The Islanders coming off easily the most impressive game of the year against the Tampa Bay Lightning who had only lost once in regulation once in their 20 games host the St. Louis Blues. This is the third game of a four game homestand for the New York Islanders.
Matt Martin played his best game of the year against the Lightning. The CCM line looks like it did before Martin left for FA to Toronto. This is great news for the Islanders but not so good for other teams. The Islanders are in the 2nd Wild Card playoff spot 1 point behind the Canadians and 2 points Cindy’s Penguins for 3rd place in the Metropolitan division.
The Islanders are 8-2 in their last 10 games
The Jordan Bennington the St. Louis 25 year old rookie goalie was named 3rd star of last week in the NHL. The week before it was Islander’s goalie Robin Lehner who was the 3 rd Star of the week.
David Perron scored a goal in St. Louis' 4-1 win at the Washington Capitals on Monday, extending his point streak to 11 games, the longest active run in the NHL. The win was the season-best third in a row for the Blues, who've allowed one goal in each of the three victories.
Islander Notes
Andre’s Lee has seven points (2G, 5A) in his last six games.
- Brock Nelson scored his 16th goal of the season on Sunday, which tied Anders Lee for the team lead. Nelson's power-play goal was his first this season.
- Jordan Eberle is one goal shy of 200 in his NHL career. Eberle has three points (2G, 1A) in his last five games, including a goal against the Blues on Jan. 5.
- Devon Toews scored his third goal of the season on Sunday, tying for the lead among Islanders defensemen. Toews has four points (3G, 1A) in his first 10 NHL games. Vladimir Malakhov (1992-93) was the last Isles defenseman to score three times in his first 10 games.
- The Isles are 5-1-1 in the last seven games against the Blues and are 2-0-1 in three previous games against the Blues at Barclays Center.
- The Islanders will wear their alternate jerseys on Tuesday. They will wear them again on Jan. 20, with future dates released at the beginning of February.
ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
- The Blues have won three straight games heading into Tuesday's action. The three-game winning streak is the Blues' longest of the season.
- St. Louis' most recent win came on Monday night, as the Blues beat the Washington Capitals 4-1. The Blues will be playing the second night of a back-to-back set when they visit Brooklyn on Tuesday.
- The Blues (44 points) are three points back of the Minnesota Wild (47 points) for the second wild card berth and fifth in the Central Division.
- Ryan O'Reilly leads St. Louis with 44 points (16G, 28A) in 44 games this season.
Go Isles!
It was impressive to see them jump all over Tampa like that. STL is a talented team and playing better lately, so they'll need a good effort tonight to win. I'm thinking this is the night we see Dal Colle finally light it up.
The Blues aren't necessarily good, so let's hope they get up for this game. I'd hate to see a dud.
Not sure how they reverse it
Mayfield and Toews on ice when Tarasenko line is on. And doing great.
Need to fire Gomez but I'll take it!
Watch the replay. Barzal baited them. Left the zone, waited until ROR was heading to the bench, and hit a streaking 51
I think STL ends up making the playoffs. So much talent on that squad and they are playing well.
Thanks to the Rangers for sacrificing their own tank to beat Carolina and help secure our playoff position. Isles only 3pts out of 1st with a game in hand. Only 2pts behind Toronto.
I had long banged the drum to have adults in the room (Lou now part of that), and that the previous folks in charge had no winning pedigree thus could not instill that mindset in the players coming through the organization because of the lack of that important credibility. Amazing what happens when you not only get that, but also get the buy-in from the players.
Still a long way to go, and the season certainly isn’t over. But I can say they’ve already surpassed my expectations of where I thought they’d be this year.
AND they now have 8 players with 10 or more goals
damn you.. always a step faster
I had long banged the drum to have adults in the room (Lou now part of that), and that the previous folks in charge had no winning pedigree thus could not instill that mindset in the players coming through the organization because of the lack of that important credibility. Amazing what happens when you not only get that, but also get the buy-in from the players.
Still a long way to go, and the season certainly isn’t over. But I can say they’ve already surpassed my expectations of where I thought they’d be this year.
Figured I'd leave this here instead of the chat...
What do you think Trotz/Lou means to free agents? It's no secret players haven't really wanted to come to the island/shitty barclays. Do you/anyone think that will change, or not until Belmont is completed?
Quote:
Regardless of where you perceive the Isles to be in their remodeling in purging the Cappy/Weight way and adopting Trotz’s system (and however long it takes for them to “master” it), is that Barry Trotz was unequivocally the right choice to take the helm here.
I had long banged the drum to have adults in the room (Lou now part of that), and that the previous folks in charge had no winning pedigree thus could not instill that mindset in the players coming through the organization because of the lack of that important credibility. Amazing what happens when you not only get that, but also get the buy-in from the players.
Still a long way to go, and the season certainly isn’t over. But I can say they’ve already surpassed my expectations of where I thought they’d be this year.
Figured I'd leave this here instead of the chat...
What do you think Trotz/Lou means to free agents? It's no secret players haven't really wanted to come to the island/shitty barclays. Do you/anyone think that will change, or not until Belmont is completed?
I know one UFA who didnt care hahahaha.
This is an insane stat when you think about the mess that our defense as last year. One of the more remarkable turnarounds that I’ve ever seen.
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In comment 14264983 pganut said:
Quote:
Regardless of where you perceive the Isles to be in their remodeling in purging the Cappy/Weight way and adopting Trotz’s system (and however long it takes for them to “master” it), is that Barry Trotz was unequivocally the right choice to take the helm here.
I had long banged the drum to have adults in the room (Lou now part of that), and that the previous folks in charge had no winning pedigree thus could not instill that mindset in the players coming through the organization because of the lack of that important credibility. Amazing what happens when you not only get that, but also get the buy-in from the players.
Still a long way to go, and the season certainly isn’t over. But I can say they’ve already surpassed my expectations of where I thought they’d be this year.
Figured I'd leave this here instead of the chat...
What do you think Trotz/Lou means to free agents? It's no secret players haven't really wanted to come to the island/shitty barclays. Do you/anyone think that will change, or not until Belmont is completed?
I know one UFA who didnt care hahahaha.
It will be fun seeing him cry in his flannel pajamas if the Leafs don't win a Stanley Cup while he is there and the Islanders win it all (not necessarily this year, but any year that he is in Toronto).
Having said that, sometimes you do have to simply credit your opposition, and the Blues have been one of the toughest teams to play against since December 1. We needed to lean on Lehner yet again, and he came up big for us.
I think it's important we see a much more impressive effort against the Devils tomorrow night; a team that hasn't been nearly as good as St. Louis of late. That'll get me feeling much more comfortable than I am now, despite collecting two points. I was in attendance and the eye test matched the stat sheet in that second period.
Also, in OT, let's just put Barzal out there for the full 5. My goodness.
LGI!
And great to see some of the quality Loyal Islander fans back, talking hockey.’I love Trotz belief in D 1st. We won 4 Cups that way. The players are having fun, they have bought into the system. They are playing hard. This is important to continue maturing as a hockey team. Talent has never been the issue it has always been about the system. Fa’s go for the money and to win. Pajama boy felt he could do both well let’s see if Barzalncan do it before him.
By the way interesting stat and piece of Trivia? What player over
The last 2 seasons this one included has drawn the most penalties from opposing players in the NHL?
Quote:
Islanders threads back I really missed them...LGI
And great to see some of the quality Loyal Islander fans back, talking hockey.’I love Trotz belief in D 1st. We won 4 Cups that way. The players are having fun, they have bought into the system. They are playing hard. This is important to continue maturing as a hockey team. Talent has never been the issue it has always been about the system. Fa’s go for the money and to win. Pajama boy felt he could do both well let’s see if Barzalncan do it before him.
By the way interesting stat and piece of Trivia? What player over
The last 2 seasons this one included has drawn the most penalties from opposing players in the NHL?
Assuming it's an Islander. Gotta be Barzal although I could see it being Leddy with how much he brings the puck into the zone.
“I think the older guys know that a little bit more,” Trotz said before the Islanders’ 2-1 overtime win over the Blues on Tuesday night at Barclays Center. “The younger guys, probably not as much. The level you’re playing at right now, if you played that in the playoffs, you’d have no chance of winning a game.”
Trotz believes imparting that urgency to the younger players is a shared effort between the coaching staff and the players who have experienced the grind of a playoff push.
“As we get down to the stretch, you’re going to start playing some playoff games because of the implications,” Trotz said. “When you get down to the last 20 games, everything goes up. The pace of the game and the intensity, it’s going to start building here.
“If you’re a guy who’s not going to be committed physically into the battle or emotionally into the battle, you’re going to disappear as the season wears on and you get into the playoffs."
Quote:
Islanders threads back I really missed them...LGI
And great to see some of the quality Loyal Islander fans back, talking hockey.’I love Trotz belief in D 1st. We won 4 Cups that way. The players are having fun, they have bought into the system. They are playing hard. This is important to continue maturing as a hockey team. Talent has never been the issue it has always been about the system. Fa’s go for the money and to win. Pajama boy felt he could do both well let’s see if Barzalncan do it before him.
By the way interesting stat and piece of Trivia? What player over
The last 2 seasons this one included has drawn the most penalties from opposing players in the NHL?
Clutterbuck. Players love to hit him
The answer is Barzal. He led the league last year by a wide margin and he is 7th in drawing penalties this year.
The answer is Barzal. He led the league last year by a wide margin and he is 7th in drawing penalties this year.