What's this? Surely, there isn't another basketball tournament, circus, Rich Dad seminar, gun show, medieval festival, mass religious cult wedding, etc. to keep the Isles from returning home? A game tonight at Barclays, where the Isles are 9-0-2 in their last 11. They take on the ex-Whalers, who lead the season series against the Isles, so let's hope for some reversal of fortune.
We do so on pins and needles as JF Berube gets the start tonight. Guessing Dougie feels they'll play with purpose to protect a goalie who has been...less than ideal this season. Quine and Cizikas have skated, but not ready to return; Doug says they're "close, but not ready yet". Same forwards. Similarly, Boychuck is not ready to return on D, so Adam Pelech gives Scott Mayfield a break tonight.
I noticed Mathew Barzal has missed the last couple of games for Seattle, and today see that according to a British Columbia hockey blog that
a source in the Seattle area told Taking Note on Sunday that “indications are that (Mathew) Barzal has the mumps. He’s in isolation as a precautionary measure but signs point to mumps.” |
Get well, kid. And even in his absence against Everett on Saturday, the opposing coach had this to say about Barzal:
“It doesn’t change our approach, but he’s a helluva player,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “I think he’s the most dynamic offensive player in the league.' |
One interesting thing I picked up on: regarding the prospects at the goaltender position, I think we all know that we're waiting for Ilya Sorokin to make the jump. But don't forget that Linus Soderstrom is also highly regarded, and may well make it to the US before Sorokin given Sorokin's KHL contract that still has another season on it after this one. Regarding Soderstrom:
Soderstrom broke a record held by fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist by posting the lowest goals against average in the SHL with a 1.34 GAA. Lundqvist’s record was 1.45 GAA. While Sorokin is contract tied to the KHL,Soderstrom’s deal with his club HV71 has expired. Making him eligible to sign an entry-level NHL contract. |
Let's also see if the road trip and the success on it are things the Isles can build on. Dougie:
“We’ve gained some confidence on the road as a team,” he said. “I think playing on the road, the style we have to play, we’ve played a lot of different teams with different elements.” |
Finally, Josh Bailey is one point shy of 50 this season and 300 for his career.
Let's Go Islanders
Toronto: 514-364-136 (1014 games 1164 points) (8 home, 7 road)
Islanders: 491-386-133 (1010 games, 1115 points) (7 home, 8 road)
You may say, Fish, how can you be so confident in this statement. And I say, this team does not win back to back often. The Canes always play us tough and the one day home then back on the road with a snow storm in between should equal a loss.
You may say, Fish, how can you be so confident in this statement. And I say, this team does not win back to back often. The Canes always play us tough and the one day home then back on the road with a snow storm in between should equal a loss.
Tonight is a big one to win. Carolina is actually very good at home. I suppose that's why we're saving Greiss for that one.
I get it and I've shared this sentiment for a while, but Berube's last 3 periods have been pretty good. 1 goal against on 22 shots and gave us a legit chance to beat the Blues with 2 shutout periods.
Bottom line is there are only 15 games left. I doubt our backup gets more than 3 games the rest of the year, probably 2. If he gives us 2 more good starts that's good enough for a backup.
March 24 in Pittsburgh
March 31 home vs the Devils
April 8 in New Jersey
Those are the remaining games I think we could see Berube, though I personally think we'll get Greiss on April 8. He has a back to back on April 8 and 9. No travel in those games as the game on April 9 is home against Ottawa and they won't "travel" for the Devils game.
So I think after tonight there's only 2 more times we see Berube. At most, 3.
Ha, spot on analogy.
The problem is Griess plays great and you do not see the laying of the egg coming. He is showing that 2 to 3 straight games he is very good but that the next game he looks lethargic and tired. I hope it is only 2 to 3 games that we see of Berube. The thing is we can not have games from Griess like St. Louis, Calgary or Columbus or Toronto either.
The Islanders just need to stop checking out mentally periodically. Sure, those clunkers exist in every championship teams' seasons, but this version of the Islanders has no championship pedigree, so those too-often mistakes give us what they are: a pretty good team that struggles to find consistency. Hence no long-term winning streaks, nor are there long-term losing streaks. But I will say the consistency developing under Weight is better than what we saw of any consistency under Capuano. The belief they should have in themselves is the key to winning the tough games.
Must be all that clean living and lessons from uber-douche Tom Wilson.
NHL DOPS Suspends Shattenkirk 2 games - ( New Window )
And those who said we needed 12 pts on the trip were right. 12 would've put us in a tie.
Link - ( New Window )
And those who said we needed 12 pts on the trip were right. 12 would've put us in a tie.
About Bellows, I had read all along that he'd likely be at BU for a year before moving to the AHL, so it seems like that may well happen. He's shown flashes of real good play but has also been buried a bit there.
John Forslund, the Carolina Hurricanes announcer. For an Islanders home game. Great job, NBC.
And just like that, they score again, with Berube in bad position. Wake the fuck up.
C) Our GM is spiteful and would rather score ego points than bring up Halak
But Gionta ties it up!
Pg, ruined the surprise of the tying goal but I'll take it!
(won't be commenting too much tonight because of the lag)
But CDH waits till it's 5v5 and scores!
This is atrocious!
Cannot come out and lay down like this at home, and against a dead team walking...especially with so much on the line.
Game's not over by a longshot.
This is atrocious!
Absolutely agree. But jackass Snow will not admit he screwed this season up.