The little girl with the curl has nothing over these Islanders—very good one night and simply horrid the next. While Mother Goose would be proud, all this egg-laying has to have coach Scott Gordon a bit frustrated. Ahh, youth.
After a lackluster effort in New Jersey last Saturday (6-1 loss), their sixth game in nine nights, the Isles didn’t play again till Thursday night in Atlanta. As a result they produced a spirited effort in a 4-1 win over a hot Thrashers team that Gordon called, “our best 60-minute effort of the season.”
Led by Matt Moulson’s hat trick (14) and a solid defensive effort the Isles completely shut down a Thrasher club that had been playing well coming in at 7-3-1 in their last 11.
Two nights later against slumping Tampa Bay yet another flat performance in a 4-0 loss to the Lightning. At 11-11-7 that “little girl” has been quite confounding through the first third of the season.
New York Islanders' Matt Moulson (26) watches his shot as he beats Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (31), of the Czech Republic, for a hat trick with Islanders center Josh Bailey (12) and Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian, center rear, during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, at Philips Arena, in Atlanta. The Islanders won 4-1. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)
Seems like a case of far too many passengers on far too many nights. Gordon had lamented the condensed first half schedule due to the two-week Olympic break after the loss in Jersey. No such excuses were offered up in Tampa as his club was playing just their second game in an eight-day stretch.
One area in which the team has slipped considerably lately is the power play. Just a couple of weeks ago the Isles were cruising, with the man advantage converting at over 21 percent, a figure that put them in the league’s top 10. A recent 2-for-37 slump has them operating at just over 17 percent these days—and it’s costing them games.
“We had our power plays and we didn’t get it done,” explained rookie Tavares after the Lightning game. “When we did get our chances, we couldn’t bury them. It was a little frustrating. You’re getting all those power plays, and we’re not producing the way we should.”
A five-on-three for one minute and 21 seconds in the first period against Tampa generated little offense and clearly swung the early momentum to the Lightning on Saturday. They finished the game 0-for-6 with the extra skater. Last week against the Devils, early power play failure once again spelled doom and was compounded when New Jersey capitalized on their own late chances with the man advantage to seal the Isles’ fate in that one.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better chance,” Gordon said of the early five-on-three versus Tampa. “It clearly swung the momentum.”
Once again, these are situations that serve to accent just how much they miss Doug Weight’s (bum shoulder) presence in this line-up. They are clearly pressing on the power play and Weights’ smart, patient play with the puck is sorely lacking right now. The club claims the veteran center still may be two weeks away from returning so, for the immediate future, they’ll have to figure it out without him.
This current five-game trip (1-2) continues with a visit to Philadelphia next Tuesday and then back up to Toronto next Wednesday. Somehow managing to grab points in the next two would be big as the game against the Leafs marks the end of a stretch that will have seen the club play 12 of 14 on the road. Beginning with this Saturday’s home game against Boston, the Isles will then play nine of the following 12 at home with two of the road games against the Rangers at the Garden. That’s one plane trip (to Ottawa on New Year’s Eve) through Jan. 5 of 2010.
Currently in the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference, a mere point out of seventh, the next few weeks provide a excellent chance to make a statement that they plan on hanging around in the hunt for the playoffs all year. Addressing the problems they are currently experiencing with the power play would represent a good first step.
ICE CHIPS
Lots of commotion over Rick DiPietro’s return to action over the weekend in Bridgeport, Conn. Statistically he looked rusty, giving up three goals in 13 shots. The bigger story is how his body responds prior to his next test in the AHL. In the past two years, the 28-year-old DiPietro has had surgery on both hips and both knees. He last played an NHL game on Jan. 2 and made only five appearances with the Islanders last season. Clearly, just strapping on the pads is good news and anyone that thought he was going to be razor sharp out of the chute was kidding themselves.
The plan is for DP to make two more starts in the AHL by Dec. 15 before possibly returning to the Islanders. Those starts will presumable have to go significantly better than this first one for that to actually happen.
With regard to the crowd his return will create in the Isles’ goal crease, GM Garth Snow best be careful with this situation. There’s been lots of rumors surrounding a deal for Martin Biron, who has played well despite his win-loss record (2-8). If Biron departs and DiPietro suffers a setback, the Isles are left with a 40-year (Roloson) number one in net and will be an injury away from disaster.
From the statistical anomaly department—how is Richard Park a -14? No one on the roster works harder and the 33-year-old winger is one of the more noticeable forwards every night on the forecheck.
Also seems hard to believe that Kyle Okposo only has five goals. The kid battles his tail off every game and has just been snake bit since his last tally on Nov. 14 in Florida. You just know his next one will open the flood gates.
The next three games are in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Dec. 8, back to Toronto the next night and then home for Boston on Dec. 12.
NY Islanders Skating to Brooklyn in 2015
