“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.

Of course, then they took a forward with their first-round selection for the ninth time in the last 10 years, adding OHL center Ryan Strome to an offensive core that includes recent No.1 picks John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Nino Niederreiter and others.

"He's a very offensively gifted player that fits into our young core and what we're trying to build here," GM Garth Snow said. "Fans are going to get the chance to see how offensively dynamic he is at minicamp in July."

"In many ways, he's a lot like (Tavares) in the way he approaches the game and views his potential.

“It is nice to celebrate this one, we played a pretty good game,” said Tavares. “We did what we had to do to win the game. It was a great game by everybody. It was not just me getting the hat trick, but everyone contributed in all areas of the game.”

“It was a big game for Johnny,” said DiPietro of his teammate after the game. “I think over the last two or three weeks his game has come a long way.”

Head coach John Capuano had this to say of his young center after the game, “It’s a special game for him. You get three, and he had a chance at the end with the empty net go get four. He worked extremely hard tonight. His goals, obviously on the power play, but he played very sound defensively that lead to a lot of chances offensively.”

Another key part to the Islanders victory was the play of keeper Rick DiPietro, who out shined Buffalo keeper Ryan Miller. DiPietro was able to make some stellar saves finishing the night with 40 stops, while Miller finished the night with 32.

“I feel good physically today,” said DiPietro, who hasn’t played due to injury. “It was a good test today and I was glad to be able to get the victory.”

In a fast paced first period, neither team was able to get on the board in spite of many good scoring opportunities. Tavares would get a great opportunity at the 13:26 mark as he and P.A. Parenteau had a wide open two-on-one chance at Miller. The sophomore center would try for a nine foot wrister that would be denied by the Buffalo keeper.

New York would have another golden opportunity at the 14:08 mark as Radek Martinek tried to scorch a 59 foot slap shot, but that opportunity would be pad saved by Miller. Thomas Vanek would have a good opportunity for the Sabres at the 17:43 mark, trying for a 20 foot wrister that would be stoned by DiPietro.

Buffalo would end the first period of play with a 5-on-3 advantage, as Milan Jurcina and Radek Martinek had to both serve out two minute penalties for tripping and high-sticking. The Islanders were able to hold Buffalo out of their zone, skating into the locker room with a scoreless game.

The Sabres would not take long though to take advantage of their extra-man opportunity at the start of the second period as Thomas Vanek (17) tallied an eight foot wrister at the 0:17 marker, which was set up by Tyler Ennis (11) and Jason Pominville (13) for the 1-0 lead.

Tavares (16) was able to strike for his first goal at the 7:50 marker, recording a 15 foot wrister which was set up by P.A. Parenteau (16) and Matt Moulson (10) to tie the game up at 1-1.  Buffalo would allow for the star center to strike again when center Rob Niedermayer was sent to the sin bin at the 10:27 mark for high-sticking Jack Hillen.

Then Tavares (17) was able to strike for his second goal at the 10:34 mark, as he was able to put in a nifty backhanded shot, which was set up by Moulson (11) and Andrew MacDonald (14) to give the Islanders the 2-1 lead.

It was at the 13:36 mark that Tavares (18) recorded his natural hat trick, as fans proceeded to greet the goal by flinging their hats to the Nassau Coliseum ice. That third Islanders goal was a beauty of a backhanded shot by the center, which was set up by Moulson (12) and Parenteau (17) for the 3-1 lead.

New York would not stop their continuing to grind and play hard throughout the second period. Keeping the offensive pressure on Miller, who did not seem on top of his game. The Islanders struck for their last goal of the second period at the 15:25 mark when Blake Comeau (13) while falling to the ice, was still able to manage a 9 foot wrister past the Buffalo keeper for the 4-1 lead.

“I feel like I am shooting the puck more,” said Comeau on his game. “All of us are being competitive and not being satisfied with our game. We want to be a line that can contribute on a nightly basis.”

The Sabres would not back down so easily though as they would take advantage of a Milan Jurcina penalty at the 4:36 marker of the third period of play. Young Buffalo winger Tyler Ennis (10) would tally a 27 foot snap shot at the 5:55 mark to cut the Islanders lead to 4-2.

Just when Buffalo though that they would have another golden power play opportunity at the 15:19 mark, when Islanders center Josh Bailey was sent to the sin bin for hooking Buffalo center Nathan Gerbe. The Islanders would actually reverse that momentum, as winger Michael Grabner (10) tallied a 47 foot wrister at the 16:52 mark, which was assisted by Matt Martin (3) and Milan Jurcina (6), giving the Islanders the 5-2 lead.

In spite of the lofty lead, the Sabres still would not back down striking for a goal at the 18:15 mark as Jochen Hecht (7) tallied an 11 foot snap shot, which was set up by Jason Pominville (15) and Thomas Vanek (18) to make the Islanders lead 5-3.

Thankfully for the 12,223 in attendance, who rocked Nassau Coliseum all night long the play of DiPietro and the offense of the Islanders were enough as the team was able to skate away with the 5-3 victory.

New York will treat their fans to a rare 1:00 p.m. afternoon tally on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as they host the New Jersey Devils on Monday, which you can read more about at BetUS’s Sports Betting News.

“The Devils look good right now,” Capuano said of his opponents on Monday. “They have size, experience, and some good talent on that team. They are a defensive team, but they can creative offense from that. We need to have one of our best performances, if we want to get those two points.”

Here it is.

Despite the fact that many scouts have said he doesn’t play great defense and is a bit selfish with the puck, those same scouts still see him projecting into a 40-goal scorer. That reason alone, I feel the Islanders need him in the lineup. Simply put, who gives a crap if he doesn’t play defense now. That should change over time and if he’s scoring 40 goals, I could live with bad defense, even if it’s on the Mike Comrie level.

What many people are failing to realize here is that the New York Islanders are desperate and far more than anyone thinks. They need someone on the ice they can believe in and someone they feel can be a guy that can help them get out of this funk they’ve been in since the early 90s. Since that time, they’ve brought in so many people that have failed miserably at the task and it’s time now to set this ship right before it’s totally unrecoverable. So far, Kyle Okposo looks to be a guy the team can build around, but he is not going to be the offensive leader this team needs in order to make the playoffs, nevertheless win a championship. Josh Bailey, too, while he made significant strides in spite of tremendous growing pains this past season, looks more like a 50-60 point guy with character.

John Tavares however is a star right now and the Islanders don’t have any.

The last thing you want to do is go playing around with trades and hurt your chances at giving the fans what they want. While this is a sport and of course, the main goal is to win, sometimes making fans happy is the smart thing to do. As of right now, Tavares is the clear fan favorite, despite Victor Hedman having a group of fans that think he’d be the right guy as well. As far as Matt Duchene goes, the fans don’t know much about him.

What the Islanders need to do now is to protect themselves by putting as much information about these three players on their site and show them meeting the Islanders brass. I’d even go as far as quoting them about how’d they feel if the Islanders drafted them, even throw some video on the site of these guys in action, so they can make their own decision and be forced to go off of what the media tells them. Make the fans aware of what is going on and put them in a situation where on draft day, they are educated and don’t flip out because they have no idea who the team drafted.

Remember, this is a business and the Islanders have to make their customers happy. If they aren’t going to do what everyone thinks they should do and draft Tavares, they should start preparing now in order to deflect that obvious backlash that may ensue.

Well, I’ve always been a sucker for the good news first. Like the time my father told me the Islanders got Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider before mentioning that it cost the team Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakov.

Anyway, back to business.

Yes, there is some good news to talk about despite the team’s current state.

It appears that John Tavares is down. Yes, he is down, with the New York Islanders that is.

For those of you who don’t comprehend the colloquialism, “down” means there’s an understanding of sorts between the two parties involved.

That my friends is great news. Even better than the play of Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo in the Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.

“I told Garth, ‘If you draft John, he’d look forward to playing for your organization,” Tavares’ agent Pat Brisson told Newsday. “If he’s drafted by the Islanders, he probably has a chance to play right away and contribute, and it’s the New York market. We had a nice talk.”

Looks like Tavares won’t be puling an Eric Lindros after all and the Islanders may have an easy decision to make. The fact that the Islanders also haven’t made much reference to Victor Hedman since the draft and Islanders assistant GM Ryan Jankowski has scouted Matt Duchene shows the Isles are looking for more offense at the center position.

Tavares can definitely be that guy.

OK, time for the somewhat bad news…

I’m not sure how many of you have read the Newsday article a few days ago where Islanders owner Charles Wang stated for the record that if he had the chance, he would have never bought the team, so I’ll post the link here: http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/ny-spwang2712699310may02,0,3754050.story

While it’s obvious that Wang has felt this way for quite some time, anyone who has lost as much money as he has over the past nine years would, the last thing he should do is publicly renounce his decision to buy this team- especially so close to the draft when things have to chance to start turning in his favor.

It’s like complaining about your marriage because your wife’s been acting weird for the past weeks, to only find out she’s been scared to tell you she’s pregnant. Simply put, if the Islanders get John Tavares and can add a few other pieces, things will start to change. They’ll be in a much better situation to play hard ball and get the Lighthouse Project going as well.

Because of that, Wang’s best option is to keep his mouth shut until after draft day. If Garth Snow gets the job done, he’ll be able to talk as much as he wants.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Now, while Islanders general manager Garth Snow has kept mum on his intentions, I offer a few thoughts as to what the team should do with their picks.

Option One- Draft John Tavares and a talented blue liner. Many believe Tavares could be the player to build around, but he’ll just be one piece to the puzzle that will get the Isles back into the playoffs. A guy like Calvin De Haan, who scored 63 points in 68 games with the Oshawa Generals this past season, may be a great choice. With Campoli gone, the Islanders could use more depth on the powerplay and De Haan has the talent to be that man. I don’t know how you guys feel, but I miss the days when the Islanders had a bunch of talented defensemen who could score. Considering that, De Haan has the potential to help the Islanders offense quite a bit.

Swedish D-man David Rundblad is a little bit older and while he doesn’t have the same offensive ability, he may be the better skater of the two and has more size, making him the Andy Sutton with a better shot of the future. However, he may be spending more time abroad before jumping to the NHL, making him a tougher guy to consider drafting.

Option Two- Draft John Tavares and a goaltender. Of course, now it’s obvious what I think the Islanders should do with the first pick, but with the 29th, they may consider getting a young goaltender, just in case Rick DiPietro injures another hip. Wait, he’s already injured both of them over the past two seasons.

If Edward Pasquale is available when the Islanders go for their second pick, they should consider picking him up. Winning 32 games in the OHL this season with a solid .911 save percentage this season, Pasquale could be ready to thrive in a few seasons just in case DP doesn’t come close to finishing him record-breaking contract.

Oliver Roy is another quality goaltender the Islanders could look at. Winning 35 games in the QMJHL this season, Roy is a guy that may be able to play 40 games a season and take some of the pressure off DiPietro.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

In return, I got a nice wave back and a smile.

True story.

Nevertheless, in spite of that kind gesture, it may be the rest of Islanders country that waves goodbye to Thompson this offseason. Well, at least from a regular spot in the lineup, that is. Tough on the boards and good in his own zone, Thompson proved his value as a fourth liner this season, but his offensive game still needs some polishing before he can truly earn his spot on the team in the future.

If the Islanders do indeed draft John Tavares and the Islanders do decide to sign Thompson as a restricted free agent, he’ll most likely be rounding out the depth chart at Bridgeport. Also considering the fact that he’s arbitration eligible this offseason, the Islanders could part ways with him before he becomes slightly more expensive.

Like I said, if the Islanders do draft John Tavares, Thompson is almost guaranteed to be in Bridgeport, despite Islanders head coach Scott Gordon’s affinity for him. If the Islanders draft Victor Hedman or pull of some type of shenanigans, they’ll still be looking for a center that can contribute more offensively than “Nice Nate.”

Even if the Islanders are looking to add depth at Bridgeport, they may even be able to do better than keeping Thompson around, as they can resign Mike Iggulden and give Justin DiBenedetto. Nevertheless, the guy has several solid seasons in the AHL under his belt, can play Gordon’s system and at the very least can fill in for a few games if someone is injured. If he wins his case in arbitration, Thompson probably won’t be due for too much of a raise either, still making him an affordable depth player.

Stay or Go?

Despite the variable in his favor, I think it’s in Thompson’s best interest to look for a gig somewhere else next season. With the youth movement in full swing and the Islanders already having a player that can do many of the things Thompson can do in Tim Jackman, his chances at establishing himself anywhere but in Bridgeport are very small.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Here’s my take, considering the Isles pick up John Tavares.

Forward Lines:

Sean Bergenheim Doug Weight Kyle Okposo
Blake Comeau John Tavares Jesse Joensuu
Jeff Tambellini Josh Bailey Trent Hunter
Richard Park Frans Nielsen Tim Jackman

Spare forwards who will see time during the season:

Jon Sim, Trevor Smith, Joel Rechlicz

Defense

Mark Streit Bruno Gervais
Brendan Witt Radek Martinek
Andy Sutton Freddy Meyer

Spare defensemen who will see time during the season:

Jack Hillen, Dustin Kohn, Andrew MacDonald

Goaltending

Rick DiPietro
?

Not too shabby, eh?

These combinations are also based on the fact that Dean McAmmond, Andy Hilbert, Mike Sillinger, Kurtis McLean, Mitch Fritz, Yann Danis and Joey MacDonald are all UFAs. Chances are that either Danis or Joey Mac could be resigned, but due to Rick DiPietro’s inability to stay healthy, I expect the Islanders to give another goaltender with some experience a chance to backup DP, maybe someone like Kevin Weekes or Antero Niittymaki if the Islanders were extremely lucky. Nothing against either Danis or Mac, who showed signs of brilliance at times, but for long stretches of time they weren’t sharp and this team needs a backup that can be consistent, someone like what Stephen Valiquette does for the Rangers, well aside from that 10-goal debacle against the Stars in February.

The Islanders also have a hearty helping of RFAs in Smith, Comeau, Nate Thompson, Jeremy Colliton that will be signed soon to provide depth at Bridgeport and in Comeau’s case, to give him his first real contract.

All in all, it’s obvious the Islanders will be much younger at the start of next season and with a majority of the growing pains out of the way, the team will be much more competent on the ice.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

That, I predict, will change big time next season.

If healthy next season, I not only see Kyle Okposo hitting the 20 and even 30 goal mark, but Trent Hunter, Mark Streit and Sean Bergenheim as well.

Since the All-Star Break, Okposo has been the best player on the team next to Streit, scoring big goals and showing excellent instincts. After another summer of intense conditioning and more time with Josh Bailey, who is also developing, I see him becoming the Islanders version of Zach Parise. If the Islanders pick up John Tavares or Victor Hedman as well, Okposo will have a huge burden off of his shoulders and won’t be looked at as the team’s savior. Because of that, I see next season eventually turning into the best season of his young NHL career.

Hunter was playing excellent hockey early in the season before dealing with injuries and with Frans Nielsen getting better every game, I see those two making some beautiful music together next season. With Nielsen’s speed and Hunters ability to get in front of the net and score garbage goals, Hunter will get his fair share. Also, with Nielsen’s playmaking ability, Hunter can use his shot a bit more than he was using earlier in the season when “The Great Dane” wasn’t exactly comfortable in the league yet. Simply put, the better Nielsen gets, the more Hunter will produce.

As far as Mark Streit goes, Islanders fans have already seen what a good shot he has and if the players around him develop, he’ll have even more confidence and will unleash it much more often. Already a Norris Trophy Candidate, Streit won’t have nearly as much pressure on him as he had last year and because of that, he’ll get even better, getting to the 60 point mark again.

Bergenheim is the tricky one here. Always a late starter, Bergie has to have the first strong first half of his career and then revert back to his usually deadly second half self during the final 40 games. With great hands, a plethora of grit and even more desire, Bergie can and will score 20 goals in this league. He just has to stay healthy and have a drop more consistency than he had this season. Overall, I think it’s fair that it’s not asking for much out of him.

“We know a lot of people talk about that, but we don’t,” emerging star Kyle Okposo told the New York Post about the whole Tavares situation. “Never. We’re trying to win games and play the best we can. That stuff comes with how the results go at end of the year.

“For sure it’s important to us, but you never know how a player’s gonna turn out. I know there’s a lot of good players in this draft, but we’re not thinking about it.”

Many coaches would have a thousand gray hairs with everything that Scott Gordon has had to put up with this season, but in spite of all the failures, he’s had a plan. At times over the first 40 games, it seemed that Gordon wasn’t given the right pieces to play his system and combined with injuries, it’s fair to say he was one of the most miserable people in the entire league.

Over the second half of the season however, I think it’s fair to say that the Islanders have shown the rest of the league that they are indeed capable of being more than a last-place team and have done so without Doug Weight, Bill Guerin and a host of other players many felt were vital to the Islanders success.

That isn’t a mere coincidence; it’s good coaching.

“I told them earlier that we weren’t going to worry about our record, and that’s still true,” Gordon told the Associated Press. “It says a lot about the approach we’ve had. At this time of year, you can have the mindset that, ‘I can’t wait ‘til the season’s over.’ That’s not the case here. It’s almost like our record doesn’t exist.”

However, Gordon still understands that there is work to do.

“There are some building blocks there that are starting to come together,” Gordon told the New York Times a few days ago. “That’s the thing that’s important to me. How it carries over to next year will be dictated by whatever new players come in, draft picks, players from Bridgeport. So I’m very encouraged with the progress that’s been made, especially with our younger players.

With all the bad news this season that fans of this team have had to deal with, this is almost like walking into a room and finding out someone sprayed your favorite air freshener before you come in.

Enchanting.

Refreshing.

Good.

“I know they won four Stanley Cups in a row. They had great players there. Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier played there. They’ve got a great history, obviously,” Tavares told Newsday. “They’re looking to get a new arena—I’ve heard that, too.
“I haven’t heard too many bad things about Long Island.”
Even more interesting than what Tavares told Newsday was what ESPN got Tavares’ agent to say on the record..
“Assuming John goes first in the draft, I think he will go where he is chosen,” Tavares’ agent, Pat Brisson, told ESPN. “Let’s say it’s (the Islanders). I know (owner) Charles Wang is trying to get a new building. … Look at Mario (Lemieux) when he went to Pittsburgh. There wasn’t anything there. And it wasn’t too nice when Sidney (Crosby) went there, either. If you start picking where you want to go, you may not make the right decision.
“There are always better franchises, better organizations. But I don’t see John avoiding anywhere. … John respects the process and the league.”
What was that? Did you just exhale? That was pretty loud my friend. Yes, it was that obvious.

And what is obvious to Islander fans is obvious to the rest of the league as well. If the team needed anything right now, they need a number one pick. Not as much as they need a new building, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt the process either.

Already with Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo and plenty of young talent that is hungry and ready to contribute, getting Tavares in the draft and continuing to build the team around him would be a great step in the right direction for this team.

The fact that the Islanders aren’t as desolate a franchise to Tavares is also a huge deal as well.

Stay tuned.

Site News:

I will be appearing on WKRB 90.3 FM this Thursday at 6:30 to discuss the Brooklyn Aces on the new talk show “Hockey Night in Brooklyn, with Jonathan Rios.”

Tune in!

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.

Then something started to happen. After blowing a handful of third period leads, they woke up and decided to play as a cohesive unit and since then, they’ve won four out of their last five games.

Sure, they still don’t have a legitimate sniper or a point a game player, but they have enough pieces and have enough depth at defense that if they continue to play this way, they can surprise a few people.

Andy Hilbert, Doug Weight and Trent Hunter look like they’ve been reinvigorated under Scott Gordon and are proving they either are capable of more than they’ve produced in years past or their back to where they should be. In the case of Hilbert, it’s great to see the guy on pace for a 15 goal, 35 point season. I’ve said plenty of times on this site that that’s where he should be and considering what a solid job he does in the defensive end, he and Richard Park could give the team a great tandem of role players that can contribute on both ends of the ice. Weight and Hunter are both coming off years that they know they’re better than and have responded marvelously this season.

Weight looks like he did with the Blues a few years ago and looks extremely solid with Bill Guerin, who has looked good too. Hunter has been picking his shots much better than he did last season, when it felt like he was simply peppering the net. Scoring 25 goals his rookie season, Hunter should be around that total every season. I’m so sick of pundits calling him a defensive forward. The guy’s a power forward who needs someone to feed him the puck. Frans Neilsen was doing a good job of that through the early season and his injury may stunt Hunter a bit, but I feel as if he’s confident right now and will continue to produce in spite of the Great Dane’s absence.

Guys like Sean Bergenheim and Jon Sim are too proving that they can be depended on, but still have a ways to go to establish themselves. Both have great wrist shots, can skate and play a physical game, which makes them tailor-made for Gordon’s system; they just have to continue to work hard and I’m sure the goals for both of them will be there. Surely nothing in the 30-goal range of course, but if they continue to skate and get some time on the powerplay, I don’t see any reason why the both of them can’t score 15-20 goals each.

Nonetheless, the Islanders offense is still missing key contributors in Kyle Okposo, Mike Comrie and Mike Sillinger. Once those guys get back and can be healthy, the Isles offense can go from mediocre to surprising. I mean lets be fair here, this team is never going to be the Detroit Red Wings on offense, but combined with their defense and provided they continue to get the defense they have over the past few games, they can squeak into the playoffs.

Yes, I said it.

Can’t believe I did, but I did.

Scary thing is I know it’s not the Kool-aid talking either.

While many already believe this team is done for the season, which as of right now I’d have to agree and say the John Tavares sweepstakes are looking like a done deal, the Isles played hard against a good Philly team and may in fact just need a few more games to really get things going.

On another note, please don’t even get me started with Rick DiPietro being put on IR on Thursday. All it does is prove that something else is going on and of course the fans of this team are left in the dust. My hunch is that DP is seriously injured and the team would rather keep fans out of the loop as to not make it look like they are giving up on the season.

From the way they’ve played thus far this season, it looks like exactly that.

This has nothing to do with Scott Gordon, but the Islanders youngsters have looked out of place and aside from a handful of guys that bust their humps on every shift, guys like Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mark Streit immediately come to mind, the Islanders are a team that has to play perfect hockey in order to win against even the most mediocre of teams.

They cannot commit costly penalties and must convert on the powerplay. Otherwise, every game will end in 7-1 loss or a 3-2 squeaker that could have been saved if they had a legitimate sniper and a defense.

Simply put, I haven’t seen an Islanders team this bad since the year before they picked up Mike Peca and Alexei Yashin.

So against a Montreal team that is red-hot, the chances of the Isles squeaking out a win solely depend on how badly this team wants to be considered more than failure. It’s completely up to them.

Sink or swim guys.

Sink or swim.