Tag: New York Islanders

Game 2 – Stay the Course

As Patrick Roy said after the game – the Isles played a good game – good enough to win.

Not taking advantage of chances was the main reason for the “L” in the column instead of the “W”.

To limit the team with one of the most shot attempts in the league to just 26 – is a quite important stat to digest. A lot of the shots were outside and in non-danger situations. To me – that is a good thing to take out of the game.

What is something that I did not like to see?

Faceoffs. The numbers were 34-24 for the home team. This is where missing JG Pageau is quite obvious. He is the one that takes the big faceoffs in serious situations. Hoping he returns to the lineup (from the looks on “X” – he should be) – that will be useful.

Assuming Varly returns to the net tonight (no reason why he should not) – he needs to keep his game up to have the team stay in the game.

As I have stated in the podcast “Isles Talk” – special teams are critical for success. The Canes were the number 1 PK in the league for a reason – they are swarming as soon you get to the blue line. They need to get in the zone and establish themselves in order to gain traction.

As far as the PK is concerned, we all know where we stand. This needs to be strong, aggressive as well as relentless. Carolina has weapons on both PP units. A good sign of a strong special teams is that the sum of the PP and PK percentages are over 100. Carolina sits at nearly 110, the Islanders are at 90. Needless to say, Orange and Blue need to be MUCH better than that!

THINGS I AM LOOKING FOR:

  1. “Set the Tone” – Thomas Hickey mentioned it in the pregame show on Saturday. For the visitors, they were unable to mix it up – as Anders Lee ended up going in the box on a questionable call just sixty seconds into the game, causing a quick 1-0 deficit just seconds after his entry to the box. I really think that Patrick should pull a Barry Trotz and put the “Identity Line” out there to start. I know that Kyle MacLean should be back on the fourth line tonight – which will be a positive, but putting Casey out there – with Cal and Matty would be a point to make. Most of the game 1’s were heavy physicality and lots of emotions spewing to the ice. Being physical is the equalizer for the Isles.
  2. Moving their feet on the power play – With Carolina being such a tough team to take on when the PP is out – they need to be able to bring the puck up, get it above the visiting blue line and establish themselves. Once they are in – the key to beating such a good PK – is to the keep the feet moving. When the Islanders are showing a good power play, all five skaters are moving around and not just sitting still. Barzy is such a key to make defenses rely on him and make mistakes, allowing Lee and Palmieri to get open looks.
  3. GAP GAP GAP – the Isles had good gap control on Saturday – which needs to continue. Closing up the blue line is a way to stop the overabundance of shot attempts as well as keeping the forwards to the corners, as opposed to the slot area.

To the folks that think the Isles played a bad game – look closer. They limited the shots, played hard, and just did not have the puclk luck that teams look for in the playoffs. To win this, and bring the team back 1-1, there needs to be solid forechecking to the point of getting the Canes off their game. As Paul and I have said in our podcasts, “NO STUPID PENALTIES”, and take advantage of the PP that has not been on point lately.

Let’s enjoy game 2 and hope that we are going to Thursday’s game 1-1. All eight game 1’s were won by the home team. Let’s change the narrative tonight, Islanders!

It’s going to be a showdown!

Gonna Be a Showdown! (ELO)

Thank you to Jeff Lynne, and the Electric Light Orchestra for putting this song on 51 years ago in 1973 on the album, “On the Third Day”. For those who do not know ELO (especially folks under the age of 50) – they were a trendsetting rock group that combined synthesized music with full orchestral accompaniment (including Electric Violins) – which gave them a unique sound. This band is a major influence on my teen and adult years, and I am still a huge fan to this day!

But tomorrow – there is going to be another showdown. One on a 17,000 square foot sheet of ice in Elmont. At 7:00 PM – the Rangers and Islanders renew their potential inhospitable rivalry in another IMPORTANT game for the home team.

At this moment – the Isles sit in the number 3 spot in the Metro – thanks to a steep drop off by the Flyers and the inability of the Caps and Pens to take advantage of games in hand. Two weeks prior, the Isles were good as dead. I even thought that much on my Isles Talk podcast.

Well – I am glad to be wrong.

The Rangers are the top team in the league right now. First year coach Peter Laviolette has done a tremendous job in righting this ship in the right direction; something he has done in every destination he has been a coach in. However, this team has one flaw that can be exposed quite easily.

Five on Five – this team is less than mediocre. You can see that in some of their recent losses that they have. To be fair – they are a team that can be beaten. The one thing that you need to be – if you are playing the Rangers, is WELL DISCIPLINED!

If you stay out of the box, you can beat this team.

Their power play is extremely lethal – we have seen this all year. And with the Islanders PK being at times inept, this can be the difference in two points versus zero in the standings.

So, if I am going to be a coach and talk to the team – I would tell them to look at periods 2 and 3 from Saturday night’s game and mimic that 100%. Be physical but don’t get too much. Forget about Rempe and the other fourth liners that are going to try to get under the skin. This is a “TURN THE OTHER CHEEK NIGHT”, as long as you still let them know that they cannot be pushed around.

I absolutely love the insertion of Casey on the top line. I know that Bo and Barzy do not necessarily need the physical presence on their line – they can handle themselves quite well – but that edge gives a little bit for freedom for freelancing and letting them be themselves.

The Nelson, Palmieri, Engvall line needs to be at their absolute best. Getting some scoring from them – can be just what the doctor ordered. Kyle has up to 26 and has a good shot of reaching 30 (Sorry Steve J in section 316). Balanced scoring is key to this team – to keep the Rangers lines having to pay attention to all four lines.

Semyon Varlamov is getting the start tomorrow against the Rangers. He has been the hot goalie, and it is necessary to stick with what is good. It may very well happen that Ilya may be the playoff goalie, but with Semyon’s good history against the Blueshirts, why not!

Are you ready? Here we go!

Whole lot of Shakin’ going on…

It happened about 12 hours after the game, but God has a way of making his presence felt.

Isles country – we are back in business.

Thanks to 13 and 14, the Isles are now in a playoff position. It has been so nice to see the fruits of the Lou Lamiorello trade last All-Star break to get the former Vancouver captain.

Have you noticed how the trade is going? Do you think we made a bad trade? Cmon Lou doubters – let me know….

Last night – Noah Dobson played one of his best games in quite a while. His defensive play has been poor of late, but he had a great game against the Blue Jackets. His gap control was excellent, and very little dumping and chasing was happening. This will be much more needed tomorrow night against a very strong Predators team.

Ilya Sorokin had a so-so game, but he made a pivotal save moving side to side quickly to rob Columbus of a game tying goal. I still feel that he is not 100%, but his effort in the last two games was strong enough.

Varly will get the start tomorrow – and we need to see the veteran in top form. When the Isles are successful, it starts with the back end. We know that from 2020 and 2021. Can we see it again? Time will tell.

So as it stands right now – the Isles are sitting in the 2nd wild card spot. If the season ended today, the Islanders will be playing our friends from Manhattan in the first round. So many really WANT to see this. In the eyes of this reporter, I am not sure. It will bring a great deal of hype to the metro area. Some, including my wife, want to see them play another team. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

So psyche yourselves up for tomorrow – we know that the Predators have not been gracious to us in past games. But we need the effort of the Islanders from Thursday night – to be out there Saturday. As I always say on my podcast, think about the first five minutes of the game. See how the team comes out and hopefully that will be the litmus test. Just keep playing an “A” effort, and we could see the team move in the standings.

Imagine that? Does that SHAKE YOU UP? Maybe not at a 4.8 on the Richter scale, but it is a nice thought.

#LGI