“We are picking up points, and taking what we can get during the early homestand,” said Tavares. “We were hungry and played hard. It was not pretty, but with skill and great goaltending, we got it done.” In regards to the scoring performance, the former No. 1 pick of the NHL Draft stated: “It is always nice to break the ice. I had a positive feeling, and got rewarded. We are continuing on the good opportunities we got from Monday’s win.”

New York came out flying in the opening period, as Tavares struck twine only 36 seconds in. He took over on a miscue by Tampa Bay in the offensive zone, and fired a shot off the glove of former Islander netminder Dwayne Roloson. But, on the ensuing clear attempt, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman tapped the puck into his own net, giving the Isles the quick 1-0 cushion. 2010-11 NHL leading scorer Steven Stamkos answered for Tampa Bay just seven minutes later as he re-directed a Marc-Andre Bergeron through the five-hole to tie it up.

Matt Moulson quickly gave the hosts the lead again with 9:28 left. On the play, Marc Eaton hit the iron from the point. The rebound then shifted to Tavares, who handed the puck off to Matt Moulson for his first marker of the season. Tavares wasn’t done just yet. He tacked on another tally, in addition to an assist on a P.A. Parenteau goal, staking him four points through one. On the marker, which came in tic-tac-toe style, Tavares one-timed a Moulson pass by Roloson for his second goal of the game. The Isles eventually went into the break up 4-1.

No sportsbook online could have predicted that.

“We got good things out of our line,” said Moulson. “The timing was a lot better. We worked hard, and needed a quick spark, which we got from Johnny (Tavares) on that first goal.” In regards to keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, Moulson stated this: “The whole team did a good job of forechecking. There were not a lot of odd man rushes, and we continued to sustain pressure throughout the game.”

In the second period, Tampa Bay had the early opportunities, as Ryan Shannon, and Mattias Ritola paced the Lightning on their combined three tries. However, Shannon’s transition shot, and Ritola’s two stuff-in tries were knocked away by New York goalie Al Montoya. After that, the Islanders got back to their first-period ways, as Michael Grabner found the back of the net to make it 5-1 with 13:13 to go. Kyle Okposo was credited with the assist after his rebound caromed behind Roloson, and Grabner was there to tap the puck over the line.

Guy Boucher then made a change in goal for the ‘Bolts, replacing Roloson with Mathieu Garon, who came in sporting a 0-1 mark with a 4.01 goals-against average. From there, the Isles were unable to strike again for the remainder of the stanza, which included a near one-minute, 5-on-3 two-man advantage opportunity off hooking and interference penalties by Vincent Lecavalier and Pavel Kubina. Over the last minutes of the period, Tampa hoped to cut the deficit, but it was to no avail, as New York went into the second intermission up 5-1.

During a physical third period, both squads combined for four trips to the sin bin. Neither team knocked home a marker though in the 20-minute stint though, and the Isles soon posted a 5-1 win in front of 9,000 strong at the Nassau Coliseum. Furthermore, New York achieved the greatest scoring chance during that stretch. Down one player (Tavares) on a two-minute hooking penalty, Grabner had a shorthanded look. Trying to go between the pads, Garon closed up the five-hole at the 14:26 mark.

Head Coach Jack Capuano had this to say about the overall effort. “I don’t think it was easy. We made some mistakes, but capitalized on our chances. I thought it was big that we got out of the gate early. The sticks were great, and the gap was good…We adjusted well at times, put on some good pressure, and got pucks where we needed to get them.”

Capuano and the Islanders cap their season-opening four-game homestand on Saturday (Oct. 15) versus the arch-rival New York Rangers in an Atlantic Division battle at Nassau Coliseum. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

New York Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek is in the hospital with an injury to his spine and a concussion following a hit to the head during the Czech Republic's 4-2 win at the world hockey championship. Martinek was carried off on a stretcher Saturday after being struck by Latvia defenseman Arturs Kulda at 14:40 of the first period.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Last night against the Rangers, every Islanders youngster got a hearty helping of minutes and despite the fact that they lost, the effort was there. The difference was of course was Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who was uber solid after a first period where he looked to be having problems with his rebound control and overall confidence.

So with that being said, it’s obvious that as of right now, these kids lack the polish needed to win hockey games. Most of them are still growing into their bodies or getting accustomed to the NHL game. So what can we expect the rest of the season.

A lot of losses, that’s for sure, but a lot of entertainment as well.

While veterans the likes of Mark Streit, Bill Guerin, Trent Hunter and Richard Park are obviously going to continue to get minutes in key situations, don’t be shocked to see guys like Sean Bergenheim and Josh Bailey get much more time on the powerplay. Also, with his speed and desire on the ice, Kyle Okposo would make one hell of a penalty killer, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him tried out there as well.

The way Islanders head coach Scott Gordon is talking right now, it feels like all these wild experiments will begin to take shape over the next few games.

“We used the first half of the year to allow our older players to run with it. Now we’re at the point, whether it’s our next game or a couple games after that, (where) there’s certainly going to be a bigger responsibility on our younger guys,” Gordon told the Associated Press a few days ago. “Not necessarily lineup changes, but bigger responsibilities. It’s something that I’m going to be cognizant of to make sure that (all our young guys are) moving in the direction to have a bigger impact and to have it carry over into next year.”

Exactly.

Trying all of these guys in different roles now will make next season a bit more predictable for them and help the organization truly assess where they truly belong to be. Some of these guys are going to be expected to be big parts of the team next season and if they don’t start to show some promise now, they may not be around to find out.

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.

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.

However, things haven’t been going all that well for them and if the Islanders play smart, they may just be able to sneak out of dodge with a win.

After Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Filip Kuba, and Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators have virtually no offense to speak of. Their defense has also been lackluster, as they are -34 this season as a team and are still at 6-7-2. Martin Gerber hasn’t started his season off on the right foot either, losing his spot as the team’s starting goaltender to former 30-game winner Alex Auld [it doesn't really count though since it was on the Canucks. With the offense they had that year, with six players scoring over 55 points, it's pretty safe to assume Pat Jablonski could have won the Vezina there. If you don't know who Jablonski is, you should be ashamed of yourself. Go read a hockey almanac for Christ's sake!], who has been eerily solid. Nevertheless, this is a team the Islanders can defeat.

How you ask?

Score on the powerplay! That’s how!

All season, the Islanders have gotten a plethora of opportunities with the man advantage. Even with the rampant amount of injuries they’ve had, they still have to produce when they’re a man up. No more excuses.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

The Josh Bailey experiment continues: After committing two penalties in his first game, can Bailey step it up in game two?

From the looks of it, Bailey and his teammates are getting more comfortable with each other with every second he spends on the ice.

“I didn’t know what to expect. It was just nice feel like you are a part of things again,” the 19-year-old Bailey told the AP after his first game on Tuesday. “The first period, I needed to make a couple of adjustments. A couple of plays, I was a little slow on. As the game went on, I got more comfortable out there.”

“I think Josh is going to be a player,” Weight told Newsday. “He came into camp, and guys had certain expectations. Every day, he turned everybody’s heads. He’s got great talent and great savvy for the game. I think he’s got it in his mind [to stay in the NHL]. He’s very stoic and very calm. I think he’s real excited to be in this league. When guys have the talent and the mind he has and the urge to be great…I thought he fit right into place.”

Hopefully, Bailey can break through and fill in more than admirably for Mike Comrie.

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.

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.

Scary stuff if you ask me.

For that reason alone, this is a game where the Islanders cannot make avoidable mistakes in. Otherwise, this game will be over before the end of the first period. Costly penalties and turnovers did them in on Monday against the Rangers, a team that is playing good hockey right now. The Flyers on the other hand are more like a sleeping giant. They have most of the pieces on their team in place, but haven’t gotten great goaltending this season and their defense hasn’t been that strong either. With that being said, the Flyers will jump all over the Isles if they have an opportunity.

The Isles can counteract this however if they get another solid game out of guys like Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo. As I’ve said before on the blog, the line of Doug Weight, Bill Guerin and Sean Bergenheim are playing solid hockey right now, they just have to start finishing. Once that happens and guys such as Jon Sim and Jeff Tambellini start to become factors, this team can hold it’s own. However, until then, this season is going to be a disaster.

Aside from Mark Streit, the Islanders haven’t had a consistent presence on the score sheet this season. We know that this team doesn’t have any legitimate offensive juggernauts, but is it asking so much to have a few guys that can score 45-60 points? As of right now, it looks like Streit and perhaps Weight are going to be the only players close to that. After that, the Islanders offense looks extremely grim.

Because of that and without Rick DiPietro and a bunch of other important players that I’ve mentioned a thousand times not in the lineup, the Islanders defense has to be pretty damn close to perfect for them to break out of this funk they’ve started their season in. If they work hard however, get a quick goal and perhaps a few powerplay opportunities, things could end up differently. So far this season both Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki have been far from perfect as well, which leads me to believe this game could get hairy really fast if both teams get sloppy.

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.

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.