- John Tavares and Kyle Okposo each have four-game point streaks and Matt Moulson has a three-game streak.
This top line has been the Isles' bread-and-butter ever since Jack Capuano decided to create it. They provide much of the offense, plus a lot of the jump and creativity the Isles need to score. JT is smart, Moulson's gritty and KO is energetic, making this line pretty hard to stop cold.
- The Islanders outshot the Ducks 8-3 in the first period, but the Ducks rebounded to outshoot the Islanders 9-8 in the second and 8-5 in the third. For the game, the Isles outshot Anaheim 21-20. It’s the second time this season that each team has had 21 shots or fewer in an Islander game.
Both teams played some excellent defense early on, which is probably why the shot totals were so low. I remembered seeing quite a few shot blocks, including a couple that hurt players- indeed, Marty Reasoner ended up leaving the game with a broken hand. (That should, however, give Jay Pandolfo an opportunity to get back onto the roster.) Also, there were quite a few misses- and some posts, let's not forget.
- The Islanders are 14-18-6 overall and are 6-9-3 on the road. They are 6-4-1 in their last 11 road games, after going 0-5-2 in their first seven away from home.
- The Ducks are 11-22-6 overall and 8-12-1 at home. Anaheim is 4-9-2 under new head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Clearly, something is clicking for the Islanders that wasn't before on the road. Hard to say exactly what it is- perhaps the line changes, perhaps something else- but at a time when the Isles are on a stretch with as many road games as home games, we need all the road points we can get.
As far as the Ducks go, Boudreau has not had the success he's used to as head coach. Known as more of an offense-first coach, at least in Washington, he's probably not used to either the Western Conference or the more defensive mentality of the Anaheim Ducks, even with stars like Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf, and last year's MVP, Corey Perry. (Speaking of Perry, his two assists last night were the 400th and 401st of his career.)
Also of note:
Evgeni Nabokov is two wins shy of 300 for his career. According to the Isles, Roberto Luongo, Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Brodeur are the only active NHL goalies with more wins than Nabokov. Though he lost last night, he still posts 26 career wins against Anaheim, which is more wins for him than against any other opponent.
Milan Jurcina led the Isles in hits with six; Ryan Getzlaf led the Ducks with six as well, but the Isles were outhit 30-26, which isn't a huge margin, but enough of one. My question is, where was Matt Martin in this whole hit mix? He led the league at some point (and might still do so), but I don't remember seeing him hitting a whole lot. Not dropping the gloves is one thing, and I also appreciate him working on his offensive output... but we need a good physical presence, which Martin provides with gusto.
The Isles were outscored 3-1 in the third period, proving once again that the third period is not kind to them. Indeed, last night they proved undisciplined and sloppy in their own end, particularly on the Getzlaf goal (when neither Jurcina nor Eaton did anything to stop him). Nabokov was also sloppy, letting the puck through the five-hole (which sometimes can't be helped, but... you expect a goalie with close to 300 wins under his belt to make that kind of save).
Still, in their last four games, the Isles are 3-1-0, and their top forwards are producing at a satisfactory level. It's still up to the next three lines to provide energy and support, which is falling by the wayside. Josh Bailey and Michael Grabner in particular remained silent, and both were on ice for Anaheim goals (Grabner was a -1, Bailey a -2). And it can't be that way.
Until next time.
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