further evaluated. Hopefully there is an update on his status soon. I personally think it's a pulled groin], this was a productive game for the Islanders.

Toronto is far from an amazing team and they’re currently going through plenty of their own struggles, but the Islanders didn’t flinch and played hockey for 60 plus minutes.

With a team this young, that’s all you can ask for. I’m sure I’m not the only fan of this team that has seen a marketed improvement in the Isles’ play over the past few weeks and considering that, things like this, losing games they should have won, are still bound to happen. On the whole, this team still has plenty of bumps and bruises left to earn.

That was the case tonight.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of positives.

The second period alone, when they drew five penalties because they were skating their tails off [Kyle Okposo especially] in all three zones put a smile on my face because things like that are what Scott Gordon has been preaching all season. Sure, the powerplay was flaccid and was unable to generate quality scoring opportunities, but that’s to be expected. This is a young team after all and I’d rather see little steps in the right direction than no steps at all.

For the most part, Joey MacDonald did his job in net, but his rebound control wasn’t as solid and played a huge part in the Mikhail Grabovski goal in overtime. Nevertheless, aside from that, he didn’t let anyone down and gave his team a chance to win.

Speaking of players that gave the Islanders a chance to win, Blake Comeau and Okposo have been exceptional lately. Sometimes I think what the Islanders season could have been if KO didn’t start the season the way he did and Comeau came into camp in shape. However, rather than continue the dream fest, I will say that these guys are proving themselves more and more every day.

Another guy proving himself is Bruno Gervais [kudos on the scrap], who has been playing much better hockey in his own end and has been showing the skating ability that almost got him a spot here as an 18-year-old. Is he going to be the 30-35 point a season defenseman the team thought they were getting when they drafted him? Probably not, but I do think he can still be a good two-way defenseman.

All that aside, the Islanders, despite the loss should have some momentum when they face the Canadiens on Thursday.

What is up with this team lately?

Yann Danis was again spectacular, making 40 saves and helping the Islanders out of two separate five on three opportunities, thus leading the team to victory.

“At this point, we’re all fighting for a spot here next year,” Danis told the Associated Press after the game. “We’re trying to play like this every game.”

At this point Mr. Danis, you’re going to have a plethora of teams looking at you in the offseason. If I had it my way, you’d be backing up Rick DiPietro next season, no doubt about it. To even be close to .500 on a team this bad shows just how talented he is and what he could do if he played on a team that could produce offensively on a consistent basis.

Today, things didn’t start off his way though after Scottie Upshaw scored witha little over four minutes left in the first. The Islanders battled back though and got goals from Jeff “Yes, I can still score” Tambellini, Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo, three guys that many thought before the season would be key players in the team’s youth movement. The way it seems now, Tambellini still has a season to prove himself, but I really like what I’ve seen from Bailey and Okposo.

Of the two, Bailey has the most refining to do in his game, but I think he can be a 40 assist man in this league one day. As far as Okposo goes, I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores 20 goals this season and if he continues to progress, I really think the Islanders could have a perennial 30-goal scorer on their hands and someone that they can build around for years to come.

Someone else that looked good today was Mike Iggulden , who in less than ten minutes of ice-time showed a ton of heart and plenty of good hockey instincts, drawing an assist on Bailey’s goal. Last time I checked, Iggulden is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but if he continues to produce, he may land himself a spot in the organization next season.

Like I’ve been saying over the past few weeks, while the season has been a tough one overall, many of these kids are playing for their jobs, making for some pretty damn good hockey.

If this keeps up the rest of the season, things could be very interesting this offseason.

Over the past few weeks, Islander fans have seen the transformation of Sean Bergenheim from gritty third liner to possibly a top six forward that can play in any game situation. It’s been a process that many may still be in shock over, but like I’ve said countless times on this site, there is no reason why this kid can’t be a 20-goal scorer in this league. He’s got so much energy and has a much better shot and even better hands than most people give him credit for. It’s only a matter of time until everyone in the league begins to see it.

It also makes his life much easier when the players around him are playing well. Yesterday, that was exactly the case as Josh Bailey and Jeff Tambellini played their best games in quite some time, while Andy Hilbert, Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau were no bums either. Add in a strong defensive performance [Anyone see Zach Parise on the ice yesterday afternoon?] and a great first game with the Isles by Mike Iggulden [an old friend of mine and a die-hard Islander fan Anthony Natoli is extremely high on him and has been waiting all season for him to be called up. Just figured I'd throw that out there] and because of that, the Isles had a winning formula.

The first period in my estimation was perhaps the best 20 minutes the team has played all season. The forecheck was amazing, Joey MacDonald made all the saves he had to and the Islanders defense was rock solid. It was like someone finally turned a light on in this team’s collective head and they played the way they were supposed to.

When the score was 5-2, I decided to go out and watch the rest of the game later. About 45 minutes later, I get a ring from Islanders Blog Box member and a damn good friend of mine Gary Harding, who tells me Trent Hunter is out for the season. Just when things start looking good for this team, they lose an emotional leader and a key player in Hunter. Well, it could have been worse; the Islanders could have been battling for a playoff spot and this happened. However, with nothing to lose, the best thing that could happen is for Hunter to heal up this offseason and come back healthy and lead this team next season.

For now, I’m just wondering if this means Jon Sim comes back or another youngster gets a shot.

Guess we’ll just have to wait until 3 P.M., when the Isles take on the Coyotes at the Coliseum.

I don’t know how you guys feel, but seeing Blake Comeau finally put some fertilizer on his grapefruits and not only nail Avery near the Islanders bench in the first period, but then later blow him a kiss like he had a new man-servant, made my day.

It didn’t matter that the Rangers had the lead after the first 20 minutes, the Islanders skated hard against a much better team on paper and carried the play in the physicality and speed department. That’s what I want to see from this team the rest of the season.

The fact that the Islanders showed Avery his rear more times than my hands can count erase the bad penalties the Isles took, the mistakes they made in the neutral zone and the bad goal they gave up in the third.

Let’s face it, not many people expected the Islanders to stand much of a chance against a revamped and stacked Rangers team. Nevertheless, they kept it close for most of the game. Take away their mistakes, like running into each other and deflecting shots past their own goaltender [no sarcasm there, I swear] and I think they were the better team.

However, on special teams, it’s obvious the Islanders miss Doug Weight and have serious work to do with the man advantage next season if they are going to be a better team. Decent teams do what it takes on the powerplay and can get those extra tallies when they have to. 0 for their last 18 with the man advantage, it’s obvious the Islanders must change their approach if they are going to be a better team next season.

On a side note, I am quickly becoming a fan of both Dean McAmmond and Jesse Joensuu. Both of these guys were working their tails off last night. Aside from the play of Comeau, I think these two guys were the Islanders best players. Could McAmmond be earning himself a spot on this team for next season? Is Joensuu doing the same thing? Only time will tell with that, but overall, I think the Islanders showed tonight that they could hold the ice with a playoff team.

That in itself means a lot.

However at the same time, they are still a far way off from making themselves a team that can reach the post season in the not too distant future.

Still plenty of work to get done.

The Islanders where skating hard and keeping themselves warm in the first and it absolutely showed. Every line had some type of pressure and chances to try and take advantage of and Yann Danis, while mostly untested, made the stops he had to. Dean “Why do I have an ‘A’ on my jersey already?” McAmmond’s goal got the Islanders on the board. Even a few bad penalties couldn’t kill the Islanders momentum in the period, as they maintained their intensity and forecheck throughout. Overall, the team, without Brendan Witt, Trent Hunter [Who, according to IslesBlogger.com, is injured, so you don't have to worry about him being on the block] and Bill Guerin proved they still have some gas left in their tanks.

Things changed pretty quickly though, after Ryan Smyth [insert preferred insult about # 94 here] scored just 33 seconds in on the powerplay to make it a 1-1 game. The Islanders only needed about two minutes to get the lead back though, after a Jesse Joensuu goal, his first as a pro in his first pro game [reminds me of Chris Campoli...tear]. Watching him through his first few shifts, I have to say, I like his game and think if he can continue to get in front of the net with his size [6'4], he may be up here the rest of the season.

Speaking of doing good things on the ice, Bruno Gervais is a modern day Dennis Vaske, doing most of the grunt work, but not getting anything as far as statistics to prove it. His goal [Which Jon Sim assisted on for his third point of the game] put the Isles up 3-1 and looked to put the Isles in the driver’s seat. While the Islanders powerplay later in the period was absolutely atrocious and they got in penalty trouble, they were able to keep Colorado off the scoreboard and hold on to their two-goal lead going into the third.

However, just like the beginning of the second, Smyth scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Luckily, it was the Islanders who has a case of deja-vu themselves, as they struck right back and regained their two-goal lead after a Jeff Tambellini goal that was the result of some great work by Mark Streit, who carried the puck through all three zones. That seemed to be the final nail in the coffin and continuing their strong play in their own zone, the Islanders were able to fend off the Avs.

While Colorado is far from the team they used to be, a hard-nosed win like this, without some key players is just what the doctor ordered for this young team. However, a bigger question remains… how long can these guys keep it up?

Now are you guys beginning to see that this kid can be more than a checking line forward? Can you see that he can be a top six forward and score 20 goals a season? If not, then you my friends are the idiots. Damn, was he something special last night. Flying all over the ice, Bergenheim was taking the body, was the first man in on the forecheck and even finished offensively. When you combine all of that with any player on a given night, you’ll usually see the results on the scoresheet and last night, Bergenheim was no different.

While obviously not as key to the Islanders rebuilding movement as Kyle Okposo or Josh Bailey, Bergenheim’s continued stellar play will definitely be a huge boost to this team and help the Islanders find out what they want to do next season.

The same thing can be said for Yann Danis, who too was on top of his game. With Rick DiPietro coming back next season, many think the Islanders would be better off going with a more experienced goaltender to back him up, but I think either MacDonald, but preferably Danis would do a more than solid job backing him up. Better at handling his rebounds and getting the defense to come to his aid than MacDonald, I see no reason why Danis can’t play 20-25 game next season in a backup role.

He proved again last night that he can perform at a top level and I think I’m at the point where I don’t need any more convincing. Danis would be more than capable in a backup role next season.

What do you guys think?

Speaking of opinions, what do you guys think of the whole Bill Guerin situation? Could he really be on the move? Every one from Hockey Buzz to TSN believes that is the case. Guess we’ll just have to see what transpires there. I’ve already told you guys countless times this season that I like what Guerin brings to the table and every team, regardless of a youth movement or not, needs a few veteran pieces. Moving Guerin could also be the beginning of more moves to come, signaling the real beginning of the Islanders youth movement.

Stay tuned.

However, it didn’t have to be that way. I understand that the Islanders season is a lost one, but the way Yann Danis has been playing, you have to keep him in between the pipes. Nothing against Joey MacDonald, but he hasn’t been as good as Danis lately. Last night, he gave up a few softies, especially early on that played a huge part in the game. Had he made those saves [I'm talking about the Nikolai Kulemin and Dominic Moore goals especially], the Isles would have been in a much better situation to take two points.

After the first period, I think the Islanders were definitely the better team. Sean Bergenheim and Kyle Okposo played their hearts out all night, even though I’d like to see them both finish a bit more. Mark Streit continues to hold down the fort and what can I say about Jon Sim. What crawled up his uniform and told him to score lately? Anyone who knows anything about the NHL knows that when he uses it, Sim has one of the nastiest wrist shots in the business. It’s just a matter of him using it. Well, Vesa Toskala found that out first hand last night.

I’m not sure how many people know this, but Sim still has a year left on his contract and considering the fact that the Isles are stuck with him [they sent him through waivers early in the season and no one picked him up], it’s good that he’s been producing lately. Nothing wrong with three goals in four games if you ask me.

It was also pretty cool to see Dean McAmmond pot one as well. Over the next 21 games, McAmmond will have an opportunity to prove to the rest of the league that he can still play in this league. Like I said before on the site, I’d have no problem with him anchoring the fourth line, where he should be able to score a dozen goals and add 15 or so assists if he’s healthy and doesn’t revert to the type of play that led to his exodus from Ottawa. Plus, he’s been around the league enough to be a good mentor to some of the young guys. With Mike Sillinger’s Islanders career most likely over, it makes sense if they keep him.

Despite the loss, it was good to see all those positives for a change. Let’s hope they can cut down on some of the mistakes they made [I thought the defense was a bit too lax as well, especially after how well they played against the Pens the other night] and give us some more offense. If that happens, the last 21 games should at least be entertaining to watch.

He’s been that good this season and last night, he was great.

However, a Petr Sykora goal late in the third was enough to ruin an otherwise spectacular night from the Isles goaltender in a 1-0 loss to the Pens.

The first period was a weird one, as neither team did much to establish a forecheck or any type of advantage. Danis did a solid job, especially of handling his rebounds, but Pittsburgh made his job way too easy. I don’t know what the book is on Danis, but the Penguins were taking shots from extremely high in the offensive zone and to no avail. It was almost like they got a tip that the guy can’t stop the shot from the point. I don’t know where they got their information and it obviously didn’t pay off for them, as both teams skated in their respective locker rooms with the game still scoreless.

The Islanders were far too timid in the first, but started to get going over the last few minutes in the first, getting several good scoring opportunities. Sean Bergenheim and Radek Martinek had great chances in the second, which was played with much more vigor, but couldn’t convert. The Islanders powerplay failed to even amount a shot on goal in the period, keeping the game scoreless. The team’s second powerplay wasn’t much better, as the Isles couldn’t get a decent shot off. As a matter of fact, they could barely stay in Pittsburgh’s zone.

Overall, while I thought the Penguins were the better team in the first, the Islanders skated much harder in the second period, making the third period an interesting one to watch. Remember, the Penguins needed this win big time, while the Islanders youngsters are doing everything they can to prove themselves. There was a lot at stake here. However, the element of desperation just wasn’t really there going into the the third period.

The beginning of the third was a bit different though, as the Islanders came out with some jam and it was there where Marc-Andre Fleury earned his paycheck for the night, making several high-quality saves. The Isles got another powerplay opportunity after a few minutes, but that was wasted once Brendan Witt was thrown on the ice as a screen in front of the net. I don’t know guys, why would Isles head coach Scott Gordon put Witt, a guy with 23 career goals on the powerplay in a 0-0 game? I know it’s not the first time he’s done it this season, but it makes as much sense as openly admitting that you enjoy listening to George Michael. Not a way to produce offense if you ask me.

Evgeni Malkin nailed a post around the midway point of the third and even had a powerplay opportunity afterwards, but they too couldn’t light the lamp, mostly due to Danis’ play rather than anything the Penguins were doing.

Things started to change soon afterwards, as the Penguins were beginning to fly on the ice. Sykora then made the Isles pay and that was enough to spoil an amazing effort by Danis.

Not fair, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

However, we know the truth.

These youngsters on the Islanders, when they finish, are talented players, that can in fact, play with a solid team like the New Jersey Devils. The Islanders defense, when on their game, can protect whoever is in net and whoever that is, Joey MacDonald or Yann Danis, can make the big saves when they have it. The Islanders veterans too have some gas left in their tanks and last night, even Jon Sim made the most of a very small opportunity and got on the scoresheet.

It was that kind of a night.

For the entire season however, it’s been just a matter of waiting for the stars to align and these guys to find the level of consistency for 60 minutes to show the rest of the league this. Chances are the Islanders will play like this another two or three times this season, on their way to one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Nevertheless, I feel the flashes of brilliance have been there to see, you just have to look extremely close. Hopefully, next season, they won’t be so hard to see.

One thing that was rightfully apparent last night though regardless of where you stand on the poll of opinion in this league was the play of Danis. Was he something special or what? 40 saves, from a ton of different angles and in traffic. You can’t ask for more than that and luckily, the Islanders didn’t have to. I think it’s safe to say this kid has proven that he can be a more than solid backup in this league and isn’t scared to be the main guy if he has to. Any goaltender that can keep a 5-8 record, 2.63 GAA and a .922 save percentage on a team as bad as the Islanders should be given the keys to Nassau Coliseum. It’s going to make things extremely interesting next season. I mean seriously, who would you want to back up Rick DiPietro next season. I’m sure if you poll the majority of Islander fans right now, it would be right now the middle.

Like I said, things will be interesting again this offseason.

Only with this team.

The game was a also pretty physical, as both teams were taking the body. Aaron Voros was on his game tonight in that department and was itching to draw penalties all night. Colton Orr too was hungry for some fisticuffs, but Tim Jackman and his teammates weren’t that frisky. Of all players on the Isles, Sean Bergenheim [who continues to play his heart out lately] was the one who ended up dropping his gloves with another unlikely combatant, one Petr Prucha in what ended up being an entertaining scrap.

Overall, it was a gritty, nail-bitting game to watch that would have been even better had both teams scored a bit more. Both goaltenders were solid, but got a ton of help from their respective goalposts. All in all, I think it’s just fair to say that both of these teams are lacking in the offensive department. It’s the reason why the Isles have been as bad as they’ve been this season and the reason why the Rangers won’t make the playoffs this season. Yes, I said it. They won’t. Anyone that does is someone that thinks Herb Brooks is country singer, you know, the guy that sings with that Dunn dude, right? Exactly.

If they do manage to squeak into the playoffs, it’ll be in eighth spot, where the Bruins will then proceed to pull a Nelson Munz on them and throw the Rangers in a trash can down the street. And it’ll be done in four games.

On a side note, something happened for the second consecutive game that is beginning to piss me off. During the Isles’ last game, Evgeni Malkin threw repeated punches with his gloves on at a few players on the Islanders and last night, Nik Zherdev too was throwing punches at Bill Guerin. My message to these two: If you’re not going to drop the gloves, boys, don’t do that. It’s disgusting to watch as a fan and it’ll continue to spread the already existing rumors that both of you have no spines.

It drives me crazy that just because these guys are superstars that referees let them get away with it. They also never pick a fight with someone that can really defend themselves. I’d love one day for Malkin to do that to someone like Dave Clarkson or Arron Asham, two guys that an skate and fight. I guarantee it would never happen again.

That team has no jam, no grit, no heart. I know they are a team that is built around offense, but I really feel as if they are missing Jarkko Ruutu and Georges Laraque, two players that enabled their secondary scorers the space they needed to thrive. If they had those two guys, I think they’d get more offense from the rest of their team. Nothing against Eric Godard, who is one of the best enforcers in the game, but the team doesn’t use him in the right way. During that period long stretch where it was 2-2, I would have sent him there to get his nose dirty. Not to necessarily cause a fight, but to take the body and make the Isles think twice about skating all over them.

Dan Bylsma is going to have it tough over the next few weeks.

On the other side of the ice, every Islanders youngster skated hard today. Sean Bergenheim was making solid passes in the offensive zone and Frans Nielsen was absolutely flying, creating scoring opportunities and keeping the pressure on in the neutral zone. Chris Campoli was joining the play and Bruno Gervais looked like Radek Martinek circa 2001.

However my three favorite highlights of the night was the 25 second stretch in the first period where the Isles had a defensive cycle going in the neutral zone that had the Penguins confused more than Lindsay Lohan on the 28th day of the month. If this is something that this team can find a way of duplicating and redefining over the rest of the season, it may be something they can carry over into next year.

The second highlight was Jeff Tambellini’s wrister that beat Marc-Andre Fleury in the shootout. Talk about a howitzer. It’s not often you get to see shots like that and not often that they come from a guy with only six goals in his career. Hopefully, this will be something that gets him going in the right direction, He’s still got one year left on hos contract an who knows what could happen in that time.

Lastly, seeing a few of the guys turning their helmets inside out was great. It shows me this team doesn’t like losing and that they want to play spoiler over the next two months.

That’s exactly what I want to see.

It’s funny though thinking that a team could score four goals in such bursts like that and totally change the dynamic of the game.

In the end, good teams find a way to recover from bad bounces and the Islanders have not all season. You can say it has something to do with injuries. You could say it has something to do with the system the team is playing. But when it’s all said and done, the Flyers, who have been battling consistency problems all season, proved that they are in fact a team that deserves to be where they are in the standings.

Giving up three goals in just 1:13 and committing several costly penalties after putting themselves in a hole, the Isles did the same as well.

On another note, while Yann Danis wasn’t horrible, as one goal was tipped off the shaft of a stick, another two off his teammates, his defense fell asleep at times. The combination of Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek have been better as of late, but lack the polish that once had them as one of the best shutdown defensive pairs in the league.

Marty Biron wasn’t spectacular on the other side of the ice, but he made the saves he needed to. He limited his rebound opportunities and the Flyers defense forced the Isles to take low percentage shots. Anytime you can do that and do it against a team as offensively challenged as the Isles, you’ll be in great shape.

A positive to take out of this game was that Joe Callahan played his best game as an Islander, as he was taking the body and clearing the crease. Jack Hillen was also solid, making several nice passes out of his own zone that started Islander breakouts. Sean Bergenheim was also skating hard, but like most of the season, had problems finishing. Like I’ve said before, if he can’t finish, he’s never going to shake the naysayers that see him as more of a niche player.

One guy that shouldn’t have even been in the lineup was Mitch Fritz. I understand that the team wanted some toughness in there, but why not give a youngster a shot instead? What good is it having an enforcer out there when your team is in last place? I understand the youngsters need protecting, but Fritz is a liability on the ice and he proved it, going a -1 in just 5:29 o playing time.

Nevertheless, Fritz isn’t the only player to blame. The way the entire team played yesterday, a slew of players have some explaining to do.

That alone was a huge reason why fans should be proud of the direction this team is going in. The first year of the multi-year plan, the Isles are getting their youngsters the playing time they need in order to continue their progression towards building a consistent winner. Despite the fact that the chances are slim that this team will be ready for the playoffs next season as well, but I know this much, they’ll be better.

That, I think, is all Isles fans can really ask for.

From the way things are starting to shape up as well, one thing they won’t have to ask for is for Kyle Okposo to continue producing. With six goals in his last nine games, KO looks like he’s got the ability to crack the 20-goal barrier. Now ask yourself, when was the last time an Islanders rookie did that? In the 15 plus years I’ve been watching this team, I’ve never seen a rookie do that. If he can somehow manage to do that, I think it may even help draw some free agent over who see him as a budding star.

I know it sounds like a pipe dream, but hey, it could happen.

Anyway, back to the game…

Through two periods, the Isles were barely hanging on, but what else do you expect? The Devils are the real deal and the Isles are, well, the Isles. Brent Sutter has turned the Devils into a team that can hurt you offensively as well as on defense. It would be hard for any team to defend against that. Add in that Doug Weight was out of action for the third with an injured knee and its crazy to think the Isles could hang on, right?

You would think so, but Joey MacDonald was on his game. Saves with the glove at the doorstep, kick saves from the slot, reaction saves on redirections, he had it all last night. With Yann Danis playing as well as he has been lately, “Pickles” needed to have a strong bounce back game. His last win coming into tonight was on Dec. 31, Joey Mac looked like he was going to help guide the team to a win. A bad penalty from Brendan Witt however gave the Devils the opportunity they needed and Zach Parise made them pay, again.

How many goals does Kent Nilsson’s kid have this season?

Had to look that one up didn’t you?

Yeah, I thought so.

Add in an empty-netter from Jamie Langenbrunner and this one was over.

Sad too, considering what MacDonald was forced to do to keep his team in the game. With Weight’s status uncertain as well and Mark Streit still out, the Isles may be forced to deal with even bigger problems over the next few games.

Too bad Bruno Gervais has hit the goalpost more over his past 150 games than the back of the net as well.

On the whole, I liked the fact that the Isles were attempting to take shots on Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick from all angles. Tim Jackman’s goal, aside from being incredibly sneaky, proved that when you have the puck and shoot it, good things happen. For far too long this season have the Islanders tried to set up the perfect pass and take the perfect shot. Now, it at least looks like they are getting the idea that garbage goals are just as good as highlight reel ones.

Nevertheless, they were still a bit too pensive out there, especially on the powerplay.

Going 12:47 without a shot just proves that.

Speaking of highlight reel goals though, who would have thought that Bill Guerin was going to pass when he had the whole net to himself? It seemed like Doug Weight came out of nowhere. That goal got the Islanders back into the game and gave them some more confidence, but the seesaw battle continued for 60 minutes.

While he had two golden opportunities over the course of the game and couldn’t finish, I really like the spunk Bergenheim had out there tonight. The same thing goes for Andy Hilbert and Jackman, who never hurt the team when they are on the ice and somehow, someway, always do something that gives the team some kind of boost.

However, one of the reasons the Kings were able to sneak back in was because of a few bad penalties by the Isles and poor coverage in front of the crease. While he’s been much better over his past few games, Brendan Witt again was on the ice during a key moment and failed to clear the crease. I know he does a lot on the ice, but that’s what is priority should be and he hasn’t been doing it for a big chunk of the season. A lot of this has to do with the fact that he’s been forced to play much more in his own end because of youngsters like Joe Callahan and Jack Hillen

In all honesty, this game should have never went into overtime, but both teams couldn’t finish each other off. With the powerplay opportunities both of them had, this game should have ended in regulation. But when you have two teams that aren’t playoff bound [The Kings could still make it though if they get hot], things like this are bound to happen.

Then it comes down to the crap shoot and the Kings prevail courtesy of a slick move by Jack Johnson.

Game over.

It’s till a game though and a lesson learned.

Stop taking bad penalties and convert on the powerplay.

The two newbies weren’t the reason why the Islanders fell last night however. As a matter of fact, I’d rather see Hillen on the ice than Thomas Pock, but having Callahan in there instead of Streit hurts the Isles big time. Sure, Chris Campoli gets more ice time as a result and can rack up some points, much like he did last night, but having the both of them out there is what the Isles need.

With Callahan and Hillen logging just under 25 minutes combined, the rest of the Islanders D was put on the spot and didn’t have the same jump they’ve had over the past few games. They also didn’t have any surface to air missiles to stop Richard Zednik from jumping over Witt and potting one past MacDonald.

Where they horrible last night? No. They managed to hold their own with a playoff bound team. Even in loss, it’s a huge step in the right direction for this team.

However, the biggest step in the right direction last night was the continued progression of Josh Bailey. Shooting more and finding the open man, no one is questioning Garth Snow’s decision now to trade down two spots in the entry draft. I know 15 points in 37 games is far from incredible, but over the past half dozen games, he’s starting to make a believer out of me. The same thing goes for Blake Comeau, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen, who are all playing well with the added responsibility they’ve been given over the past few weeks.

Keep it up the rest of the season boys. It may not be pretty the rest of the way, but if these youngsters can continue to improve little by little, by next season, this team will start to take shape a bit more.

That is all I’m asking for and all the thousands of broken-hearted fans of this team are asking for. Much like the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals, this is a three or four year process and despite the team’s record, if these youngsters can continue to pick it up, this will prove to be a productive year one.

They’ll take it though.

Both teams came out flat in the first period, but the Lightning had several golden opportunities to find the back of the net. Luckily for the Isles, Yann Danis was on his game, making the stops he had to when they counted. Now with Joey MacDonald back, it should be interesting to see what happens between the pipes for this team. Nothing against “Pickles,” but in my opinion, you have to ride the hot horse. Especially considering how well the defense is playing in front of him, you can’t and shouldn’t mess with a good thing.

What the Isles have going right now, is definitely a good thing.

Making things that much better was another solid effort from the combo of Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt, who weren’t allowing the Lightning those second chance opportunities they’ve been know for burying over the years. If you want to beat the Bolts, that’s exactly what you have to do.

Through two periods, that’s exactly what they did.

Combine that solid defense with three goals in 3:25 and you have a recipe for success. Simply put, the youngsters are stepping up and are taking shots. The defense has been extra frisky in both ends and over his past half dozen games, Danis has been better than the fat kid from the Mighty Ducks [who I saw as a guest star on “The King of Queens” the other day, weird].

You can’t really ask for more right now, can you?

However, with Mark Streit out with a supposed upper-body injury for the third, the Isles possessed the worst lead in hockey today and had to protect it without their best player. A Vinny Lecavalier goal early in the third changed the momentum a tad, but Tampa Bay couldn’t get back into it and were taking lazy penalties. Guys like Frans Nielsen and Okposo really shined the last few minutes, making beautiful touch passes and skating with their hearts on their sleeves. Just watching the progression they’ve made over the past four games has been something special.

If these guys can keep this up, the crossbars they’re hitting won’t be for long.

Things are becoming fun again.

Who said that you can’t enjoy yourself watching a team play spoiler?

Points in four consecutive games.

And to think, I thought they didn’t have it in them.

In most of the Islanders losses this season, their biggest problem has been their coverage in front of the net. Players like Bruno Gervais, Chris Campoli, Thomas Pock and Brendan Witt have not been strong on the body or the puck when it’s in the crease area. Because Yann Danis and Joey MacDonald aren’t the best goaltenders in terms of giving up rebounds and rebound control, this quirk has bit the Islanders in the arse several times this season.

Last night however, Brendan Witt, especially was on top of his game, taking the body and then the puck all night long. Having a rough season adjusting to Scott Gordon’s system, Witt proved he’s still got some gritty hockey left to play this season.

The forwards were also helping out a ton, as Richard Park saved a goal on a wide open attempt by Richard Zednik in the second. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, a lot of the times, this game is more about hustle than skill. In terms of hustle, Park will always be on top. The numbers are on Park’s side this season as well, as he’s proven just how talented he really is.

Andy Hilbert is another guy that was just running around and doing his thing. Danis did his job and then some as well, making several sharp saves early in the third period to keep the Isles lead in tact. Overall, when these guys are playing this well in their own end and on the penalty kill, your offense doesn’t have to be phenomenal.

Thankfully for the Isles, Mike Comrie scored a sneaky goal after catching Tomas Vokoun behind the net that got them the lead. Bill Guerin’s spin move goal in the third was also pretty surreptitious as well. Considering the move the Islanders captain pulled earlier in the game, where he almost broke a Florida Panthers’ defenseman’s legs, it’s fair to say that he had his best game in quite some time.

Add in another goal from Kyle Okposo and I have to say, this was probably the Isles’ most complete game of the season.

60 solid minutes.

Sure, they almost lost the game in another third period meltdown and they could have scored 10 goals with the amount of scoring chances they had, but when your team has as many wins as the Isles do, you take them any way you can get them.

Enough of the cliché-talk though. It’s not fun.

Okposo’s first goal of the game came on a beautiful pass from Josh Bailey that he ripped into the net with the kind of enthusiasm that makes you think that these guys are starting to gel.

“He knew where I was,” Okposo said after the game. “He knows how to find me. He has good vision. He’s easy to play with. Sure, there’s chemistry.”

Ah man. That’s exactly what I want to hear. If the Islanders lose every game the rest of the reason, but Bailey and Okposo can prove that they can be guys that can put up points next season, I will be content with that. Add in a more than certain top five pick in the draft and the rebuilding process with continue, but with more of the pieces falling back into place.

I also wrote a few days ago that I wanted to see the same Trent Hunter that was on the Isles team through the first 20 games of the season. Opening up the scoring last night after a sneaky pass from Mark Streit, who was also on his offensive game last night, Hunter utilized his excellent shot and got the Islanders the early lead. Was it super flashy? Of course not, Hunter, of course, was the trailer on the play and left himself in prime shooting position. That’s his game. It’s a good thing for him and the Isles that he’s getting back to that.

I also liked the fact that Andy Hilbert wasted no time in his first game and was a factor, especially on Tim Jackman’s goal. After the shot he took that led to Jackman’s goal, I said to myself, “Why didn’t he start doing this two years ago?” He was definitely getting the ice-time. Rather than complain about it, I think it’s best for Islander fans to enjoy it.

I think that sound be the team’s and fans’ mantra the rest of the season.

Just enjoy it.

Damn skippy.

I could not believe how this this team played in the first period. Sure, they missed a few golden opportunities, but to come out with a 2-0 lead against a team like the Ducks was no simple task. Seeing Kyle Okposo light the lamp from the circle on a one-timer like that is something that I want to see more of in the future. If he can continue to make the most of opportunities like that, he may find himself around the 20-goal mark.

Speaking of players that look like they’re headed down the right bath, Kurtis “Don’t call me Kirk or Brett” McLean has looked good in both ends in his two games as an Islander. Being 28, he’s got far more polish than some of the other youngsters on the team and from the looks of it, can get a good chunk of ice-time the rest of the season. That process will become an even easier one if he continues to put the puck in the back of the net as well.

Frans Nielsen is another player who I feel had some spunk last night and even though he couldn’t cash in during the first on a golden opportunity, the pass he made to McLean on his goal was exactly what I want to see from him the rest of the season.

After those goals however, I feel like the Ducks were the better team. They were getting shots on Yann Danis and if not for him and some good penalty killing by Tim Jackman in the third and good defensive composure, they may have lost the lead. Danis rebound control still needs some serious work as well, but I don’t think it held him back enough to be a huge factor. Simply put, if the defense is skating hard and clearing the crease, those opportunities aren’t an extreme factor.

Sure the Isles were out shot 38-14 up until the last two minutes of the game, but the fact that they could hold on for dear life against a team the likes of the Ducks with Trent Hunter and Doug Weight both out of the lineup shows that this team still has some heart. While the playoffs are obviously out of the question, the fact that this team isn’t looking for a hole in the woods to crawl in just yet is good for the legion of fans that still care about this team.

Quickly becoming the story over the past few weeks is the Islanders inability to produce offensively, which continued yesterday afternoon, as the Isles scored only once on 28 shots on goal.

“We’ve got to keep working hard,” Okposo told the Associated Press after the game. “We just have to get some breaks. We’re getting chances.”

Scoring a powerplay for the first time in nearly ten games, it’s obvious the Isles are missing Doug Weight. Not having Chris Campoli and Trent Hunter in the lineup either played a big factor in the why the team wasn’t on the ball offensively.

In the first period, it looked like the Islanders were going to get on the board early though, as Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore was sloshing all over the crease and was out of position. The Islanders couldn’t put one on the board and soon enough, Ovechkin lit the lamp.

Like I’ve said before, playing from behind is something the Isles cannot afford to do and as we’ve seen from the team before, making mistakes seems to be something that happens in intervals with this team.

Today was no different.

However, in spite of my less than encouraging tone lately, I’d be out of my mind to not talk about how hard this team worked on the ice against a team that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Sure, Ovechkin had nine shots on goal, but the rest of the team had 29 and 16 of those came from Viktor Kozlov and Brooks Laich.

Alex Semin, Chris Clark, Nicklas Backstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Michel Nylander and Mike Green had a combined five shots on goal for the game. Stopping Ovechkin isn’t going to happen obviously, but the Islanders worked hard in their own end and limited everyone else’s opportunities. That’s all you can really ask for, especially from a team in the situation the Islanders are in right now.

Speaking of all you can ask for, Yann Danis bounced back after allowing a pair of flimsy goals against the Devils the other night and played one of his best games this season. Perhaps losing Wade Dubielewicz to the Blue Jackets wasn’t so bad after all? Giving up 12 goals over his past four games, Danis has given the Isles very similar numbers to what Joey MacDonald was producing before his injury.

As I’ve mentioned before though, the one thing the Isles do need to ask for more is offense.

In the end, the choice is simple, start scoring or finish with one of the worst records in franchise history.

“We didn’t play for two periods, and that pretty much says it all,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon told the Associated Press after the Isles 3-1 loss to the Devils. “Not many teams can afford to play like we did for two periods like we did. We’re in that category.”

Well, it appears that Gordon is beginning to understand that this team cannot get by the way they are right now. They are missing a true sniper and a real goaltender and without them, every game will end the same way: with the Islanders working hard, but in the end not having the necessary tools to induce wins.

Simply put, Bill Guerin and Trent Hunter have to start producing more. When they were playing well, the team was at least hovering around .500 and the team was looking games 5-4, rather than 3-1. Now, when the defense starts to pick up their play and support the goaltender playing in front of them, the offense can’t produce. With Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger out, the Islanders are missing two very important catalysts and in order for them to be at least competitive, Guerin and Hunter have to start scoring.

You can only expect so much out of the rookies and Richard Park.

On another note, Yann Danis played well last night. However, for all the solid saves he made, he gave up two pretty bad goals. With the team’s confidence being what it is, all it takes is one bad bounce to break their hearts and deflate them. That’s exactly what happened last night.

Plus,when you make mistakes and commit turnovers with the man-advantage, you set yourself up to fail. Like I said before, when your team isn’t that good in the first place, you can’t make mistakes. I’m sure the Dave Clarkson goal was another mistake the Islanders regretted when they watched the video after the game as well.

Lastly, I think it’s safe to say Radek Martinek had his best game of the season thus far. Less pensive, more snarl and his stick was all over the ice. However, it wasn’t enough, as he was on the ice for the second New Jersey goal. His defensive partner, Brendan Witt, hasn’t been the force he was the past two seasons and couldn’t clear the crease, allowing the goal to be scored.

Just another sour note on a sour season.

I seriously don’t know anymore.

Just when it looks like this team has control of a game and may squeak by a good team, things fall apart faster than a soggy piece of pound cake.

The better team in the first period, the Islanders bounced back after a shoddy start and were taking the body [thanks Tim Jackman] and taking shots. Regardless of the amount of talent on your team in this league, if you can skate hard in both ends and take shots on net, you’ll be succesful. That’s exactly what the Islanders did and that’s why they went into the second period with a 1-0 lead.

The second period was the period when the pound cake hit the milk though, as they fell apart and gave the Rangers too many opportunities. Even though they’ve had problems scoring this season, with guys like Scott Gomez, Marcus Naslund and Chris Drury in the lineup, you can not afford to make mistakes.

The team had some more giddy up in the third, as the defense, especially Brendan Witt, were taking the body and blocking shots and supporting Yann Danis, who replaced Joey MacDonald in the first after he suffered an apparent groin injury. However, the offense couldn’t set up a cycle and get quality shots in on Lundqvist, who’s rebound control was also much better after a sloppy third, paving the way for another Islanders loss.

Nielsen and Thompson back in the lineup- Both provide spunk and heart, something this team has been in a serious lack of at times this season. However, while they didn’t look out of place, it’s obvious that they still need a few games to get their bearings back.

MacDonald’s injury- Just when things look like they can’t get much worse for this team, Joey MacDonald goes and strains his groin. Not good. Luckily, Danis was solid last night and kept hem in the game. Unfortunately for him though, the team’s offense couldn’t help him out.

In spite of Danis’ play last night, if MacDonald is going to be out for any prolonged amount of time, could the Islanders possibly bring back cult hero Wade Dubielewicz [yes, I remember how to spell his name by heart. Yes, I rock.]? John Grahame is available as well. All in all, it’s a furry situation that should pan itself out over the next couple of days.

In other news, the Islanders traded defenseman Brett Skinner to the Atlanta Thrashers for Junior Lessard. In 27 career games in the NHL, Lessard has three goals and an assist.

A few years ago, a good Western swing was the kind of thing that got fans in Islander country excited. The message boards would chat it up about who the team could get down the stretch to help during the playoff run and who should get traded. Even though many of us knew the team didn’t have much of a shot to get past the first round, it was always fun to see how the team stacked up against the good teams in the West, just in case the Islanders pulled off something magical later in the season.

Make no mistake about it though, this season’s Western road trip has proven this team has no shot at doing much more than causing the team and it’s fans a whole lot of aggravation.

Every night this season, Joey MacDonald leaves his soul out on the ice and the Islanders make mistake after mistake in their own end. If any goaltender in the NHL had it bad, MacDonald could laugh right in their face. If this keeps up, MacDonald may go down in the history books for having one of the worst records in NHL history. However, it’ll have nothing to do with his play as he’s been just as good as any goaltender in this league.

He just doesn’t have the support on the ice that the rest of the netminders in the league do.

By the end of the season, that may be the biggest travesty this team commits.

Tambellini stepping up?- You don’t beat goaltenders like Mikka Kiprusoff by accident, so make no mistake about it, Jeff Tambellini’s wrister last night was the real deal. Rather than skate in and try to deke his way to a goal like he’s been trying to do all season, he just shot the puck with a decent angle and rolled the dice. Guys with shots like Tambellini do that in this league and they score. If he can continue to skate hard and take those types of shots, maybe he’ll save this season for himself.

Trevor Smith’s first goal- I said it after his first few games and I’ll say it again; this kid has a nose for the net. It’s something you can’t teach. He’s not incredibly quick and doesn’t have a super duper shot, but he’s always in the right place at the right time and is tough enough to earn the bumps and bruises needed to continue scoring. My kind of player.

Simply put, I’ve seen it all this season with this team.

Last night, the trend continued as the Oilers fourth line of Zach Stortini, Jason Strudwick and Kyle Brodziak just took over the game in the second period. After doing all the little things like creating traffic in net and taking shots and playing sound in their own zone, the Islanders simply forgot to play the last 30 minutes and that, combined with a plethora of missed and shoddy calls by the zebras [Sheldon Souray got away with a slash on a would be Sean Bergenheim breakaway and on a hook on Tim Jackman that ironically led to a penalty for goalie interference on Jackman. What about Stortini running into MacDonald? What about Trevor Smith getting blindsided?] and the Isles chances at coming out of Edmonton with a win were severely diminished.

Like I’ve said before this season, when this team makes mistakes, they happen in bunches. It started with a bad bounce off of Brendan Witt’s skate and then continued the rest of the game. This team has to find away to stop those type of escalations from stopping or there’s no reason to watch the last 40 games or so.

Weight on the air- With Jiggs MacDonald in the booth, I was already a happy camper, but Weight was pretty damn good on color if you ask me. What did you guys think?

Papa’s two flubs of the night- Within the span of two minutes, Islanders sideline reporter made two critical mistakes on the air, first by praising the starting All-Star selection of Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek, simply because he’s from Long Island. Look, Komisarek is a likable kid, but he is not an All-Star and is without a doubt not an All-Star game starter. For Papa to even make the assumption that Komisarek is a deserving choice shows how much he knows about hockey. I know you get cheap pops when you mention hometown kids, but that one was ridiculous.

The other one was saying Mark Streit leads the NHL in scoring. Did you mean he leads NHL defensemen in scoring Mr. Papa? I’ll be fair and say I’m being a bit picky on this one, but nevertheless it’s a mistake he shouldn’t be making.

I miss Deb Kauffman.

In the end though, it wasn’t enough, as San Jose is just too damn good a team.

Nevertheless, again, I like that this team didn’t lay down. Tim Jackman’s goal was the effort of hard work and determination. This season, he’s done that every night and because of that, he deserves the sweater with his name on it. The same thing goes for Sean Bergenheim and Richard Park, who were hustling out there and at least trying to make the most out the opportunities they had. Take away that offside call in the third where Park was sprung and he may have had another one there. At any rate, Park is a shining example of an amazing role player that can produce solid numbers on any team he plays on.

Again, it’s too bad his effort was wasted in another loss.

The same thing goes for Joey MacDonald. The guy was hung out to dry tonight. I don’t even want to know what San Jose’s time in the attack zone was. With all the saves he made and all the shots the Islanders defense blocked, I think Scott Gordon is going to have a plethora of things to discuss during the team’s next practice.

The way it feels right now is that this group of players is incapable of putting a total 60-minute effort together. If they were just terrible every night for 60 minutes, I’d actually not be too mad about it, but considering that they played good hockey for the last eight minutes of the second and amazing hockey for 90 seconds, it just makes me wonder. What does this team need to do in order to play consistent hockey?

I’ve already spoken at length about the personnel decisions I believe this team would need to make in order to be a .500 team and knowing that they aren’t going to happen, I feel it’s useless to talk about them anymore.

Let the John Tavares sweepstakes begin my friends. Until then, let’s hope the lunchpailers make life interesting until April.

Seeing the way these guys have played as of late is one of the only reasons why I haven’t put my foot through the TV. The same thing goes for Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Mike Comrie, who have played their tails off over the past week.

In spite of the happiness these guys have been giving me lately however, I find myself watching this team score more goals than everyone thought they were capable of, but making crucial mistakes on defense that cost them games. Defense was supposed to be one of the team’s strong points this season, but I think the Isles are really missing Andy Sutton and Radek Martinek right now. That combined with a less than mediocre game from Rick DiPietro and the Islanders were sunk in the water.

So, as a result, the hard work of five or six players every night goes down the toilet…again.

But why?

I’ve said it before this season and I’ll say it again; right now, it just feels like the Islanders have to play as close a perfect game as possible to come out on top. One mistake, one defensive zone breakdown, one bad goal and this team has trouble coming back. It doesn’t help matters either that they are too concerned with playing dump and chase than establishing a forecheck and playing puck possession hockey. Sure, they play with a sense of urgency over the last two minutes and lately have shown enough spunk and jam to clean up a few messes, but in the end, it isn’t enough. This team is missing two many pieces and that, combined with DP’s problems, will make this team a big time contender in the John Tavares sweepstakes this summer.

I hate saying it, but as of right now, this team is a good two or three seasons from getting to where they were they need to be.

Weight gets 1,000 and 1,001- Seeing Weight’s kids run around with the banner trying to get the numbers right was one of the most adorable things I’ve seen in quite some time. It was about time he got that monkey off his back and even though it would have been great to see him get the point in front of the fans at home, the PA announcer in Phoenix did a stand-up thing and let Weight have his moment. Hopefully, now that he’s healthy again, he gives us a few more before the season’s over.

Bailey’s first- See what happens when this kid shoots? I know he’s a great passer, but he needs to stop being Adam Oates or Brendan Morrison and turn into someone like Doug Gilmour. With his stick-handling, skating and passing ability, I don’t see any reason why Bailey can’t eventually be a 20-goal, 65-point guy in this league. He’s just got to shoot more and be willing to make mistakes. Right now, he’s trying to be too perfect and much like his teammates, is failing at it.

Last season, Comrie started off hot because he wasn’t scared to take shots on net. No toe-drags, no fancy stick-handling moves, just plain old shooting at the net. Over the past four games, he’s done the same thing and has looked great on the puck. Simply put, he’s buzzing and has both Comeau and Okposo doing the same thing. The end result is one damn good line that played a key role in the Isles victory yesterday.

Speaking of key roles, Joey MacDonald was on his game in the first period and after a shoddy no-goal call, things could have fell apart, but they didn’t. After Brett McLean’s marker, Joey Mac was rock solid and the Islanders defense rose to the occasion, blocking shots and establishing themselves through solid passing in their own zone. When you do that, you make the goaltender’s work a whole lot easier. Thankfully, that was the case yesterday afternoon.

Add in another quality game from Mark Streit and what I consider a turning point game for Sean Bergenheim and you get enough to ensure an Isles victory.

Smith’s debut- With Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger out of the lineup, Trevor Smith made his NHL debut and truth be told, I really like the kid. Forget about the fact that he’s wearing my favorite number on the back of his jersey, he’s got a lot of spunk and has a nose for the net. I got a feeling he may be someone that Islander fans may get to know a bit better over the next few weeks.

On another note, I just want to say that while I love the work of Howie Rose on Islanders telecasts, I loved hearing Jiggs McDonald yesterday. I know I say it every time he’s back with the Isles, but that’s only because it’s true. With everything that’s gone on with his life over the past few weeks, it’s great to see him in on TV doing what I feel he’s one of the best in the world at.

In all honesty, it probably should have been. That way this team would know how poorly they played.

The breakdowns in the defensive zone have been a prolonged problem this season and if this team is going to get their respect back any time soon, that’s first thing that needs to be fixed.

With guys like Doug Weight, Mike Sillinger, Kyle Okposo and Mike Comrie all back in the lineup, the Islanders will be much better offensively, so it’s crucial that they play better in their own end. That obviously didn’t happen last night on a few occasions, as Petr Prucha and Scott Gomez especially had way too much room on the ice and were allowed second chances to create. That was probably the biggest reason why the Isles didn’t come out with at least a point.

Another huge reason this team didn’t finish off the Rangers is they couldn’t avoid another third period collapse. Anyone that watched the game last night knows the team was -24 in the third period going into last night’s game. Something has to be done about this and soon.

The hour glass is running out boys, but this season can still be saved [I know I'm being extremely overoptimistic here. Please let me live in denial here.]

What is up with DP? The Rick DiPietro saga took another turn yesterday when Yann Danis was recalled as the emergency backup to Joey MacDonald. The word now is a groin pull, but there’s no way to really know what is going on with this guy. All I know is he’s not in the lineup and he has about a dozen years left on his contract. This is not good. The fact that the Isles are being so tight lipped about things to the point where Chris Botta and Greg Logan can’t confirm anything. And to think, a few days ago, everyone thought DP was back and the Islanders, for the time being, were out of the water.

Guess Again.

Are we at the point in the season now that we should consider ourselves lucky that no one else is seriously injured to the point where no one knows when they’ll be back. For a few minutes last night, I think Trent Hunter was the next player to join that list. Thankfully though, he just lost his air in one of the scariest moments I’ve seen in a while as an Islanders fan. The next Islanders captain in my mind at least, the last thing this team would need at this point is for another impact player to go down for any prolonged period of time.

I want to see passion. I want to see intensity. I want to see jam.

That third period, well the last minute and a half at least, the Islanders had me confused. They went from playing well-intentioned, but too unfocused to win hockey, to being the owners, founders and major shareholders of Smuckers. Yes, my friends, they were making jam.

The line of Blake Comeau, Mike Comrie and Kyle Okposo had all the flavors for you if you wanted as well. They were skating their tails off, carrying the puck into the zone, rather than play dump and chase and were taking shots. It also seems that in the process of scoring his 400th goal the other night, Bill Guerin now feels the need to become the passer he never was. Dishing the puck well all night, Guerin may take Doug Weight’s spot on the team as their top playmaker once he comes back if he continues playing the way he is.

Add in some good offensive play by Chris Campoli, Freddy Meyer and yes, Brendan Witt [who also blocked several key shots late in the game] and the Isles had more than enough of a team effort to skate out of Dodge with a point. Above all though, when Jeff Tambellini works as hard as he did last night, scoring his first goal in more than half a season, you know you have to get something out of it,

The expression on Lindy Ruff’s face said it all. Giving up two goals like that at the end of the game should have changed his game plan a bit, but it didn’t. Opting not to put his leading scorer on the ice in Thomas Vanek during the overtime period, he continued to role the dice an luckily for him, he came out on top in the skills competition portion of the game and got the extra point. That’s not the point here though.

The point is that regardless of what their record is right now and regardless of if the Islanders are saying DP tweaked his groin again [I personally think he's fine and they just want him to take things extra slow this time around so he's ready to play the Rangers], this team is playing harder and smarter than they have in a month.

That my friends, is good enough for me.

“I can at least hold my head up high the last five games and say the guys have resembled a team that is competing for 60 minutes,” coach Scott Gordon told the AP after the game.

Ditto.

But, as this team has proven this season, when they skate their tails off for 60 minutes and don’t make mistakes on defense, they can and will win, regardless of the team they’re playing.

Even though I got a bunch of great things for Christmas this year, thanks to my lovely girlfriend and friends and family, this was one of the best gifts I received this year.

Simply put, this team skated as if their rears were on fire.

I, on the other hand, was totally exhausted from a hectic day on Christmas and Christmas Eve, but I stayed up anyway and watched them.

They deserved it.

I think us fans deserved it a bit too.

I mean seriously, no wins in a month is something I’m used to. I’m a Mets, Jets and Nets fan too you know. But none of those teams are that attached to my happiness as the Isles. Simply put, I don’t care if they win or lose, I just don’t want to see them embarrass themselves. That’s what my menstruations over the past month on this site have mainly been about.

Like the world-famous Paul Newman said in “Slapshot”: “Let ‘em know you’re there boys!”

That hadn’t been happening as of late.

However, last night, the Islanders had youngsters and veterans, promising prospects and journeymen and franchise goalies and role players, all on the same page, working as a cohesive unit.

On the whole, Rick DiPietro was solid and thanks to a complete effort from his defense, something Joey MacDonald hasn’t gotten in quite some time, DP didn’t have to bend over backwards or even come lose to testing his surgically repaired hip or knee.

Good stuff if you ask me. Good stuff indeed.

It’s only one win though, not time to go cash in my 401K just yet.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

Hilbert Injured- Last night’s victory came at a bit of a price. Hit in the skate blocking a shot, Andy Hilbert suffered a hairline fracture in his foot, which should keep him out at least a month. I know I haven’t been Hilbert’s biggest supporter over the past two and a half seasons, but this season has been different. He’s easily been one of the Islanders best players and has shown the finish needed for him to play on one of the top lines, of any team in the league.

From what I saw, Joey MacDonald was not on his game. He was giving up way too many rebounds and the first goal in particular was a bit soft if you ask me. Mathieu Schneider is a great defenseman, no doubt about it, but to score from the point like that on an NHL goalie isn’t an everyday occurrence. The pair of Little goals were the bi-products of Joey Mac giving up too many rebounds and the Islanders defense in front of the net not being what it should be. There’s a reason why Andy Hilbert broke his stick over the net after one of them, it shouldn’t have happened.

On a positive note, the Islanders were generation a plethora of quality scoring chances, but Johan “Call me Moose please” Hedberg was on top of his game and the Atlanta defense was solid enough to ensure a win. When you get good defense and quality goaltending, you tend to win in this league. When you don’t unless you have the offense of the San Jose Sharks or Detroit Red Wings, you tend to lose.

That’s what happened last night and that’s what’s going to continue to happen until the Islanders devote themselves to scoring more and playing better defense. Right now though, it just feels like they don’t have the right combination of players out there. Simply put, the faceoff and passing ability of Doug Weight, Frans Nielsen and Mike Sillinger are severely missed because the Islanders already have problems controlling the puck and without a good faceoff man and playmaker, that process becomes an even tougher one. With Nielsen out for at least another month, Sillinger back on IR and Weight day to day, the Islanders are going to have even more problems playing an overspeed system that depends crucially on puck control and establishing a forecheck.

This is exactly the time when guys like Mike Comrie and Josh Bailey have to step and show exactly what it is they are capable of.

Stay tuned.

This is a team the Islanders should have beaten, even without the bodies they’re missing.

Instead, the Isles beat around the bush for 60 minutes, rather than establish the forecheck. On top of that, this team refuses to skate the puck into the offensive zone and repeatedly plays dump and chase, which, to me, is like praying to win the lottery every night before you go to bed [do you hear me up there, lottery gods?]. Why not skate the puck into the zone and start a cycle?

At any rate, I don’t have the answers to these questions. As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone in the organization has the answers right now.

Time is running out boys. If this skid continues, the Isles will have dug themselves such a whole that the “Mole Man” wouldn’t be able to get out.

All childish comparisons based on Marvel Comics aside, this team is getting so bad that my mother, is even saying things like: “They stink, they can’t even complete a pass.”

This coming from a woman that doesn’t know the difference between Kyle Okposo and Hubie McDonough. However, in spite of my mother’s lack of Islanders knowledge, she’s without a doubt a die-hard. When my father seems to give up on the team after 65 games every season, my mother still watches the games and roots for them with all her heart. If that doesn’t prove her loyalty, maybe this will. She had Miroslav Satan’s back all season, especially when I was on him for under-performing, and was pissed when they didn’t resign him, saying he deserved another chance.

To see someone like that start to see the light makes me feel this team is really as bad as the rest of the NHL thinks.

Now with Doug Weight and Trent Hunter battling injuries, it’s going to be even tougher to change the minds of the rest of the league.

But hey, at least they know what the deal is. At least this team knows that they’re not only under-performing, they’re just not very good right now.

And the only people that get the Islanders out of this are themselves.

And maybe Chuck Norris.

“Nobody’s going to get us out of this slump but ourselves,” MacDonald told the AP after the game. “We know this and the coaches know this. Everybody has to get together and keep working. We are short on bodies, but we just have to keep battling and working hard. We’ll get out of it. I thought tonight we made a few good steps.”

The only problem was your defense forgot to show up.

That and Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo proved that they have a lot of growing up to do defensively.

I said in my pregame piece yesterday that the Wild defensemen needed to be watched and not allowed to make that first good pass out of the neutral zone. With that obviously not happening, combined with the Islanders inability to generate quality scoring opportunities did the Isles in once again.

However, before a terrible third period, I really liked what I saw from both Mike Comrie and Okposo, who were hustling and were at least noticeable.

Then, again, it happened.

This team is so bad in the third period that I’ve seen blind people play NHL 09 with more competence. I mean seriously, why do they break down the way they do? Is it that they’re all out of gas by the time the third period comes, or is it that they are simply not good enough? The way things are going right now, most of the pundits out there will think the later, but I think it’s something else. Simply put, this team is missing something and I think I know what it is now.

They have the wily veteran leaders in Bill Guerin and Doug Weight, they have solid role players in Andy Hilbert and Richard Park. They have a shutdown defenseman in Brendan Witt [and even Martinek when he comes back] and they have youth in Okposo, Bailey and Bergenheim. This team needs DP back in the lineup and they need a legitimate sniper, to even be at .500. Right now, they don’t have enough firepower and as good as MacDonald’s been, he’s got way too much pressure on himself right now.

The way it is right now, it won’t matter who is in net for this team until someone decides to step up.

Who will it be? Who can it be at this point?

Sutton breaks foot- This is not good news at all. Up to this point, Sutton was doing his job and was even producing more offensively than I thought he was capable of. With Radek Martinek already on the shelf, the Islanders defense is doing to be running thin for the next month.

Witt talks about Scott Gordon’s system to Newsday- Witt can say whatever he wants to say about not liking the system the Islanders play, but when you get caught pinching and it leads to a goal, much like last night, you have to think the problem lies elsewhere. The problem in actuality is Witt’s skating ability. Many wondered how Witt would fit in when the league changed the rules and even though he made it out in one piece. Scott Gordon’s “Over-speed” takes the up-tempo game of the NHL to an even faster pace and Witt feels out of place physically and mentally. In order for this system to work, Witt needs to either adjust his game, or go somewhere that will accept him the way he is right now, which is one hell of of a stay at home defenseman. I hate to even say things like this, but that seems to be the case right now.

If Gordon sticks around for a few seasons and all indications are that he will, players that are brought to the team in the future won’t be in the same mold as Witt.

That, I think, is something to write about.

Site News:

Just a reminder that my Islanders site, TheDriveForFive.com, has been nominated for Islanders blog of the year on YesIslanders.com. However, in order to win, I need votes from you, my readers! If you wish to support me in my quest to become an award-winning blogger, just click the following link and then register [They won't spam you, I promise]. It’s easy!

Thanks in advance!

One great period wasn’t for the Islanders to win last night and why should it have been? How many times has this team played great for 40 minutes this season to only come up short? So when the Islanders managed to play one of their best third periods of the season, I wasn’t holding my breath.

It didn’t matter that Joey MacDonald battled back after a few shaky goals and kept the team in the game or that Richard Park played on his best games in an Islander uniform. It didn’t matter that Bill Guerin, Mark Streit and Weight were solid. It didn’t matter that Tim Jackman was killing himself in the corner or Freddy Meyer was doing a decent job against Alex Ovechkin.

One turnover, one shot, one game.

That’s how AO rolls guys.

Nevertheless, in spite of this, the Islanders got a point and played well against a team with both offensive firepower and a hot goalie.

I, alongside the rest of the Islander fans out there should be happy with that right?

Not exactly.

Mike Comrie, Kyle Okposo and Rick DiPietro should be back the next week or two and for me, that’s when the Islanders season will really begin. I know that sounds messed up, but yes, once those guys come back and are inserted into the lineup, that’s when I start to get excited.

Take a look at what the forward lines could be then.

Comeau- Weight- Guerin
Okposo- Bailey- Hunter
Bergenheim- Comrie- Park
Hilbert- Sillinger- Sim

Are these fantastic lines? Not really, but I think it’s fair to say the Isles have a solid group of centers, especially when Hilbert and Park can play center as well. As far as the overall diversity of the lines go, I also think all four of these lines can score goals if they have to, as every guy here can score at least 15 goals if they played a complete season. Is that something to be scared about? Absolutely not, but I think this is the setup this team need to truly take advantage of Scott Gordon’s over speed system.

Add in a healthy DP with a proven Joey MacDonald and I think the Isles will be much improved. Then once Frans Nielsen and Radek Martinek come back healthy, it may be possible that the Isles can make a trade or two to put them in better shape for next season.

Will they be amazing? No, but they will be a .500 team that can get away with a mistake or two every night.

Where is the passion? Where is the intensity?

In the end, it was a better effort than what they put forth against the Penguins, but it’s not anywhere where it should be.

The game started off extremely slow, with both teams feeling each other out, making me wonder when either team was going to “show up.” Rick Nash scored a goal early on that got disallowed and Tim Jackman had a golden opportunity of his own as well, but Columbus goaltender Steve Mason had his number, making that listless feeling I had in my gut stick around a bit longer.

The second period felt similar until the Blue Jackets got on the board and the Islanders started to show their true colors. Only 11 shots through the midway point of the game, Mason wasn’t exactly busy. It’s not like they didn’t have chances though. Simply put, the Islanders powerplay just wasn’t getting it done and whenever they had an angle on a shot, they were shooting the puck right into Mason’s chest, rather than make him work.

The line of Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Blake Comeau was buzzing at times, but they weren’t able to finish. Mark Streit too had a few opportunities, but was unsuccessful. After Jason Chimera skated past everyone on the ice and scored the Blue Jackets second goal of the night, everything looked like it was about to fall apart.

The look on Scott Gordon’s face was the same exact look on my face after Nate Thompson took a penalty less than a minute after the goal. Unfortunately, I was at my girlfriend’s house, so I couldn’t assault her animals or scream. So instead, I was forced to grind my teeth.

Then, out of nowhere, Richard “I never stop hustling” Park potted a short-handed goal that got the Islanders back in the game.

My girlfriend’s animals were without a doubt safe now, as were my teeth.

After the period was over and C.J. Papa interviewed Park and I listened to him speak candidly about the team’s attitude right now, I felt that maybe, just maybe, things could turn around in the third.

The way Joey MacDonald was playing early in the period nearly cemented that notion, but the Isles couldn’t get one past the goal line. The lines were mixed up for the period as well and Tim Jackman and Comeau [who has to sharpen his skates or get some new ones!] as well as Weight and Bill Guerin had a few chances. But again, things just couldn’t go their way.

Another Blue Jacket goal with just about nine minutes to go cemented another Islanders loss, making this writer consider wishing upon a star, to Santa Claus, or anyone one else with the ability to change this team’s luck, hoping for something to change soon.

But what can be done?

Because of that, my poor dog and cat were stuck on the cold floor, nestled next to each other in my bedroom doorway, wondering why they couldn’t be up on the warm bed with their burly and usually-affectionate master.

I’ll tell you why, because this team is an absolute disaster right now. Watching an Islander game over the past two weeks is like the morning after eating a dozen sliders from White Castle. You have the burning feeling in your chest and your so full of gas that a bump in the car can ruin a pair of pants. After every goal, I felt the need to just go to the bathroom and let it all out.

Overall, the Islanders lost their cool and got horrible goaltending from both Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis, creating a smörgåsbord of mistakes that the Penguins exploited every time they had the chance. On offense, the Islanders were a complete joke and lacked the overall polish needed to score. The hustle and passion that was totally evident a week ago with this team has dissipated faster than the smell of a dollar store air freshener.

Kudos to Penguins coach Therrien [I'd say his first name, but he seems to change it every few days] as well for keeping his top players throughout the game as well. No sarcasm there either. I would have done the same thing if the opposition was as bad as the Isles were last night. No mercy, especially when the Islanders were so sloppy and were taking bad penalties throughout.

Sim clears waivers- He’s back, but what are the Islanders going to do with him? Still on pace for a dozen goals, what else can they ask out of the guy? Especially when most of the team isn’t producing the way they should be. Sim isn’t so much the problem as this entire team right now.

Something needs to be done and fast.

In other news, according to an ECHL press release I received yesterday Joey MacDonald was the MeiGray Group ECHL Alumnus of the Month for November.

Here’s what else the press release had to say about the Isles netminder.

MacDonald, who entered the 2008-09 season with 17 career NHL appearances with Detroit, Boston and the Islanders over a seven-year career, made 14 consecutive starts from Nov. 3-29 as Rick DiPietro has been sidelined by a knee injury. He was 8-5-1 with a goals-against average of 2.64 and a save percentage of .916 while leading NHL goaltenders in games (14), minutes (842) and shots faced (439).

The 28 year old began his professional career in the ECHL in 2001-02 and was 12-15-7 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.88 and a save percentage of .922 in 38 games with the Storm. He returned to Toledo on a rehabilitation assignment in 2005-06 and in his only appearance made 25 saves in a 4-1 win against Trenton on Nov. 12, 2005.

They are running way too thin on defense.

Nothing against Joe Callahan or Thomas Pock, but this team needs Andy Sutton and especially Radek Martinek back in the lineup.

They need their defense to be their strong point every single night if they are ever going to get back to .500.

On top of that, guys like Brendan Witt and Freddy Meyer are still getting back in the thick of things, which makes things that much tougher when the Isles offense is far from exemplary.

Last night, the Philadelphia Flyers had way too many second chances. Some were due to sloppy rebound control by Yann Danis, but most of them were due to the fact that the Islanders were not playing smart in front of their own net.

Combine that type of mediocre play with one of the best first lines in Simon Gagne, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter and it’s easy to see why the game ended the way it did.

As far as the forward lines go, I think there are players there too that are either still getting back in a groove or are not being used properly. Mitch Fritz is a tough cookie, no doubt about it, but guys like Richard Park are simply being wasted playing on a line with him. The way Callahan was used tonight, the Isles would be better off using five defensemen and giving Fitz a spot shift if they absolutely have to. Personally, I think that while Fritz obviously performs an admirable service out there and is damn good at what he does, Tim Jackman is enough of a tough guy. This team needs another scorer or energy guy in there.

Once Mike Sillinger gets back to his old self out there [he's getting there and was excellent in the faceoff circle last night] things may change a bit, but this team is starting to look like they need a lot more than just their revitalized assistant captain. Once Mike Comrie comes back however, the Isles may have more options, but if he continues playing the way he was before he left the lineup, the Isles will be stuck with another albatross on their forward lines.

All in all, it just feels as if this team is missing the depth and passion needed to win.

Comeau Rockin’- Despite another loss, Blake Comeau is quickly making Scott Gordon look pretty damn silly. In the three games that he’s been with the team, he’s been stellar and has been a huge upgrade over the listless Jeff Tambellini. I know what some of you are thinking right now: ‘Pat, calm down. He scored on a deflection.’ To those people, I say that energy, above everything else means a lot to me when I evaluate talent. Making yourself a factor is a trait that turns players with average talent into solid role players and good players like Comeau into guys defenses have to prepare for. Is he quite at that level yet though? Not quite, but by hustling and taking shots at the net, he’s guaranteed to keep his spot on this team for the near future.

They got back in the game a few times, following nice goals by Bill Guerin and Mike Sillinger, but not once did it feel like they were headed in the right direction.

The reason for the most part I believe was the defense left Joey MacDonald out to dry… again. Every goal the Maple Leafs scored was due to a miscue on the Islanders defense. By the time Jeremy Williams scored his first NHL goal, it was painfully obvious that the Isles defense needed to get back to basics and simply watch for the back door pass and eliminate they space they offered the Leafs.

On offense, I wasn’t a huge fan of some of the changes in the forward lines Islanders head coach Scott Gordon made before the game. I know Sillinger has had chemistry with Trent Hunter and Andy Hilbert, but there was “real” chemistry starting to develop between he and Josh Bailey. I know the team is pressed for offense over the past few games, but that was a combination I wouldn’t have played around with.

All night, I just felt like there was too much of a feeling out process going on between most of the new lines, which was just one of the reasons why there was a huge gap in third period where the Islanders couldn’t complete a pass.

That combined with the sloppy defense really put the Isles in a situation where they couldn’t muster enough energy to get the W.

On a positive note, I really liked the way Richard Park and Blake Comeau played last night. Regardless of the score, they were making smart plays in both ends. The same thing goes for Tim Jackman who continues to make something out of nothing every night. He’s kind of like a slinky that you never think will be able to make it down the stairs, but surprises you every time.

Unfortunately, as a team recently, the Isles haven’t shown the passion or intensity to make it down a pair of steps, nevertheless a flight of them.

Something has to change soon.

On another note, what is going on with Ian White and Ryan Hollweg? They look like a combination of the Super Mario Bros and legendary porn star Ron Jeremy with those mustaches. Scary stuff if you ask me. However, even more scarier were a few questionable hits by Hollweg in the game, one that caused a scrap between he and Nate Thompson, who ironically left the game with the flu shortly thereafter [maybe it had to do with seeing that wad of facial hair up-close]. Simply put, this guy has had a history of hitting from behind and one day, he’ll be just as vilified as Chris Simon, the guy that went over the line on him a few years ago.

Mark my words.

That was the worst combined effort I’ve seen between two teams on a hockey rink in quite some time.

And that’s coming from a minor league hockey writer mind you.

In the end, there’s a reason why these teams are were they are in the standings. The Islanders, despite playing with a ton of energy at times and showing flashes of being a decent team, cannot put it together for 60 minutes. The Thrashers on the other hand, are just missing pieces. I mean seriously, if someone told me that Marty Reasoner and Chris Thorburn would be on the same line as Ilya Kovalchuk, I would have laughed a certain part of my body [the most attractive part, aside from my luscious green eyes] off.

Nevertheless, unlike the Isles, Atlanta made the most of the opportunities they had.

It didn’t matter that they were outplayed, outshot and outhit either.

That’s just way the cookie crumbles sometimes in this league though, especially when you’re not the Boston Bruins and you have to play as close to perfect hockey every night to even come close to winning.

Funny moment of the night: When Islanders sideline reporter C.J. Papa asked Islanders Assistant Coach [and a damned good passer in his day] John Chabot why things weren’t going the team’s way after two periods and Chabot responded with something along the lines of “I think we were watching two different games,” I almost lost it. Nothing against Papa, but damn to I miss Deb Kaufman this season. Any decent hockey fan knew that at that point in the game, the Islanders were the victims of good goaltending by Moose Hedberg of a some sloppiness on defense.

Sometimes Mr. Papa, the score of a game isn’t the only indication of the direction a game is going.

In other news, aside from the Isles inability to finish last night, there was one positive to take out of the game:

Blake Comeau.

Goddamn, was it just me or was this guy buzzing out there? Not only was he finishing his checks, he was playing very well in the offensive end and was just a few inches away from his first goal of the season. Because of the way he played, you gotta think that if he can keep it up, something is going to be done about Jeff Tambellini. Originally falling out of Scott Gordon’s favor in the preseason and learning the Islanders system in Bridgeport, Comeau has the ability, spunk and now, the smarts to be an effective player at this level.

Okay, maybe I’m getting a bit too far ahead of myself. Nevertheless, it should interesting to see how Comeau plays against the Maple Leafs on Monday.

Even without Chris Clark, Sergei Fedorov, Alex Semin and Mike Green, Ovechkin played his heart out, using his body and his stick in a game the Islanders never had a chance in.

Even though they showed some moxie battling back, the Islanders didn’t put up a fight in front of the net, leaving Joey MacDonald, who played his tail off, despite giving up four goals, out to dry. It didn’t help matters either that he couldn’t get his stick in front of a Donald Brashear tip that ended up putting the game away.

In spite of that, the Islanders lost this game way before Brashear’s goal. Way too many penalties and a general lack of hustle in their own end early on gave both Ovechkin and his teammates the confidence they needed to get ahead. Then, once the Islanders got back into the game, they made their biggest mistake of the night.

They made Ovechkin angry.

And obviously, they didn’t like him when he was angry. [Is it kind of a freak coincidence that AO and the Hulk have the same haircut?]

Sillinger’s first game back- Overall, I think there was a bit of tentativeness on his part, but it wasn’t anything you wouldn’t see from any player that’s played his first game in close to a year. In a few more games however, we’ll get to see what he’s capable of now with his surgically repaired hip.

For the Islanders sake and his, I hope he can get going. If he score 35-40 points the rest of the way, a lot of pressure gets taken off the backs of players like Bill Guerin, Doug Weight and Trent Hunter.

In other news, I recently interviewed Ranger old timer Nick Fotiu at Aviator Arena while covering the Brooklyn Aces for Bay Currents Newspaper and asked him a few questions about one of the best rivalries in sports today.

The Drive for Five- You played for the Rangers when the Islanders rivalry was at it’s All-Time high. Was there a player on the Islanders that you couldn’t wait to get in a scrap with or lay a big hit on?

Fotiu- Not really. I actually really had a lot of respect for those guys. Bobby Nystrom and Clark Gillies especially were really tough players that you had to work your hardest against if you were going to be succesful. Actually, the team’s coach now, Scotty Gordon, I coached Nashville Tennessee.

TDFF- What was it like to be a part of that rivalry?

Fotiu- It was really tough hockey. It was a war. A lot of hard-hitting and great goaltending. Every time the Islanders and Rangers played, it was like the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

You can read the rest of the interview on my Brooklyn Aces site, AcesoverBrooklyn.com

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Well, this season, they’ve been on several occasions.

By working hard and making the most of the small opportunities they’ve gotten this season, the Islanders have been middling, rather than sinking.

Sure, the powerplay could have been better last night and sure, the second period was a disaster for the most part, but in the end, the Islanders came out on top.

To me, that’s obviously the most important thing, but to beat a playoff team like Senators [in spite of the problems they been having this season] and to do it three times in a row is a step in the right direction.

They just have to do it against the rest of the teams in the NHL.

For the time being though, I’ll be happy with the look on Craig Hartsburg’s face.

I said a few posts ago that in order for this team to continue to win, they are going to have to get career years out of a few people and as of right now, they are getting it out of Andy Hilbert and Joey MacDonald. No question about it, these guys are both playing excellent hockey.

Throw in an excellent game from my favorite Bill Pullman look-alike in Freddy Meyer and again, the Isles skated away with a win.

Bailey stays- Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared my opinions on Bailey’s play numerous times. During the span, I feel as if the 19-year-old has gotten better and better. A little tentative at first, Bailey is now playing an active role in the team’s offense. Everyone knows the kid can pass. However, the past few games, the playmaker is starting to take more shots and is trying to score, rather than throw something at the net.

Five assists in 10 games isn’t amazing, but it’s solid as far as I’m concerned. Once the Isles get Miek Sillinger, Mike Comrie and Kyle Okposo back, the Islanders offense will have a more multi-faceted approach and defenses will also begin to take some pressure off the teenager and that is when I believe he’ll start to produce a bit more.

Regardless, he’s going to be a blast to watch the rest of the way

I should have known something wasn’t right when I woke up and felt like watching “Deliverance” at nine in the morning for some crazy reason. In the end, after that game, I would have much rather been stuck up a creek with a pair of drunken hillbillies “squealing like a pig,” than watch the Isles play like that again. It was the second or third time this season that I wanted to shut the television off in disgust because of a third period meltdown [how many have they had this season now?].

The second time in as many games as a matter of fact.

To make another really bad “Deliverance” reference in regards to the way this team has played this season, they’re like Jon Voight with a bow and arrow in his hands. They get the prey in their sights and they just lose control and can’t finish them off. It makes for a thought-provoking movie, but as far as hockey goes, it’s something good teams try to avoid making a consistent occurrence.

So far this season, that obviously hasn’t happened.

Like I said in my pregame thoughts, Boston has a host of players that are not to be underestimated. For the first 40 minutes, things didn’t look too bad, but in what has quickly become typical Islander fashion this season, the opposition found a way to strike and did so repeatedly. As a hockey fan, that is the worst thing to see in the team you root for every night. As a reporter, it’s got to be tough for those guys asking Scott Gordon the same questions every time this team loses. Because of this, right now is one of the few times I’m extremely happy beat reporting minor league hockey [most of the time, I'm just kind of happy about it] this season.

As far as I’m concerned, the only thing this team can do now is get back in gear tomorrow and hope and pray “real good” [last “Deliverance” reference I swear. Alright, maybe one more.] that they can get back on the right page against a team that they’ve had some success against this season, the Ottawa Senators.

Hopefully, the Isles can get their own version of Burt Reynolds to show up and save another disaster. Let’s hope who ever decides to show up though doesn’t break his leg shortly afterwards.

I don’t know if there was turkey in the Islanders locker room in between the second and third period last night or if they were kidnapped and replaced with Bizarro World clones, but this team absolutely dumped the third period in one of the worst periods I’ve seen all season.

Let’s be fair here though, the crap storm started over the last five minutes of the second period as the Islanders basically lost any will to continue their stellar play and thought that they could sit on a three goal lead.

Big mistake.

There’s a reason why the three-goal lead is often considered the worst in professional hockey and the Islanders proved it last night.

In the end, the look on Doug Weight’s face said it all.

To start a game the way the Isles did, getting fantastic goaltending from Joey MacDonald and a few lucky bounces, to only lay down the way they did proves this team is still going through growing pains.

Nevertheless, I really like the way Josh Bailey’s line played through the first two periods and for my money, I’d keep this kid up here. Hes got nothing left to learn in juniors. Let him get his bumps and bruises here.

As well, I really love what I see from Weight this season as well. He’s the best passer this team has had since…dare I say… Pierre Turgeon.

In spite of that however, this team has got to remain focused on the ice for 60 minutes. Or else, this entire third period choke conundrum they just got themselves out of is going to rear it’s ugly face once more.

DP speaks- Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro was interviewed by the AP a few days ago and while sharing his thoughts on various subjects, talked mainly about his array of injuries over the past two seasons.

“It’s crazy,” DiPietro said. “It’s like someone has a voodoo doll and keeps poking me. I’ve done everything but seek alternative medicine in different countries. I’ve asked about it, but there’s nothing to do but hard work. I’ve had a lot of bad luck, which sucks. But in the long run, it’s going to work out. There’s absolutely no question that my goal since signing that deal was to win here, and everyone here wants to win the Stanley Cup. I think we’re taking the right steps.”

After watching last night’s game, I think DP takes his turkey with extra gravy.

Thank you Ryan O’Byrne, thank you.

Sometimes things work out in weird ways man, I swear. First Sean Bergenheim gets called for a phantom penalty [was he anywhere near Alexei Kovalev when he fell for no apparent reason or am I going crazy here? If it was for the small hug before that, then I'm afraid this league is turning into the NBA] and then O’Bryne takes a Patrick Stefan-esque dump and puts the Islanders right back into the game.

Again, thank you O’Byrne, thank you. [I'm singing it now, in a Rick Astley type monotone, Never gunna Give, Never gunna Give!]

At any rate, this almost makes up for the dump this team took the last time they played the Habs. Just to get a point after playing the way they did on even strength tonight proves the Islanders are heading in the right direction. Now I know what most of you guys are thinking: what the funk is this guy thinking? It had to be one of the luckiest things to happen on the ice this season! My response is a simple one: so freaking what! Three weeks ago, the complete opposite would have happened to this team. Now they’re on the other site of the coin. And buy does it feel good. Just like the old Virginia Slims ads, they’ve come a long way baby!

Then to be able to pull out the win in the shootout made things that much better.

Overall, the end of that game, just looking at that poor kid, reminded me of a specific scene of the cult-classic “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.”

“You look like someone just took a crap in your cereal…BONG!”

Bailey running out of time?- Two games to go on his audition, you gotta think this guy is going to stick around. That is unless the Islanders try out Ben Walter. At this point, with Frans Neilsen, Mike Comrie, Mike Sillinger and Nate Thompson already out, the Islanders don’t really have the luxury of letting the kid go back to juniors. Also, he’s been pretty solid thus far.

Streit Booed?- I find it funny that Canadien fans would boo a guy like Mark Streit. This was a guy that never really got a fair shot shot there. He was a fourth liner and a powerplay quarterback and that’s it. Simply put, he was a niche player that ended up having an amazing season. A free agent this offseason, Streit was looking for more responsibility and respect in Montreal. If that wasn’t going to happen, he’d look elsewhere. Thankfully for the Islanders, that’s exactly what happened. If fans in Montreal should be mad anybody, it should be the team’s management, for giving up on a guy that obviously had a lot more to give.

Nevertheless, like I said yesterday, in order for this team to continue it’s winning ways, people are going to have to contribute more.

I guess it was just Hilbert’s night.

Speaking of nights, Joey MacDonald wasn’t too shabby either, huh? With an 8-7-2 record, MacDonald has gotten better with every game under his belt and should create a juicy situation once Rick DiPietro gets back. For the time being though, Joey Mac is proving just how smart Islanders GM Garth Snow was when he let Wade Dubielewicz go to Russia.

On top of Hilbert and MacDonald being on top of their games last night, I really like how Brendan Witt performed as well. One of those guys that doesn’t get much attention when he’s on top of his game, but gets crucified when he’s off it, Witt’s presence in front of the net and in the corners last night was solid. Because of that, MacDonald had more support, which of course helps the Islanders offense and helped them pound out a victory.

Sure, it would have been nice if they could have capitalized on a few of those early powerplay opportunities, but the most important thing is that the Isles came out victorious. Winners of four of their past five games, the Islanders may just be starting to find the gritty and hard working persona they’ve been looking for all season.

8-10-2 may not be exactly where this team wants to be right now, but it’s a lot better than where most people thought they’d be, right? Three points out of the final playoff spot with 62 games left isn’t so bad if you ask me.

In other news, I apologize for not writing more on Saturday as I was stuck covering the Aces game in Brooklyn and watched the Islanders game at 2 A.M. Now fully aware of my surroundings, I feel it necessary to say that the NHL is crazier than Ty Cobb to suspend Mike Mottau for only two games, while Thomas Pock got five for an elbow shiver. Frans Neilsen will be out eight to 12 weeks now from the blatant to the head crosscheck that Mottau delivered and two games is not enough. The whole argument that Neilsen wasn’t hit in the face on that play is complete garbage and anyone with two working eyes can see that. Much like what Bill Guerin said the other day, the league has to deliver stiffer penalties and suspensions or else things like this will continue to happen for years to come.

It just seemed like every time you thought the Islanders had learned their lesson on defense and got the offense going, the Devils came back and put an end to their party. That’s usually he case when a team like he Islanders that is slowly starting to find their identity plays a team that already has one like the Devils.

Nevertheless, the Islanders feel they are just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Our season didn’t start the way we wanted it to, but if you take the positives out of some of those games where we blew a three-goal lead or a two-goal lead in the third period, in some cases, it was 40 or 50 minutes of good hockey,” GM Garth Snow said in an expansive interview Friday with Newsday. “I think we’re headed in the right direction, and we’re just going to get better as the season goes on and as players gain confidence in this system. I think we’re on the right track.”

With a game against Buffalo today, the Islanders need to quickly forget about last night and concentrate on doing the the things that broke them out of that ugly skid they were in early this season, which was establishing a forecheck, playing well in front of Joey MacDonald and getting offense from a wide variety of sources. If they do that, they’ll be able to hold the ice with any team in the NHL.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

Also, in other news, I just wanted to let you guys know about another site I have, AcesOverBrooklyn.com, where I cover the Brooklyn Aces of the EPHL. Simply put, this site is what I wish I could do with this one, as it is filled with journalism, rather than just be shooting off my opinion every day. It’s also filled with pictures, video, podcasts, polls and everything else you’d expect from someone covering a team with every free ounce of their time.

Check it out today!

Seriously, what kind of journalist says something along the lines of the Islanders don’t stand a chance and Roberto Luongo and the Canucks can get away with playing decent and still win?

This is the NHL baby. Every game in this league never has a clear-cut winner. All it takes is for a hot goaltender or someone with a wicked backhand to get an opportunity in the shootout and it’s lights out, regardless of how good your team is.

Luckily, the Islanders got both last night, as Joey MacDonald and Frans Neilsen played superb games, leading New York to an “unlikely” win.

Winners of three in a row and holding a 7-9-2 record, things aren’t nearly as bad as they were a week ago, right? The return of Radek Martinek has quietly bolstered the Islanders defense and all of a sudden Frans Neilsen, Josh Bailey [would you guys keep him around after his nine games are up? As of right now, I totally would] and Kyle Okposo are noticeable out there. Are they playing phenomenal hockey? No, but they are making factors of themselves. The same thing goes for a guy like Tim Jackman, who looks like he may stick around this season after getting a long cup of coffee last season when injuries buried this team and their playoff chances.

This season however, the Islanders playoff chances haven’t really even been realized yet. All this team is doing right now is trying to earn the league’s respect back. In my mind, they are still a legitimate scorer and another offensive defenseman away from being a playoff contender, but if they keep finding ways to win and get Mike Comrie, Brendan Witt and Mike Sillinger back and they can produce, this team is going to be a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

Joey MacDonald alone has been a blast to follow this season and has almost singlehandedly kept this team as close to above water as he can. Nevertheless, I think guys like Bruno Gervais, Chris Campoli, Mark Streit and Andy Sutton have played much better in their own end over the past few games as well, giving MacDonald every chance to flourish.

If this keeps up, this team may just take us on another joy ride for a few weeks.

At the very least, Islander fans should enjoy this and keep their eyes on the prize. This is blue collar, unsexy hockey, but it’s winning hockey. With a host of rookies and aging veterans on this team, you couldn’t really ask for me right now.

That’s exactly what happened last night.

Sean Bergenheim and Chris Campoli have the ability and heart to score 40 to 50 points a season in this league and with a few years under their belts, they have to produce. With that being said, it feels good to see these guys come through when they need to. Like I’ve said before, guys that can skate the way Bergenheim and Campoli can, are tailor-made for the Islanders new offense and have to continue producing. For me, it’s a given the Islanders aren’t going to have a 90 or even an 80-point guy on the team this season, but if they have a handful of guys with 40 and 50, then they’ll be more than okay.

However, when you talk about guys tailor-made for the Islanders system, Jon Sim is another guy that comes to mind. The pest that he is, forcing him to play puck pursuit hockey just brings out the best in his game. On pace for a new career high in goals, Sim, despite starting a bit slow this season, is starting to come around exactly when the team needs him to.

Speaking of guys that are coming around, what about Joey MacDonald? Shame on me for thinking for one second that this guy couldn’t hold his own with DP injured [yes, I thought it, but I didn't dare say it at the time] or even as the team’s backup for that matter. Nonetheless, as the season has done on, MacDonald’s weaknesses, such as his inability to cover the posts and take care of pucks in the crease, hasn’t been nearly as prevalent as it was before and it’s gotten to the point where he has singlehandedly kept this team in hockey games.

Last night was more of a team effort than anything, but without Joey Mac between the pipes, things could have gotten really hairy out there.

With their next game against the Canucks on Monday, it’s going to be interesting to see where this team goes next.

It’s almost like a different team out there.

Add in a much better third period as well and the Isles now have some positive momentum for the first time in a few weeks.

With Radek Martinek’s return a possibility on Saturday, things have the possibility of getting even better in the near future as well.

Overall, the defense was solid and Joey MacDonald was extra sharp. For most of the season, despite the injuries, the defense has been solid, but has had lapses in consistency, which hasn’t made things easier for the team’s struggling offense.

Not last night.

Andy Sutton was solid in front of the net and the other veterans on the Isles really held their ground. If this team is going to save their season, that’s going to have to continue.

Good stuff.

Oh and by the way, a very special thank you to Jason Spezza for playing one of the sloppiest hockey games I’ve seen in a very long time.

The “Josh Bailey Experiment” continues- I don’t know how you guys feel about it, but this guy seems awfully comfortable out there. The goal that Kyle Okposo scored was a thing of beauty. It was like a rewind to a Sports Center highlight from the Bruins in 1991, with Craig Janney throwing a pass Cam Neely’s way. Or even better, dare I say Pierre Turgeon to Steve Thomas? In spite of my exaggerations here, seeing them side by side on the bench was pretty cool as well and regardless of what the Isles decide to do with Bailey, I think he’s proving he’ll be in good shape next season.

Yesterday, I had a Doug Weight quote from Newsday on the site and in all honesty, the kid played like a younger version of the Islanders assistant captain last night. He was moving a lot in between the circle and was making solid passes. At the very least, it’s great to have a guy out there with some vision. I only hope he continues to get better.

The only question is, what do the Islanders do after Bailey plays in his ninth game this season?

Working all day and coming home to watch a game that you already knew the score to.

Ah man.

If I was the Incredible Hulk, my first words on this game would be: “Hulk want powerplay goals, NOW!”

Seriously, it’s actually gotten the point this season where I have to quote superheroes I can’t stand [I'm more of a Spider-Man kind of guy] to depict the way I feel about this team.

As I mentioned numerous times on this site as of late, the Islanders powerplay has to be able to finish. With the injuries and lack of offense they currently have, the powerplay becomes even more important. Mark Streit and Doug Weight were brought here to help the powerplay and while their play overall has been solid, the rest of the team hasn’t stepped up it’s play. Guys like Kyle Okposo, Jon Sim and Frans Neilsen have to play with a bigger sense of urgency and simply score more often.

As Forrest Gump would say “And that’s all I have to say about that.”

From the looks of it, Weight knows exactly how I feel.

“When you go 0-for-8 with two 5-on-3s and give up a short-handed goal, it’s on us on the power play,” Weight told the Associated Press after the game. “No matter what five guys you have out there, you have to change the momentum of the game. You have to score on those. We didn’t.”

Simply put, there are no excuses for this, none at all.

On defense, the Islanders have to play tighter. The legs have to be going nonstop and they have to make a conscious effort to make better first passes out of their zone. With the speed the Isles have upfront, guys like Chris Campoli, Streit and Andy Sutton have to spring players like Sean Bergenheim, Andy Hilbert and Richard Park and get this team a few easy goals. Like I said before, with offense not coming at a level where they can get greedy, the Isles have to get as creative as possible. Otherwise, this season is over, today.

Not even Josh Bailey’s NHL debut can break me out of this feeling that this team is sinking fast. Make no its or buts about it, if this team doesn’t get Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Mike Sillinger back and back soon [and Mike Comrie, but who knows how serious his hip injury is at this point] this team is going to easily win the John Tavares sweepstakes.

Something needs to be done so this team can hold a lead. They play well for 40 minutes and then fall to pieces like a house of cards. They seem so oblivious on the ice, that I’ve seen Kevin Federline speak at Harvard with more poise.

The even scarier thing though is in reality, what can this team possibly do to stop this? It’s not like a trade is going to solve this problem. If someone gets benched, who comes in that can fill shoes? No one. This team has to win with what they have right now. If they don’t, this season is over.

No its, ands or buts about it.

As bad as the Isles have played though, there are players doing the right thing on the ice.

Guys like Doug Weight and Tim Jackman came to play last night. Speaking of Jackman, maybe he’ll finally got it into his system what he has to do in order to stay in this league the rest of the season. Aside from Trent Hunter and Bill Guerin, the Isles don’t have many players that can crash the net and get garbage goals [one of the reasons why I'm still heavily pissed that they let Mark Parrish sign with the Dallas Stars]. A guy like Jackman could provide a lift and help this team get a few ugly ones to keep them above water.

Another guy that was sound last night was Andy Hilbert. On pace for an 18-goal season, if Hilbert can keep this type of play up, I may not rag on him so much. While that alone isn’t enough for him to be consistent, it’s great to see him contributing more on offense. The numbers that he put up in the AHL, I don’t think it’s asking too much for this guy to score 15 goals a season. Everyone knows he works hard, he just has to finish. So far this season, he’s done a much better job of that.

With their next game against the Flyers on Tuesday, things need to change and change fast.

The first period was a toss up, but the Islanders were holding their own. Aside from a bad change that resulted in Slava Kozlov’s goal, the Isles were in fact the better team out there. Over a 17-second span in the second period however, the Isles took control of the game behind Frans Neilsen, who has to continue to play this way if this team is ever going to back to .500 this season and Trent Hunter, who hasn’t been this solid since his rookie year.

Nevertheless, the Islanders found a way to cough this one up.

As I’ve said before, this team cannot make mistakes in the defensive end, especially without three good defensemen on the shelf in Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Freddy Meyer. Andy Sutton has been solid since he came back, but everyone else on the defense has to commit themselves to playing well for the entire 60 minutes. Weak penalties like the ones Mark Streit and Joey Macdonald took later on in the game are prime examples of what the Islanders need to stay away from if they are going to turn this season around.

Speaking of MacDonald, I think that while last night wasn’t one of his best games, he did what he’s done for most of the season: keep this team in a game for the entire 60 minutes. As a goalie, especially on a team like the Islanders, that is all you can really do. Asking for anything more from Mac would be crazy.

In the end, I think Islanders color commentator Billy Jaffe said it best during the postgame show; this team needs to cut out the garbage and commit themselves to playing non-stop, in your face, heavy puck pursuit hockey. Anything less from them is going to result in the same thing that has been happening almost every single night this season. I think the fans of this team have already started catching on to that.

On another note, while Kyle Okposo was buzzing a bit at times, he still has yet to establish himself on the ice. I know getting switched to the left side can be an adjustment for any player, nevertheless, a rookie, but he has to start producing. The same thing goes for Jeff Tambellini, who I feel the fan base and coaching staff have already given up on and as soon as Sean Bergenheim gets rid of the flu bug he caught, Tamby will be back to being a fourth liner, or even worse, a healthy scratch.

If hearts grew on trees, the only person who would be able to grow said tree would of course be number 10 himself.

After starting their season in most dismal fashion, Park and the boys from Long Island have rebounded quite nicely, playing well enough to win and providing some spunk in the process. Despite some bumps in the round in the third period on Monday and a scary last minute at MSG last night, the Isles have their first winning streak of the season.

While guys like Park, Trent Hunter and Bill Guerin have stepped up their play as of late, Joey MacDonald kept the Isles in both games this week and has been a key reason why this team is treading water for the moment. At 4-4, MacDonald has played his part in relieving the injured Rick DiPietro.

Simply put, there’s nothing else more he could do at this point. Despite not hugging the post and having inferior footwork in the crease through a few of his losses, MacDonald looked stellar last night, making a handful of spectacular saves. Let’s be fair here, despite a nasty loss to the Leafs the other night, the Rangers have been one of the best teams in the league this season. Because of that, this was easily one of the biggest wins of the season.

Overall, the Islanders played like a team and players stepped up and that’s why they ended up with two points. Nate Thompson is now my favorite Alaskan [next to the uber-sexy Sarah Palin of course.], due to the fact that he not only got one shorthanded when the team needed it, but I think you’d agree that the way he did it was insane. Most players would have given up on that play, but he showed the moxie to keep his legs moving and finish the play [in mid-air nonetheless] he started that Frans Neilsen couldn’t finish. Good work Nate.

Speaking of Tambellini, the kid showed some fire last night in dropping the gloves. He also finished a few checks. Nonetheless, this kid has to score. Otherwise, he goes right back to being a healthy scratch when Sean Bergenheim gets back from the flu.

Now with a day off before their next game, the Isles can concentrate on facing another high energy team in the Atlanta Thrashers and proving that last night was no fluke.

The game wasn’t all peaches and cream though.

Scary stuff indeed.

Just when you think this team has a game all sewed up, they play down to level of their opponents. If this team is going to get back to .500, things like this cannot happen. See how fast this team sinks tomorrow night against the Rangers if they pull these same type of shenanigans.

Nevertheless, there were several positives to take from this game.

1- Trent Hunter had a solid game.

That’s not to say that he hasn’t been playing well this season, but I feel he needed a multi-point game to really get him going on a consistent basis. In addition, he was taking the body and was in front of the net. Again, if this team is going to be better than average this season and with Rick DiPietro out for the next six weeks, Hunter has to continue to produce.

2- Bill Guerin had a solid game.

The same thing goes for Guerin. That breakaway goal was a thing of beauty just for the simple fact that the Islanders captain isn’t the type of player that is known for deking out goaltenders. Again, much like Hunter, Guerin is going to have to stretch his mold and be more than the player he’s known for. Asking something like that from a player at Guerin’s age may be a bit too outlandish, but who would have thought Doug Weight would be playing as well as he is right now? If he can do it, why can’t Guerin?

3- Richard Park finished!

This guy works so hard on the ice and it was great to see him pot one. Another guy the Islanders need to produce offensively, I don’t see any reason why Park can’t score 15 goals and add 20 helpers this season.

4- Campoli breaks out finally.

The way the Islanders offense is built, guys like Chris Campoli and Mark Streit can really benefit if they’re proactive and take shots. That was definitely the case tonight.

Sound bite of the night: Islanders color commentator Bill Jaffe went on the big tirade in the second period, comparing Jeff Tambellini to Andy Hilbert. I know what point that he was trying to make, saying that Tambellini needed to find himself as a player, but comparing Tambo to Hilbert isn’t in the best interest of either player. Tambellini has a much better shot and pales in comparison to being the defender Hilbert is. Aside from their inability to produce offensively, they are two different players.

After the final period of last night’s game, I was so sick to my stomach that a piece of Meat Loaf, even the ridiculously scrumptious end piece could not bring me any satisfaction.

However, through the first two periods of last night’s game, I was thrilled. After writing that this team was the worst Islanders team in over seven season’s yesterday and adding tat they alone could decide their destiny, it felt great to see them progressively finish their checks, win a fight and put some pucks in the net.

During those first two periods, even the powerplay was working. Frans Nielsen was looking like a bona fide NHL center and newbie Mitch Fritz did more than hold is own with tough guy Georges Laraque. It was like watching the Isles on an episode of the “Twighlight Zone.” At one point, I thought I was going to go blind because it seemed too good to be true. All season, the Islanders were looking for a few lucky bounces to get their confidence going. Jon Sim’s goal seemed like the tide turner. For a second, I thought these guys were gellin’ like Magellan.

Then, in an even more bizarre turn of events, they forgot to skate, protect the front of the net and fight in the corners, giving up four goals in one of the ugliest performances I’ve seen in years by any team wearing orange and blue.

That includes the Mets as well.

Just for the record, I’d like to say that goaltending is not the issue in this game. If anything, Yann Danis kept this team in the game with several solid saves in the first and second periods. In the third however, the defense was consistently on their heels. They weren’t attacking anymore and when a team as talented as the Canadiens smells blood, they go for the knockout punch.

Just watching the highlight reel on Yahoo Sports of last night’s game proves this. Look where all of Montreal’s goals were scored. With traffic in front of the net and plenty of bodies looking for second chances. Why was the crease cleared? Well, without Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Freddy Meyer, we know why the crease wasn’t cleared. At this point, it’s obvious this team has even more problems than are on the surface.

In the end, watching last night’s game was like watching a horror movie, with the Islanders playing the role of the surprisingly strong sexy female and the Canadiens playing the accomplished killer. It was fun to see her hold her own with someone that much stronger for a while, but you knew that at one point, when Mike Myers, Freddy Krueger or whoever else tickles your fancy, had their opportunity, it was the end of the road.

Let’s face it, the first 20 minutes weren’t exactly pretty. While the Islanders only found themselves down 2-1, off of nasty looking goals by Mike Knuble and Jeff Carter that goalie Joe MacDonald had absolutely no chance at, Bill Guerin tallied with an impressive shot of his own that kept the Isles within striking distance. Looking horrible on faceoffs in the period, the Islanders really needed to get their legs going and get some traffic in front of the net.

Things got a little spicier in the second, as both the Islanders and Flyers started playing with more intensity. Much like the first period, the Isles were having problems with the Flyers in the corners as they generated several scoring opportunities via the cycle that MacDonald was forced to deal with. Nate Thompson had a great scoring opportunity at the midway point of the period, but he couldn’t cash in. Andy Sutton, making his season debut, did a good job blocking a few shots and clearing the crease later in the period on a Philly powerplay, but the Isles offense never responded. The newly formed energy line of Thompson, Richard Park and Sean Bergenheim [why was he taken off the first line?] had a few good chances, but they too could pot one, keeping the score at 2-1.

Nevertheless, they had more gas than they did in the first and the game still looked up for grabs.

The third period started off as a frustrating one, but after the midway point, the Isles stepped up their play on both ends of the ice and got an ugly one from Andy Hilbert that sent the game into overtime.

Then like most of the young season, the Islanders paid the ultimate price for taking a penalty at the wrong time.

Game over.

In spite of the over time loss, the Islanders need to take this as a positive first step. They came from behind against a tough Flyers team and did so with most of their key players on defense and their franchise goalie out of the lineup.

Not bad if you ask me.

Notes:

Close call: Simon Gagne nearly clipped MacDonald’s neck with his skate when the Flyers were on the powerplay in the second period. Whew.

Funny guy: In between the first and second period Carter told Isles reporter CJ Papa that they were being careful against the Islanders in spite of Marty Biron’s record against them, saying that the Islanders “Had plenty of guys who could put the puck in the net.” Next time there’s a roast on Comedy Central, they should snub Gilbert Gottfried [John Stamos walks into a bar...] and give Carter a shot.

There’s a reason why the Rangers are in first place and there’s a reason why the Isles have only two wins through eight games this season.

Goaltending and offense my friends. Something the Isles don’t have much of right now.

Through the first 40 minutes though, the Islanders looked like they were holding their own. Kyle Okposo, despite flubbing a few golden opportunities through he first half of the first period, really stepped up his game and easily had his best contest of the season. See what happens when this kid gets his legs moving and isn’t scared to initiate contact in the corners? The same thing goes for Frans Nielsen, who was all over the puck through the first two periods.

Speaking of solid performances tonight, Mark Streit was on top of his game as well. With seven points in eight games, the guy is doing everything he can on both ends of the ice to keep this team alive. Even his defense has been better than expected, as he’s did a solid job of clearing the crease, in addition to his prowess on the powerplay.

If there were anything really positive to take from this game, those would have to be it.

On the negative side, Joey MacDonald, while playing decent overall, has got to improve his play with traffic in front of the crease and with loose pucks around him. The Rangers first goal tonight was one that any decent goaltender in this league would have stopped. That’s not to say that Joey Mac isn’t a good netminder, he just has one glaring weakness that needs to be addressed and addressed soon.

Something else that needs to be addressed is the play of Jeff Tambellini. This guy has to get going offensively and soon. He’s taking shots, but isn’t getting any lucky bounces or help. I say throw him on a line with Mike Comrie and Kyle Okposo. Trent Hunter and Nielsen aren’t bad guys to play with, but the combination of speed and offensive ability that Comrie and Okposo have may give Tamby a bit more room on the ice to thrive.

In injury news, it seems that Freddy Meyer is only going to be day to day with an abdominal injury. Nothing against Brett Skinner, but Meyer was playing solid hockey before his injury and with Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt [who allegedly will be out for the next four weeks]and Andy Sutton all out of the lineup, the Isles need all the help they can get.

Cam Ward was damn good.

The Islanders offense, despite registering all of those shots, wasn’t up to finishing the job. Kyle Okposo had a golden opportunity to get the Islanders on the board in the first, but came up empty. As I’ve said before on the site, this is a guy that has to start finishing and soon. The same thing goes for Jeff Tambellini and Mike Comrie.

However, despite the fact that this team is having problems finishing, there were several positives to take from this game.

The physicality was there. Doug Weight and Nate Thompson were taking the body. I think overall, Thompson played his best game of the season. He had much better shot selection and was a force physically. As far as the responsibilities of a fourth line center go, he’s was on top of all them last night. With Mike Sillinger and Mark Parrish in the wings, Thompson is going to have continue to play that way or else he’ll find himself in Bridgeport.

Another Islander who was strong last night was Bill Guerin. On the whole, the line of Sean Bergenheim, who is quickly becoming a force, Guerin and Weight have been solid. All they need is a huge game to get the confidence going. Once that happens, hopefully the rest of the team can pick up the slack.

Speaking of someone who needs to pick up the slack, Rick DiPietro was not on top of his game. I’ve made several mentions over the past three seasons at how DP, while being a great puck-handling goaltender, needs to watch himself at times. When he tries to do too much, he usually ends up hurting the Islanders. Last night was no different. If this team has any shot at turning this season around, it all starts with Rico. He has to be on top of his game.

With the team’s next game against the Rangers on Monday, there’s no time like the present. Games against the Rangers usually bring out the best or worst of both teams as well, making this an even more important game for both teams, with the Isles struggling to find out where they belong in the league and Rangers trying to keep their lead in the conference.

Well, in actuality, there are plenty of thoughts and even more words to describe them.

For your reading pleasure, here they are:

Why does Kyle Okposo look so tentative out there? Why isn’t he attacking the crease and taking shots that hit the net?

Sean Avery seriously needs to get into acting. Even though he looks like someone cross bred a possum and Jeffrey Donovan [that dude that was in Hitch and that USA show Burn Notice or some crap like that], he’s like a virtuoso of the embellishment, a prince of farce and a patriarch of exaggeration all rolled into one. He’d be a great character actor or the first dude to die in a horror movie, don’t you think? As a matter of fact, the only thing more preposterous than Avery’s antics on the ice are the zebra’s the fall for his nonsense every single night. I’d still take him in a minute on this team though, idiotic Buddy Holly glasses and all.

The Islanders powerplay needs to take more shots…end of story. They were passing back and forth on the five on three opportunity they had when all they needed to do is put the puck on the net and clean up the mess. It was like the Islanders had Pierre Turgeon, Joe Sakic, Craig Janney, Marc Savard and Neal Broten [sorry, five best passers I could think of off the top of my head]on the PP; no one wanted to take a shot. They were all looking to set another guy up. Sometimes you have to be selfish in this game. When you have a chance like that to get a goal, you have to take it, especially for a team struggling on offense like the Islanders.

Jon Sim needs to skate towards the net and do what he did over the last few seconds more often or this team is toast this season. He’s already drew a bunch of penalties this season, he just has to finish a bit more and other defenses will have to think about him as a potential problem to deal with. Right now, the Islanders don’t have many of those types of players.

Sean Bergenheim worked his tail off last night. Keep him with Doug Weight and Bill Guerin. Only good things can come from this for all three of them. Weight has been solid this season even though he should have netted one last night. Guerin too has been ok and has been skating hard. Bergenheim’s work ethic will give these guys the space they all need to produce.

If Brendan Witt is going to be out for a long period of time, the Islanders need to call up Mark Parrish asap, regardless of where he is physically. If Jack Hillen is going to play defense in Witt’s place, the Isles defense isn’t going to be as strong as it needs to be, so they need to add more offense or else they are doomed. The Nate Thompson experiment was fun, but this team needs people in the lineup that are going to put numbers on the board and even though Parrish is slower than John Olerud, he’ll be a presence. Throw Parrish on a line with Comrie and Okposo and put Hilbert in the middle with Park and Sim. That at the very least would give the team some more depth on offense, something they desperately need right now.

On another note, Kudos to NBC’s Len Berman for stating the incorrect score of the last night’s game on the news. Looks like some broadcast journalists don’t like to watch the ENTIRE game anymore. Great job NBC, keep it up.

If the Islanders offense could have gotten something going, this game could have been won. However, they didn’t have the same jump in their step they had against the Lightning. It just felt like every time they got a cycle going in the offensive zone, someone committed a turnover or failed to pull the trigger. Simply put, many of the youngsters have to shoot the puck more and stop hesitating. There were a few instances last night where that happened and it ended up costing the Islanders the game. If this team is going to battle for the last playoff spot this season, they have to finish on offense. That didn’t happen last night.

And therein lies the biggest problem with this team this season; they don’t have a bona fide finisher aside from Bill Guerin. So they have to get the youngsters and guys like Andy Hilbert, Trent Hunter and Richard Park to pot in a few every time they get a chance. Otherwise, this is going to be a very long season.

The only line that really had their legs in my mind last night was the Jon Sim, Guerin and Doug Weight line, who were buzzing in the offensive end, making passes and taking shots when they had to. However, Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun battled back after a less than mediocre appearance against the Wild a few days back and shut them down. Even a pair of powerplay opportunities couldn’t get this team going on offense. Because of how dormant the sticks were last season, I’m sure many fans are hoping that the team doesn’t fall into the same rut they did last season. If they do, things could end up even worse. Remember, this team doesn’t have the depth on the forward lines they had last season either.

The defense, aside from a few terrible passes in his own end by Thomas Pock, the Islanders defense was pretty solid. Again, their play in front of the crease needs to improve, but they weren’t allowing as many second chances as they were in the other games they’ve played this season.

That was one of the only real positives I could take out of last night’s game.

Looks like Scott Gordon is going to have some video to watch this week before the team’s net game with the Dallas Stars.

Last night was a night where I’m happier to do it than usual.

Why, you ask? Because guys like Jeff Tambellini, Mike Comrie, Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight, Frans Neilsen and Trent Hunter have to be able to produce offensively for this team to win hockey games this season and they did just that.

Good times I say. Good times.

Aside from a few meltdowns in front of the net in the third period [I'll get to that later, I'm flowing here!], did anyone else notice how solid the forecheck was? Anyone notice how hard the team was skating and how many penalties they drew? I surely did. And you know what, despite the fact that they just barely scraped out a win, it’s still two points and even without several key role players injured and no Rick DiPietro, this team played well enough to win. And despite the insane amount of penalties last night, most of them were right on the money. Guys like Richard Park, Andy Hilbert and Jon Sim were buzzing all night and drawing penalties and the referees had no choice but to blow the whistle.

In the end, it was a great game to watch and game I’ll remember for a while, mostly due to the sour puss on Barry Melrose Place’s face as he walked back to the locker room after the game. Possibly wondering if he’s going to lose his Paul Mitchell shampoo endorsement if the Lightning keep playing the way they are. As I’vementioned in my pregame thoughts, this team’s defense is spotty and both Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig [every time I hear his name I feel like I'm in eighth grade history, talking about explorers or something. Ironic, since he needs to start to channel his inner Ponce De Leon if he wants to play another year or two in this league] have something to prove this season, giving this upstart bunch of misfits [minus Gerry Only and Danzig unfortunately] a chance at victory.

However, like I said, the Islanders just barely licked the top of the chocolate syrup bottle of victory last night and never had a chance to fully drink from it before their mother came into the kitchen and asked them why at 25-years-old would they do something like that… I mean it was a close game…yeah.

The very reason why the game was so close in the end was because Joey McDonald, while being stellar around the circles, was a disaster with traffic in front of the net and with players behind the goal line. After his performance in the matinée game against Buffalo on Monday, I’m starting to notice a trend here worse than the kids that refuse to take the stickers off their New Era hats. Pucks that DP would swat out of there or Wade Dubielewicz would slash his light saber at, MacDonald has problems with. At any rate, it may be a problem when team’s start to scout him further and the season progresses, but as of right now, it’s just something to look out for.

At any rate, the Isles are now .500. Take it in my friends. Enjoy it.

So many penalties being called that I thought for a second that the Knicks were playing the Nets. Seriously, I know that calling more penalties is supposed to speed up the game and make it more exciting for new fans, but what ever happened to a good 3-2 game?

The intensity was there early on, but by the end of the game, I was just happy it was over. It feels like the sport has changed so much over the past three or four years that at times, I find it hard to remember the good ole days when a hook or hold could go unnoticed on the ice or when every inch on the ice players skated on needed to be earned, rather than expected.

Anyway, before this old soul goes on anymore…

Right off the bat, the Islanders got themselves in a hole and after a few bad penalties, the game was over. Not even a fight could get the Isles out of the rut they were in. Craig Rivet’s third man in penalty was going a bit overboard. It’s understandable that the new Sabres captain wants to make his presence known early in the season, but being the third man in between two guys that have no problem handling themselves is not the way to go.

The same thing goes for Mike Comrie, who got suckered into retaliating after Henrik Tallinder boarded him and nothing was called. With his team already down a goal, Comrie got the ball rolling in the wrong direction and the Isles were never able to recover.

When it was all said and done, Joey MacDonald proved today that asking him to be third three games in a row was asking for too much. Sure the Islanders defense didn’t help matters much either, as they were too busy committing lazy penalties to be much of a help to him. Nevertheless, MacDonald wasn’t on top of his game and allowed two questionable goals where Sabres were behind the goal line. Note to MacDonald: hug the post.

Notes:

Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau are the only Islanders on the roster who aren’t injured that haven’t played in a game yet this season.

When the Islanders skate, pressure the puck and play a little smarter in their own zone, they can be a pretty fun team to watch. Add in an empty-netter, a short-handed goal and a goal with the man-advantage and I don’t think the Isles could have played this one any better.

Overall, it was great to see guys like Andy Hilbert and Mike Comrie, who didn’t play their best hockey on Friday, turn it around and be driving factors in the win. Comrie, who was schooled so bad defensively on Friday that I thought I heard my dog cry in the other room, was snappier on the ice and was visible on nearly every shift. And more importantly, no toe drags! Hilbert wasn’t horrible on Friday, he just couldn’t finish. But last night, he, too, was noticeable and was making the most of opportunities.

However, while the team turned around their timid play from opening night, one player didn’t need to step it up. Simply put, Joey MacDonald was once again stellar, making breathtaking saves left and right, while having solid rebound control and poise. A lot of Islander fans weren’t happy when Wade Dubielewicz left the team to go to Russia [and because the Isles pretty much pegged MacDonald to be the backup this season] so number 35 kind of had a tough task ahead of him. One, play well an earn the respect of the fans and now, play well enough to keep the team above water until DP is completely healthy. It’s always a feel-good story when a guy performs well that you didn’t expect too, but MacDonald’s play over the last two games has proven [so far] that the Isles don’t have to play DP 70 games this season. With the NHL’s new policy on injuries, I doubt any of us will know what is exactly wrong with him and when he’ll be back, so until then, Joey Mac has to keep running with the ball.

Another guy that played very well last night was Sean Bergenheim. Anyone see Scott Gordon patting him on the back in the third period? Less than 10 minutes of ice-time and four shots on goal. Not a bad day at the office if you ask me. I think it’s fair to say he earned himself some more playing time last night and if he continues to play that way, he’s going to be playing much more. Also, I loved that the Isles had the veterans out there the last few minutes to sew up the game. Hopefully, by the end of the season, we’ll see a few of the younger guys in that spot.

Lastly, in my opinion, it looks like Radek Martinek has at least a separated shoulder. If you watch the video, it look like his shoulder disappeared under his jersey when he ran into the boards. Not good if you ask me. This guy has the worst luck of any player I’ve ever sen. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best defensive D-men in the league. With Chris Campoli and Andy Sutton already out as well, this was the last thing this team needed. For the time being, Jack Hillen will most likely get the nod to replace him, which is good for you fans that want to see more youth, but for those who want to see the team sneak into a playoff spot this season, it’s scary.

Scarier than seeing Barrett Jackman punch Jon Sim in the face twice and not having a penalty called.

Photo by NHL Media.

Unfortunately, his effort wasn’t enough, as the Isles offense and forecheck looked flaccid in a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The first period wasn’t so bad, but the next 40 minutes saw the Islanders chasing the puck and failing to get anything going in the offensive zone. Richard Park was perhaps the only Islander to have multiple opportunities, but two crossbars nullified any hopes of him getting on the scoresheet.

The powerplay started off well enough as well, as Doug Weight cashed in after his slap shot hit off a Devils defenseman’s skate and found it’s way to the back of the net. But much like the forecheck and offensive attack, the powerplay tried to get too fancy and spent more time making passes than taking shots. The stellar penalty killing of John Madden also played a role, as he was all over the ice and was clogging up passing lanes.

Overall, the “Over Speed” system set up by new Islanders coach Scott Gordon wasn’t really a factor, simply because the Isles weren’t playing solid hockey. They were too busy watching the Devils play their game that they couldn’t play their own. We’ll see how things go over the new few weeks before I really share my thoughts on whether or not this team can play an up-tempo style.

On another note, despite the fact that he drew two penalties on the night, I don’t know if any hockey pundit could rationalize how Andy Hilbert managed to squeak his way into the lineup in favor of Blake Comeau. Is he hurt or am I missing something here? Aside from setting up Jon Sim for a decent opportunity in the second, Hilbert shanked a wide open opportunity of his own in the second, proving once again that he is not a finisher in this league.

Speaking of guys that have had trouble finishing for the Islanders, when will Mike Comrie stop using the toe drag? I counted three times tonight that he tried the move and all three times, he got his pocket picked. In order for this team to make the playoffs this season, Comrie, alongside guys like Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Trent Hunter and Mark Streit, will all have to contribute on offense.

That didn’t exactly happen last night and that’s one of the reasons why the Islanders went home without a win.

Photo by NHL Media.

See now that was a fun game to watch. The Isles may have been outplayed, but they got great goaltending from Wade Dubielewicz and took advantage of the mistakes the Rangers made in the neutral and offensive zones. Good hockey teams find ways of going that and it’s a shame that they couldn’t have done it more often.

In the end, with guys like Brendan Witt, Mike Sillinger, Andy Hilbert, Chris Campoli, Bruno Gervais and Andy Sutton all going down, the Islanders simply lost their heart. If Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie were second line players, I think we could all agree that they had good seasons. If they were third liners, I would have been thrilled at their production. The bottom line this season though was that solid goaltending doesn’t make up for a lack of offense.

The Islanders need to go into this offseason and say to themselves, “How are we going to be able to put more pucks in the net?” Josef Vasicek may resign, considering he had one of the better years of his career here. While I did my fair share of picking on him this season, Vasicek was decent and could be much better than that if he finds some kind of consistency. Guys like Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko though are most likely gone, due to their lack of consistency and penchant for cash; to that, I say good riddance. This team is going to have the fundage [I think I just made a new word up] to sign a player or two to help in that department. However, I don’t think they should go crazy.

Rather, they have to build around guys like Kyle Okposo, who I think has proven in his nine-game stint in the NHL that he can score enough to be a first line threat. As a matter of fact, I think he could have scored 20 goals this season if he was here all year. His consistency isn’t quite there yet, but he has it, make no mistake about it. Something similar can be said about Sean Bergenheim and Blake Comeau as well. Give these guys more of a role next year, please! The question also remains if the Isles will give Jeremy Colliton, Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini a real shot. At the very least, it will make for a very interesting training camp.

Jack Killen can also be one of those players if the Isles give him a shot. He was quiet in his two games with the Isles, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Good defensemen don’t make many mistakes and Killen did a solid job. Who knows what he can do with more ice-time. Now with Campoli and Gervais [most likely] coming back, the Isles defense just got a heck of a lot younger and faster. As I’ve said before I don’t care if this team make the playoffs or not, I just want to see them building towards something.

We’ll see what starts coming up from the ground in a month or two I guess.

BTW, since the regular season is over, I will now be in offseason mode, which means two posts a week, rather than every day. It was a lot of fun guys, thanks for all the comments, they forced me to keep writing and made me care a lot more about this team than I have in previous years. Times were tough, but we all got through it together. Anyway, no more of sappy stuff, it makes me sick. See you all on Tuesday!

To me, it’s kind of the same old story over and over with this team. They get good enough goaltending to get by and can’t get the necessary offense to stay in games. In the end, I really feel bad for you guys the most though. Unlike last season, this year, I feel like I’ve been writing the same things over and over. You guys deserve better than that and hopefully next season, this team doesn’t fall flat on its face again and I’m a little more inspired.

What’s even sadder though is even with one game left to play, this team still hasn’t admitted that they stopped playing with everything they had. In the end, it’s just really funny to me.

“We’ve got good people here,” Islanders captain Bill Guerin told the AP after last night’s game. “It’s not an easy time for us to play, but guys are showing up and playing hard. Different people have different motivations, but we’re working hard out there.”

I can go on a 1,000 word rant about this right now, but I don’t think I have to. I think all of you know exactly what I’m thinking.

Aside from all of that though, I have had some fun watching some of these youngsters play this season. Kyle Okposo and Jack Killen and the rest of babies may not have had stellar games tonight, but I know that they are going to get their shots next season, That alone will make me watch this team. This shake up has been long over due in my mind. Sure, signing Ryan Smyth and trying to “go for it” was fun last season, but looking back, it wasn’t exactly realistic. Garth Snow knew this team was pretty much built for one season and he took a gamble. It didn’t work and his master plan for this season didn’t turn out that well either.

But at least he’s trying. He’s not pulling Mike Milbury moves either, as Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Marra, Denis Grebeshkov or any other youngster he’s traded over the past two seasons will be superstars any time sooner, or ever for that matter. So as long as they keep building, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be more than happy to write about this team every day during the season.

With one more game left, the Isles can go out on a positive note and take down the Rangers for good time sake and make this writer and the fans happy that we put all this time and energy into a team that broke our hearts yet again.

If anything else, we deserve it.

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.

The youngsters played with some heart and kept themselves in the game, but in the end, they just lack the experience to put teams away. Kyle Okposo had a few opportunities in the third period especially, but could bag one. Miroslav Satan as well had a few golden opportunities in overtime, but couldn’t light the lamp. Unlike Okposo, who I think is getting better every game and is still getting comfortable out there, I think its obvious Satan needs to be taken out to pasture. With all the youngsters the Isles have as well that need ice time, they need to pack Satan’s bags for him.

If I was Ted Nolan and Garth Snow, I’d sit him the rest of the season. 40 points in 77 games is simply not good enough. I don’t know how this guys sleeps at night.

On another note, before I vomit…if Wade Dubielewicz isn’t around next season and the Isles don’t do everything n their power to keep him, I think this team is going to be making a huge mistake. 51 saves with probably the worst defense in the league playing behind him, against a playoff team no less. What else does this guy have to do for the Islanders to show any type of appreciation? As of right now, I don’t see how Dubie doesn’t get serious interest from a bunch of NHL teams looking for a solid goaltender this summer. I still haven’t seen anything about Joey MacDonald’s one-way contract for next season [If someone can find a link and send it to me, I’d really appreciate it.] and until then, I think the Islanders have to resign Dubie.

As far as I’m concerned, even if MacDonald does have a one-way contract, Dubie has to be kept around. Nothing against him, but he’s half the goalie Dubielewicz is. Simply put, with an injury prone goaltender like DP, the Isles may have to keep two good backups and eat the dough to pay one while he stays in Bridgeport. The way things are right now, I think that if the Islanders could have stayed healthy down the stretch, with guys like Brendan Witt, Mike Sillinger, Chris Campoli and Andy Sutton staying healthy, this team might have been able to make the playoffs behind Dubie. Aside from a few soft goals, most of the tallies he’s given up have been due to defense breakdowns and not because of anything he’s directly done.

Rather than tinker with something that doesn’t need tinkering with, I think Dubie should stay and this team should focus on development and maybe a defenseman that can put the puck in the net and another top six forward.

Am I crazy? At this point, I have no idea.

Going 0 for 5 on the powerplay didn’t help things either. But then again, this has been this team this season. They stay in pretty much every game they play, but they can’t get that goal that gets them over the hump or that big hit that fully changes the momentum. Instead they just hang on all game and then give up or lose their intensity for a few minutes and bam, it’s all over. Over the first 60 games of this season, I really thought this team could find a way to come together. Sadly, that hasn’t happened.

On another note, Sean Bergenheim was all over the ice last night. He was taking the body, taking shots, getting into shooting lanes and stick handling well in traffic. There was only problem. He didn’t finish. Good players that take seven shots on goal in a game usually come up with one and Bergie didn’t. If he can find a way to get his shooting percent up to a respectable .10, I can guarantee he becomes a 20-goal scorer next season. Right now though, he’s just a sparkplug that can’t fire when his team needs him to. However, he does get brownie points for dropping the gloves and “showing up” with Brooks Orpik after his hit on Maria Hossa.

Note to Hossa: Don’t stand on the tracks when the train is coming through.

It’s hard to be rough on Wade Dubielewicz in this situation. I mean sure, two of those goals I think he should have been able to stop, the first one by Jarkko Ruutu and the other by Georges Laraque, but the Islanders defense didn’t do anything special to keep these players out of the shooting lanes or threatening. While the team overall is depleted, the defense is particularly suffering. I know they’re missing four regulars right now, but you can’t be overly impressed with some of the rest of the defensive core has shown. Rob Davison, Bryan Berard and Freddy Meyer have had their moments, but it remains to be seen how successful they can be in a full-time role on this club.

Like I’ve said a thousand times this season, this team is going to have some serious decisions to make this offseason.

On the whole, the Islanders got contributions from everyone. Kyle Okposo got his third point of the season and Trent Hunter finished off the Pens with a garbage goal off a giveaway in the third period. Bill Guerin scored a sniper goal and Sean Bergenheim got his tenth goal of the season as well. The youngsters looked solid on the penalty kill and the defense really did what they had to in order to stifle a Penguins team that is markedly better than them.

It kind of makes you think where this team could be if they got an effort like this every night. With all the injuries and even Mike Comrie sitting out because of the flu, this team worked hard in both ends and did everything they had to do to come out with a win. It was a game that was fun to watch and featured plenty of nice hits and plenty of excitement. That’s the kind of game I want to watch more often. Sadly with this team not making the playoffs this season, I’ll have to wait all summer to get my hockey fix after the next week and a half.

On another note…What else does Wade Dubielewicz have to do to stay in net for the rest of the season? While he didn’t face as many shots as he did the other night against New Jersey and the Isles defense wasn’t nearly as spotty, Dubie was again strong in net. I said a week ago that this team should seriously consider using him more next season and by playing the way he did last night, he just affirmed that notion.

By giving Dubie the last five starts of the season, you’re telling this guy that you appreciate everything he does. He had a rough patch earlier in the season, but every time this team needs him to step up, doesn’t he do it? If this team is going to give anyone else a contract extension, why not give one to Dubie and let him play more than 10 games a season? As we’ve seen over the past few seasons, injuries to Rick DiPietro are going to happen, especially considering his “all or nothing” style in net. If anyone deserved a shot to start if DP got injured, it would have to be Dubie.

I know there are only five games left and they don’t matter, but the Isles need to make a statement here: Dubie has a spot on this team and he isn’t going anywhere.

This team is in full tank mode right now. Ted Nolan can say whatever he wants to the press, but now it’s obvious. Why else would Joey MacDonald get the start tonight after Wade Dubielewicz played his tail off against the Devils?

On a positive note, Kyle Okposo [Who almost logged 20 minutes and seems to be getting more comfortable out there, despite not registering a shot], Jeff Tambellini, Sean Bergenheim and Blake Comeau all got plenty of ice time and even Steven Regier and Jeremy Colliton were used more than sparingly. Mathew Spiller was showing some tenacity on the boards and Rob Davison probably got the most ice-time he’s ever gotten in a game.

Regardless of all the youthful exuberance out there and a decent performance by MacDonald, the Isles defense was letting the Flyer put on a passing clinic and take advantage of several nasty rebounds in front of the net. Without Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt, the Islanders don’t have the experience and grit down low that they need to stay in hockey games. Nothing against Radek Martinek, but he looked silly out there tonight trying to clear pucks out of the crease. The great one on one player he is and all the little things he does are great, but this is not the player who should be responsible for clearing the crease.

With all the injuries this team has had to deal with, players are playing out of their normal roles. I just hope guys like Martinek, Freddy Meyer and Richard Park are not losing confidence because of it.

The same thing goes for the powerplay, as Park has become a fixture on there as the season has gone on. Despite that though, he’s cooled off considerably from his hot start and has 26 points, the same amount as last season, which is where he usually is offensively. The same thing can be said for Josef Vasicek, who seemed to be having a breakout season earlier in the year, to only revert to his normal inconsistent self.

However, one player who really needed to rise above this crappy situation and reclaim his role as a consistent goal scorer is Miroslav Satan. Even when he was on the fourth line, he was still getting 13 minutes a night and playing with Bergenheim all season, who skates his tail off and gives whoever he plays with space on the ice, he should have at least 25 goals right now. A few finishes, rather than nixes and things could be a little different.

But blaming this crap fest on one player wouldn’t be right. This entire team has let itself and it’s fans down this season and with only a handful of games left, they’ll have the entire summer to decide where to go from here.

I said a few days ago that Richard Park is known for bringing out the best in his linemates and so far, Blake Comeau and Okposo seem to be gelling together quite nicely.

I know many Islander fans would love this team to tank the rest of the season and get a great pick in this year’s draft, I really think that this team should continue to play hard and get these youngsters as much playing time as they can. Guys like Miroslav Satan, who have quit on this team 10 games ago, can play on the fourth line and take up space as far as I’m concerned. What that will do is effectively cut the fat off of this team and give guys like Okposo, Comeau, Jeff Tambellini and even Sean Bergenheim more confidence and the energy to work hard during the offseason, coming back better players next year.

Nevertheless, for the life of me, I still can’t fathom this team’s mentality on offense. How many times do they take 35 plus shots this season and come up with nothing to only need 16 shots to come up with three goals last night? It’s enough to drive a 24-year old crazy, that’s what it is.

Regardless of that though, the Isles did a few things right last night. They stuck up for each other on the ice and they converted on the powerplay. The defense chipped in a few points as well, courtesy of a few nice passes from Bryan Berard, who has 21 points in 47 games. Not too shabby if ya ask me.

O.K., enough of me singing the praises of Berard [I have a soft spot for offensive defensemen, what can I say? Damn, I miss Kenny Jonsson] This season, the Isles have shown that they get points from the defense, play gritty and get a marker on the powerplay, they have a chance at winning every night. Bill Guerin, Mathew Spiller and Josef Vasicek all “showed up” last night and even though their not mathematically eliminated yet, showing that type of moxy while not having anything to play for is pretty admirable in my book.

Welcome to the NHL Kyle Okposo.However, the number one star for me last night was Wade Dubielewicz, who was at his best, with not a lot of support in front of his net. It was like a goddamn shooting gallery in front of the crease last night that guys like Spiller, Freddy Meyer and Aaron Johnson should have cleared out. Fortunately, Dubie was up to the task.

Mike and the Mechanics had a hit in the ‘80s called “All I need is a Miracle,” that pretty much sums up the rest of the Islanders season, which is, like I’ve said a thousand times, basically over. However, the next line in the song is “All I need is you.” If Dubie and Okposo can give me a few smiles the rest of the way, I may write Mike Rutherford [the dude that wrote the song, duh] and have the “you” changed to “them.”

Above all else, in a little over 13 minutes of ice-time, Okposo proved that he can skate with the big boys and that he’s going to work as hard as anyone over the next eight games. Again two shots on goal is nothing to jump for joy about, but it’s a start.

Nevertheless, his line with Blake Comeau and Richard Park was easily the Islanders most passionate trio out there, drawing penalties and getting a cycle going on numerous occasions. Okposo was also skating very well and made a few nice passes into the slot. His hockey sense isn’t bad either, as after a mediocre first two or three shifts, he started getting to the front of the net and using his legs more. If that line is given an opportunity to gel, they can be a very fun group to watch.

I’d also like to see KO get a chance on the powerplay as well. Let’s me honest here, with players like Miroslav Satan and Josef Vasicek effectively playing their way off of this team, what can the Isles lose by letting Okposo play with Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie with the man advantage? Absolutely nothin’ if you ask me. Getting him some extra space could also start to build his confidence as well.

More Isles thoughts…

DiPietro has MRI- Looks like the hip that DP tweaked during the skills competition has been much more bothersome then originally indicated. His play during the second half has been one of the reasons why this team has fallen out of contention and it makes you wonder where this team could have been if he had taken the time to heal. I mean seriously, Dubielewicz played a great game last night and has proven he can hold down the fort when he has to. However, instead, DP tried to play through it and that combined with the Islanders miserable offense has sealed their fate this season.

Bergenheim and Hunter have to finish-How many golden opportunities did they have last night? What about Satan? The guy can’t even get off the ice properly anymore. Simply put, this team has no more excuses on offense. They’re just so shook up right now that it feels like they’ll never get it together. Like I said yesterday, it’s time to break this Jefferson Airplane up and start a Starship.

No offense to Rob Davison who plays his tail off every night, but when a guy with three career goals scores the way he did last night and is the only player on your team to light the lamp, you have some serious problems.

Sorry for the late post today guys, I been swamped at school and work and needed to relax a little bit with my girlfriend. I didn’t forget about any of you though, so lets get started.

Rick DiPietro played well enough to come out with a win last night. However, it just so happened that Jaroslav Halak played better. It sickens me to write the same thing after almost every Islander loss this season, how the powerplay wasn’t clicking and despite plenty of shots and pressure, they didn’t have enough firepower to throw a few in the net.

The Isles also had two powerplay opportunities late in the game and if they could have gotten DP one goal before the third, it could have changed the game entirely. Sean Bergenheim, Trent Hunter and Mike Comrie had a few good chances last night, but they couldn’t finish, prompting the defense to try and make the big pass to set something up, which of course didn’t happen. What occurred instead was a bevy of turnovers that gave plethora of quality chances.

The Islanders defense wasn’t as sharp as they could have been and with the offense as horrendous as it has been, it was a recipe for disaster. Like I said DP wasn’t horrible. He gave up a rebound goal that the defense should have helped him out with and a two on one goal that was caused by sloppy play in the neutral zone. On a good day, he would have came out with a win and on any team with a decent offense or any sort of confidence, he probably would have won too. This team is just so snake-bitten right now and the only way I can see things changing is if wholesale changes are made. A few weeks ago, it seemed like this team had finally turned the corner and I understood why Garth Snow decided to not make any real moves. However, the players that could have been traded [or asked to wave their no-trade clauses] have not performed at all.

What have Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek done for this team since the trading deadline? I know it’s kind of screwed up to place the blame solely on the three of them because everyone has underperformed, but those were the players we could have gotten rid of and at least brought new players in that could have kept the team going in the right direction. Or even better, they could have gotten draft picks for what looks to be a very deep draft and just pulled the curtain down early, instead of dragging the fans and media through what has been a horrible two-week stretch.

As of right now, the only thing that is keeping me from wanting to stick my head out the window and scream like a madman is the possibility of seeing Kyle Okposo for a few games.

Because as of right now, this team hasn’t shown any type of passion and lacks the desperation of a team battling for a [in this case, impossible] playoff spot.

Nevertheless, I love reading quotes like this from the youngsters on the Isles:

“To be how close we were a few weeks ago and to be where we are now is frustrating,” Comeau told the AP. “Until we’re mathematically out, the guys in this room are going to keep pushing hard. Nobody is ready to lay down and die yet. We’ve got a great attitude in this room.”

Thanks Blake, but I think you’re being a little melodramatic here. You guys are finished worse than Eliot Spitzer’s political career [Yeah, I went there.], you’re just not quite on John street yet.

Looking at the line combinations last night, it was obvious that Ted Nolan was trying anything he could to get the offense going. The only problem is, with all the injuries, the Isles look like a makeshift AHL squad right now. Nothing against guys like Ben Walter, Tim Jackman and the other youngsters, but this team needs to score and they need their bumps and bruises. If this team was in the playoff mix, I can guarantee a bunch of these players wouldn’t be in the lineup. Nonetheless, while watching all of this yesterday, I got to thinking that this team seriously needs to rebuild; and not Mike Milbury’s idea of rebuilding either.

The first thing they should do is give Okposo a cup of coffee this season, of course making sure that he doesn’t jumpstart the first year of his contract. Then they should give guys like Jeremy Colliton, Jeff Tambellini, Jesse Joensuu, Frans Nielsen and Blake Comeau real looks and even let them play themselves off the ice during camp next season. That means, Ruslan Fedotenko, Josef Vasicek, Miroslav Satan and Andy Hilbert would all be sent out to pasture. I mean, C’mon, we know what all these three players are capable of and until we know what these youngsters are capable of, they have to earn their food sort to speak.

The same thing goes for Sean Bergenheim. The kid needs first line minutes. He’s a great skater, he just needs to finish more. Add in his physical game and his tenacity and the Islanders have an opportunity to have someone in the Brendan Morrow mold on the team for years to come [That is if he’s resigned this offseason]. With Mike Comrie, Richard Park, Trent Hunter, Brendan Witt, Mike Sillinger and Bill Guerin still around and locked up for next season, the Isles will have a solid veteran presence on the club, but they have to let these youngsters develop. Teams like the Penguins and the Blackhawks proved that teams don’t have to make huge free agent pickups to be successful, the Isles need to prove it as well.

If that means that I have to watch a few years of bad to mediocre hockey over the next three or four years, that’s fine, that’s exactly what I’ve been watching my whole life.

That pretty much sums it up for me.

For a guy that made the All Star team and looked like he’d finally matured, Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro has been reduced to a child once again. He’s wandering out of the net, giving up soft goals and doesn’t have the same poise and resolve he had earlier in the season. The way he skated off the ice after the game showed me that he is a defeated man. Once flooding with confidence and charisma, DP looked like some took a crap in his cereal. Even though the Isles defense was far from perfect, this team hasn’t played phenomenal in their own end all season. For most of the season, DP was the X-factor. Now, it looks like he’s self-destructing and taking the team that depends on him along for the ride.

Ted Nolan said before the game that the Isles were taking it one game at a time, but knew they had to win 10 out of the next 12 games. Guess what? Now, they have to theoretically win 10 out of their next 11 games and have to hope the Flyers and Sabres play less than mediocre to even hope to make the playoffs.

With a goaltender that looks erratic, an inconsistent defense and a deplorable offense, this team is finished if they don’t get hot right now. Even for a guy that tries to find the positive as much as possible like myself, it’s almost impossible right now to see this team overcoming these odds and making the playoffs. If they do, I don’t even see them winning a game. Like I said, they have way too many weaknesses and no players that can get them out of this. They have no confidence and can’t even get a lucky bounce at this point. With a bunch of unrestricted free agents on the team, you can expect major changes next season.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’d just like to see some of the youngsters get some more ice time before the season is over. Ben Walter looked solid for a guy that got to the arena at 7:23 and guys like Blake Comeau, Jeff Tambellini and Jeremy Colliton have upside. If the Islanders put the right pieces around them, they can play with much more energy on the ice and not look like an AHL team on steroids.

Sorry guys, looks like we’re going to have to wait until next year…again.

Something is wrong with Rick DiPietro. The passion he had earlier in the season that was a driving force in keeping this team in the playoff picture is gone, to only be replaced with the immature and inconsistent goaltender that used to hang out on Long Islander last season and the year before that.

Ted Nolan was criticized the other day for playing Dubie and now I think I know why. He sees DP is not where he should be mentally; he sees the loss of testicular fortitude and desperately wanted to try and give the team a boost by playing his always-energetic backup goaltender. Did it work? Not exactly. You know why? This team doesn’t score enough. End of story.

To make matters even worse, the usually-solid penalty killing unit the Isles have washed out worse than Kevin Maas last night and gave up enough powerplay goals for three games. Sloppy in their own end and committing lazy penalties every chance they got, the Isles looked outmatched in every facet of the game last night. I’m sick of saying things like, “If this team doesn’t start winning now, the season is over.” If you think about it, this season has been over for quite some time, the Islanders were just doing what they had to do to delay the process. Barring any crazy eight or nine game winning streak and horrible play by Buffalo and the Flyers, the Islanders will be playing golf in a few weeks.

Dumb Questions- After the game, some Philadelphia reporter, who probably doesn’t know squat about the Islanders asked Nolan if he though Bergenheim’s energy is a bad thing at times. If he had known what he was talking about, he’d understand that even though Bergie can’t finish, he’s one of the only guys we have out there giving a consistent effort every night. If he had another five or six goals under his belt, that same reporter would consider him a “secondary scoring threat” or a “promising young star.” He hasn’t seen how many goal posts and great opportunities this kid has had this season. He probably doesn’t even know that Bergenheim has 120 shots this year and has made himself a growing part of the Islanders offense. If he works hard this offseason and learns to capitalize more on his opportunities, I definitely feel that he can be a 25-30 goal scorer in this league. With all the chances he’s had this season, he should have twice as many goals as he does now.

50 plus shots the other night against Florida= no goals. 18 shots against the Rangers= three goals. Either the Islanders were that good on offense or Henrik Lundqvist was that bad. In the end, I think it was a combination of both. Aside from a few sloppy plays on defense, the Isles did a decent enough job limiting quality opportunities from Jagr and company as well, putting them in a situation to squeak out with a 4-3 win via the shootout.

Wade Dubielewicz may not be the most talented goaltender in the NHL, but I think it’s fair to say that he may have the biggest heart. For a guy that plays once a month, he sure does show up when this team needs him, doesn’t he? Aside from the one goal in the shoot out, Dubie did everything he did to keep this team in the game and made more than his fair share of solid saves.

If the Isles could learn how to play defense while on the powerplay, Dubie would have gotten them the two points the easy way. Nonetheless, the important thing is that he was sharp and didn’t buckle under the pressure of playing a must-win game in MSG.

It also helped that the Isles got a few goals as well. It’s funny how I called out Trent Hunter, Andy Hilbert and Sean Bergenheim to start producing yesterday and two of them got on the scoresheet. As Meat Loaf would say, “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad.” Like I said yesterday as well, these guys do so many different things on the ice and while they’re not the kind of players that can carry the load offensively, they have to start chipping in more. I think Blake Comeau and Jeff Tambellini fit into the situation as well. If the Isles had four lines of players that could score 15-20 goals a season and play well on defense, they wouldn’t be in the situation they’re in right now. Right now isn’t the time for wishful thinking though. The chances of the Isles being able to roll four lines with that kind of offensive balance is as slim as being able to hear the National Anthem at MSG.

In all seriousness though, this team needs to do whatever it takes on the ice to ensure a playoff birth. If only they could get guys like Miroslav Satan and Bill Guerin hot down the stretch, then maybe things would be a little easier. For the time being though, they’ll have to continue to play gritty and hope they can outlast the opposition. Time’s running out.

I’m sick and tired and seeing whatever goalie is in net for this team forced to play an almost perfect game for this team for them to come out on top every night. Then when your goaltender gets cold and the team starts to go down the tubes, we blame the goaltender. That’s what I did yesterday. I said DP has to wake up and play better in net. Do I still agree with that statement? Of course I do, but at this point in the season, I wonder if any goalie could play as good as this team needs them to play in order to win the necessary games to make the playoffs.

Look at the way Wade Dubielewicz played yesterday. The guy hasn’t played since January 31 and he still made all the saves to get his team the win. Nonetheless, this team didn’t support him adequately in the offensive zone. Where were Ruslan Fedotenko, Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin on the scoresheet yesterday? Weren’t these guys going to be the guys that were going to bolster the offense? Wasn’t Fedotenko and Comrie supposed to have career years and prove once and for all that they were first line players? I know Guerin is supposed to be the glue that is keeping this team together in the locker room, but what about on the ice? 20 goals isn’t enough for me bub, you scored 36 last season and you signed 36-goal money, start putting the puck in the net. Aside from a hot streak before the All-Star break, Guerin hasn’t put it together this season and hasn’t done what he was expected to do.

Don’t even get me started on Miroslav Satan either. The last year on a three-year contract, Satan needs to go find a home this offseason, outside Long Island. Aside from a solid 35-goal season during his first year with the Isles, he’s been consistently inconsistent and makes me wonder why Buffalo got so much better after they got rid of him.

I think Billy Jaffe said it best yesterday when he said this team is missing a pure goal scorer, a person who can put this team on his back and carry them offensively. Without that, they’re just a bunch of makeshift second liners and grinders. As much as I love the consistent effort of guys like Trent Hunter, Richard Park and Sean Bergenheim give every night, it’s not enough.

With the trading deadline gone and no other options left, this team needs to put it together and fast.

Unless this situation has been going on for quite some time, DP really has no excuses. Then you have the fans that think that a professional athlete can’t let their personal life get in the way of their job. I stand somewhere in the middle of that. I think they should do their best to perform on the ice and keep distractions to a minimum. I know as well that it is impossible to not think about those things when they happen and sometimes being at work can only make it worse.

Adding in the fact that Rico has long wanted to be in this situation, to be the Martin Brodeur and Tim Cheveldae of the Islanders, and you guys know what I’m going to say, he has to step it up. He has to continue to prove himself every time he steps on the ice. This team isn’t good enough for him to take a night off or let a bad goal affect him the rest of the night.

Just to clarify things for you guys, anyone that hasn’t come across these stats should be aware of them. I usually don’t like to let stats tell the entire story, but here, they stand out.

In the Islanders 26 wins that DP has been on the ice for, he has a remarkable 1.94 GAA and a .931 save percentage. If that doesn’t prove how valuable to this team, then I don’t know what else does. In contrast, when the Isles lose, DP has a 3.34 GAA [shades of Kevin Weekes Islander days, eh] and a save percentage of .883. There isn’t a team in the NHL that could win with a goalie playing like that. In addition, since the All-Star break, DP’s GAA is 3.06, with a .887 save percentage. Those numbers to me, are glaring ones. Sure, playing in front of a team that has a depleted defense core and isn’t scoring on the powerplay can’t help matters, but the Isles need DP to regain his form very quickly or else this ship is going to hit an iceberg.

If Atlanta decides to get hot over the last 15 or so games however, this could come back and bite them. Over the last stretch of the season, the Isles have eight games against the Flyers and Rangers remaining. If they make a habit of winning games like this against those teams, their season is pretty much finished. However, if they can find a way to get back to the things that made them so successful down the stretch, like shutting down opposing offenses and getting solid goaltending, they may be able to surprise a few teams.

Like I said, last night started off well, with every line showing some kind of passion and moxie. Mike Comrie played a very solid game, netting two goals and was yapping at referees and opposing players all night. That tells me he knows this team has to start maintaining some type of consistency and that he wants to be the catalyst. Anyone else see the beard that’s starting to grow in on his face? Hopefully, if the rest of the team can take a not from Mr. Duff, they’ll be growing them in a few weeks.

Josef Vasicek and Trent Hunter had their A-game’s last night as well, with Vasicek scoring a nifty goal in the first period and winning the face-offs he had to in the offensive zone. With an assist on Vasicek’s goal last night, Hunter now has 27 for the season, which is a new career high. Things like that may not mean much to some of you, but it just goes to show that Hunter is not the defensive forward many NHL analysts make him out to be. His shooting percentage is deplorable this season, [.050] but he has 179 shots on goal and is one of the league leaders in hits. By season’s end, he’ll have a dozen goals and while it’s not impressive for a guy that scored 25 in his rookie season, it doesn’t show how important Hunter is to this team and what he exemplifies on the ice.
However, none of that means anything if this team can’t get good goaltending on a consistent basis.

Speaking of goaltending, DP hasn’t been himself lately. Eric Perrin made an ugly move on his penalty shot and DP went down entirely way too early. That I believe got in the goaltender’s head and ruined what would have otherwise been a pretty good first period and change. I don’t know if Ken Klee’s shot hit off of anyone, but from the view I saw, it looked like one he should have stopped. The guy has 54 career goals in 13 and a half seasons in the NHL, he’s not a sniper. If DP got the look at the goal I thought he did, that puck should have been stopped. The same thing goes for the Zhitnik goal. A one timer that he got a good look at, DP should have been able to fall asleep on that one. Sure, Zhitnik has a solid slapper, but DP is supposed to be a top-tier goalie [or pretty damn close to one], he has to stop those pucks.

If he doesn’t, this team will revel in inconsistency and mediocrity for much longer than the rest of this season.

Okay, here’s the think. The Islanders may have cut some of the fat on the team by trading Marc-Andre Bergeron and Chris Simon, but I believe the real fat cutting is beginning right now. Depending on how well players like Fedotenko, Satan and Vasicek play down the stretch, they could in fact play themselves off the team. The Isles have a few extra draft picks now and still have plenty of cap space. I feel that not many people really understand what can be done with this team in the offseason. All that cap space and a handful of players that the Isles can either sign or part ways with, coupled with a host of young players that are proving more and more that they’re NHL ready… I don’t know, seems like fun times to me. They already have a top-tier goalie and a great coach

That doesn’t mean I am giving up on this season though. This team has been consistently inconsistent this season, but they’ve had their moments. When they play solid defense and get the kind of goaltending Rick DiPietro can give them when he’s on, this team gets results. Sure, the powerplay is broken and is partly responsible for the team being on the outside of a playoff spot looking in, but they could have things much worse. I mean seriously, they could be the Los Angeles Kings or the Tampa Bay Lightning. They’re not.

They just have to establish some sort of consistency. At this point in the season, I don’t care if it’s a winning streak or they tank it. I just don’t want to do through another crazy season. Wait, who am I kidding? I’d love to see them make the playoffs on the last day. It would be nuts. However, it shouldn’t have to be that way. They should go into the playoff playing the best hockey of the year and not get in on the skin of their arses.

The way they’ve played the past two games, showing glimpses of what it takes to be a playoff team, but not being able to finish, you can guess where I think they are right now.

To make matters worse, DiPietro wasn’t sharp the other night against the Pens and he’s going to have to be in order to get this team to the playoffs. Is he playing hurt and the media isn’t aware? Mike Sillinger was playing with a hip injury all season and no one knew. His production went down and the media was all over him, wondering why his production was down. DP hasn’t been sharp over the past two games and wasn’t exactly stellar in a few of the games during the recent win streak. I’m not trying to stir the pot here, but it’s definitely a possibility.

Anyway, the Isles have a huge game against the new look Atlanta Thrashers tomorrow that is a must-win. Four points out of a playoff spot and five points out of sixth place, the Isles have to start winning games anyway they can.

It’s go time.

Are the Isles ready?

First off, I, like my other people watching this team, knew that Marc-Andre Bergeron to be traded. He just had to go. Despite his impressive offensive numbers with the team, 15 goals and 39 points in 69 games, he needed to be on a team with a deeper defense that could cover up his mistakes. Sure it would have been nicer to get a second round pick for him, but Bergeron could flake out there as well and Anaheim could still end up the loser in the deal.

If anyone who thought the Isles could have gotten more for Bergeron, they had to be happy to get Rob Davison, a scrappy defenseman, who may remind some of a younger, tougher Brendan Witt, for a measly seventh round pick. He’s not the shot blocker and pest that Witt is, but this guy doesn’t have a problem dropping the gloves with anyone. With Blake Comeau and a few other players getting taken advantage of lately and Witt and Andy Sutton out of the lineup, the Isles needed another tough guy on the team. It also helps that Davison isn’t a bad stay at home defenseman in his own right. With all the injuries lately, he’s definitely an upgrade over Aaron Johnson and will provide the Isles team with some much needed depth.

Lastly, Chris Simon was also dealt today, making Minnesota a scarier team than ever. Now, in addition to Todd Fedoruk and Eric Boogaard, they now have another animal in Simon. Seems to me the Wild want to destroy every team that is in their way now and with Simon in the lineup, they have three heavyweights. How they are going to fit them into the lineup all at once seems like a big problem to me. Anyway, for the Islanders, this was another move that had to be made. There was a time last season where Simon was playing great hockey, but now, it seems his career is close to being over. His quick return wasn’t Ted Nolan showing faith in him. Rather, it was him being shopped. Luckily the Wild just got scammed out of a pick.

I’ll say it before the Islanders do: “No take backs!”

With Simon gone, Jeff Tambellini now has another opportunity to stick around. With the kid line playing a strong game and Sean Bergenheim getting there, the Isles youth movement is catching steam. With a healthy Chris Campoli back next season and hopefully Kyle Okposo getting a shot, the Isles should be younger and hungrier than ever. That is going to be fun to watch.

Like I said a few days ago, while I’d love to see this team make the playoffs, I’d rather let the youngsters develop so they can build a consistent winner.

Now that will be really fun to watch.