With a 7-6 record, a 2.68 GAA and a .915 save percentage this season, it’s fair to say that New York Islanders goaltender Joey MacDonald has been much more than a pleasant surprise this season.

As a matter of fact, I think he’s been a savior of sorts.

Up until the season started, no one thought MacDonald was capable enough to serve as the team’s backup goaltender. Much like Islanders Jeff Tambellini and Andy Hilbert, MacDonald had several solid seasons in the AHL under his belt, but had problems sticking around at the NHL level. This season however, MacDonald has been rock solid, getting better and better after every game.

Last season, I had the opportunity to cover a preseason game between the Islanders and Rangers at MSG where MacDonald played. The Isles had a ton of youngsters in the game and the Rangers featured most of their stars at the time, including Scott Gomez, Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury, but MacDonald was still solid. It got me thinking what the future held for the kid. However, at the time, with Wade Dubielewicz backing up Rick DiPietro, Joey Mac didn’t look like he was going to crack the lineup. By the end of the season,he appeared in two games and one in particular, the 45 save effort against the Devils late in the season, confirmed in my mind that he should be given a chance.

Nonetheless, I was a huge Dubie supporter at the time and didn’t want to see the guy leave.

Right now though, I wouldn’t change the Islanders goaltending situation at all. And that includes bring DP back.

Sometimes in this sport, you have to ride the hot horse. Al Arbour is a guy that did that quite often and while the motif in the NHL over the past few years is to have one guy play 70 games, why can’t MacDonald play 30 this season and DP the rest? We know who the guy is going to be in the playoffs for this team, but if MacDonald keeps playing the way he has, and DP continues to battle injuries, it’s better to have Mac in net.

Nothing against DP, he is without a doubt the team’s most important player, but if he’s not 100 percent, he’s not going to be able to help this team. With Brendan Witt’s return possibly this weekend as well, MacDonald will have ever more support in front of him and can be even more of a force if given a chance.

From the perseverance he’s shown on the ice so far this season, you get the feeling he knows exactly what’s at stake.

“When you come in and play one or two games a year in the NHL, it’s tough because the different level of play from the American League is so much more up-tempo. Once you get used to the tempo, it’s a game,” MacDonald told the Associated Press.“You’ve got to come up with the key saves. All the good goaltenders in the National Hockey league, Luongo and all of those guys, they come up with the key save and that’s why they’re superstars. That’s my job, and that’s why I’ve got to give the team a chance to win.”

What’s worse than working all day and coming home to watch an Islanders game?

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.

I’m starting to wish that the NHL took a note from the NBA and played 48 minute games. At least then this team would have more of an opportunity to come out with a win every night. Out shot 18-1 in the third period, it’s past the point of wondering why things are going the way they are. It’s one thing to have something happen one, twice, even three times. But as of right now, this is a serious problem for the New York Islanders.

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.

When I think of the way Jeff Tambellini and Kyle Okposo have played so far this season for the Islanders, I think of the old Tommy James & The Shondells song, “Crimson & Clover,” minus the snazzy guitar solos.

“My mind’s such a sweet thing
I wanna do everything
What a beautiful feeling”

That’s what is going on in the heads of these two youngsters. They want to do everything, all for that beautiful feeling that comes from seeing the red light above the glass behind the goal go off when they hit twine. However, “Over and Over” this season they’ve failed to capitalize on great scoring opportunities.

Even though Okposo has been better than Tambellini, I’d like to see him play with more of an edge and skate up the middle more. Jon Sim, while having an excellent wrist shot, isn’t the offensive player KO is, but he’s produced more this season because there isn’t the same kind of tentative play on his part. When he doesn’t get a shot off, he keeps his legs going and draws penalties. Andy Hilbert and Richard Park do the same thing. The only problem is these guys aren’t finishers and Okposo is supposed to be. In order for him to break out of this mini funk he’s in, he’s got to concentrate more on moving north and south and less east and west. With his speed and skating ability, he’ll draw penalties left and right. Then it’s less about him being timid and more about him being able to finish.

Tambellini is a very similar situation. Like I said yesterday, even though he’s taking the body more than he has before, he’s got to score. At this point, I would totally take a deflection or garbage goal from him. As far as I’m concerned, it’s make or break time for this kid. Enough with the excuse and pot a few already. Over the past three seasons, this kid has been given so many excuses as to why he didn’t produce and even though most of them are well warranted, it’s put up or shut up time.

At this point in the season, both KO and Tamby should have three points and three assists apiece. I feel like a broken record here, but for this team to stay in the win column, guys like Okposo and Tambellini have to step it up.

I can’t think of a better place to start than the lowly Atlanta Thrashers.

Well, just when you think this team has a shot at squeaking out a win, they go and break your heart. Nevertheless, getting a point against a surging Flyers team after the way the game started has to be a start in the right direction.

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.

Well, it appears Rick DiPietro is healthy, even though through the first few minutes of the game he had most Islander fans’ hearts in their mouths. After coughing up an early goal that had DP way out of position, he settled down and made several solid saves, effectively keeping the Islanders in the game. Because of that, the Isles biggest concern turned into their biggest strength by the end of the game.

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.

As I’ve said a thousand times on the site, even though I am a journalist, I write this blog as sort of a release from the shackles of unbiased writing and to share my thoughts on my favorite team in the world.

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.