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Islanders Gameday: Suddenly not so sick in Carolina

Did you not realize Kyle Okposo was superhuman? 'Bout time you just accept it, son. Okposo and Blake Comeau, both sick earlier this week (KO diagnosed with H1N1), are now back with the team and might even play tonight.

I guess the chance to pounce on a struggling opponent has healing powers. It's the converse of the old "Philadelphia Flu" of the '70s: The Carolina Wonderdrug.

Nyi-4stick_medium                Car-zoom_medium
New York Islanders (6-6-6, 5th/Atl) at Carolina Hurricanes (1-12-3, 5th/SE)
7 p.m. EST  |  The [Something to do with Usury] Center  |  MSG+, audio
Natural Disaster Watchers: Canes Country | R&B Hockey

There's the proverbial risk in looking at struggling opponents as easy "W's," of course. In fact, it's no stretch to figure the Hurricanes looked at the then-winless Islanders as an easy must-win back in October, when the Hurricanes' current 13-game winless streak was only at three. That night the Isles picked up their first "win" (shootout), on their way to the current devilish record. After one more shootout loss (to another "gimme," Minnesota), the Canes have now lost seven in a row outright.

The reasons for their struggles are almost too numerous to count (injury, age, imbalance, diminishing offense), but Canes Country today has a very nice look at why it will be hard for GM Jim Rutherford to do anything about it: They're up against the cap something fierce.

Star-divide

Something Wicked in this Net Comes

On the ice, you can start with the fact Rod Brind'Amour is old, Eric Staal is hurt, and Cam Ward had his thigh cut open by Rich Nash's skate. But the symbol of their fate to me is this: Manny Legace is Rutherford's emergency goalie of choice. Why Michael Leighton has collected dust under Paul Maurice, I don't know (possible answer: He's not so much real good-like), but if the franchise has zero faith in him, it's a wonder they kept him around when ... well, injuries happen.

I've seen more than I care to admit of Legace thanks to his time with the Blues. When in form, with good team support, he can surprise you. But you also get a dose of the goalie headcase-itis, and it was this tendency that accelerated his demise and eventual mid-season waiving by the Blues last year. Nothing in the last year tells you the Good Legace is due back on this earth anytime soon, as his form even when making a save sometimes looks like this. But stranger things have happened. A career hanging by a thread can focus a man.

Sub-par goalies, devastating injuries, battered coach trying to end losing spells ... why, it sounds like the 2008-09 New York Islanders! So much so, I almost get a nostalgic tear in my eye. But this must be special misery for Canes fans; while we went into last season with a pretty good idea a storm was about to hit the Islanders, Canes fans are coming off a big playoff run that included conquering Marty and Evil Lou of Newark, and knocking off the conference champs. That's a hard fall.

Game Plan

Back in the '90s, a hard-working, under-skilled team evened things up by trapping and hooking and generally sucking the Hall of Famer Lou Life out of the game. Today, for obvious reasons, that doesn't work. So what's the key to the Islanders keeping their head above water this year? I'm convinced it's the usual hard work, and hustle, and constant pressure -- but for the dual purpose of knocking the other team off its game and drawing powerplays.

The powerplay hasn't been exactly lethal (19%), and the team isn't blowing anyone out (except Buffalo, once), and they're being outshot 33.4-30.9 per game, but the Isles are doing enough to derail teams, keep it close and inch out a win or a trip to OT. The team is in the bottom 10 (the good bottom) in penalties committed per game, which is big because they're only 24th in PP opportunities. They're now at .88 in 5-on-5 GF/GA, better than at any point last season.

Again, it's a thin margin of error they're working with, but thus far the above factors mixed with better goaltending have made this team's games fun to watch, while giving us tantalizing glimpses of the future.

So tonight: More of the same, please, and a win shall be yours. If Okposo is indeed back in (at what strength?), that alters the powerplay a bit and makes Doug Weight's loss slightly less painful. Though Wednesday, it was nice to be reminded of what Trent Hunter's presence on the PP unit can do when he has time to shoot.

With back-to-backs this weekend, tonight is the game the Isles have to have to keep our fan-imposed goal of .500 on this road trip in order. After a pause at home in the middle of this seven-game run away from home, the trip doesn't get any easier. But yeah, just play the game and win and do nice things 'n stuff. Okay? Cool.

Prediction: Legace's body language after at least one goal sends Canes fans reaching for their TUMS.

0 recs  |  Comment 9 comments |

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There’s the proverbial risk in looking at struggling opponents as easy “W’s,” of course.

If we come out weak against a team that BLASTED us last year…

Last Season: The Islanders were 0-4-0 against the Carolina Hurricanes last season.
Last Regulation Loss: 4/7/09 – Islanders 0 at Hurricanes 9

why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?

by bob l on Nov 13, 2009 12:08 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Under Skilled?

I must debate that although the Devils aren’t exactly the holy grail of offensive teams, you can’t call them underskilled. With Scott Stevens, Scott Neidmayer and Ken Danyeko on the blue line, its going to be tough to score on you no matter the system.

Oh, and when your blessed to have a young all-star goalie, you tend not to worry about the backup. Just ask Garth about that one. We went from Dunham being backup to Dubie, MacDonald and Danis, all three being undrafted free agents.

by WebBard on Nov 13, 2009 12:26 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

i think he was strictly referring to their offense – which was in fact under skilled when compared to most playoff teams (especially the western conference) i mean, it all started with the irresistible force vs the immovable object right? NJ vs DET where the 3.75 goals per game wings managed to score just 7 in 4 games vs the devs, thus putting the league on notice to trap or be trapped

why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?

by bob l on Nov 13, 2009 12:43 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Yes, this very much so.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Nov 13, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

My mistake.

by WebBard on Nov 13, 2009 5:07 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Sorry, I was being a little loose with the terminology, ascribing all of the expansion era trappers with a Blame Lou brush that should have been applied to many characters, from Roger Nielsen and every team of 12 plugging third-line forwards.

I’d say the ‘95 Devils had skill but also … well with today’s rules they don’t sweep Detroit.

On the backup issue: That’s what drives me nuts, though. Goalies are too damned important for you to carry a backup you don’t trust. If you have a star goalie and your team depends on him, suddenly you’re guaranteed losses every time he goes down. It takes some work (and luck) to find a competent guy who can afford to sit for weeks on end, but they’re out there.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Nov 13, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

I think its the Dunham problem. Like in Vancouver. When you have an extremely talented or highly considered youngster, but you have an established goalie. They keep him on the minor league team as long as possible to delay the beginning of his rookie contract. Should Raycroft be the backup? No. But they don’t want Schnieder to start his contract any earlier then possible.

Plus like they mentioned, the Canes are against the cap, so they were probably trying to survive with the backup on the cheap.

by WebBard on Nov 13, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Probably right.

I haven’t looked into Leighton lately, but it’s weird they didn’t bring in a guy they can trust (hell, even a Danis-like signing could work). I’m just perplexed that the guy they’ve had all year takes an immediate back seat to Legace.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Nov 13, 2009 5:25 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Devils-Wings '95 coda

I never hated the Devils — they’d come from so far at the bottom that it was kind of fun to watch them go from Gretzky’s “Mickey Mouse” slam, to a playoff team, to an actual threat. Plus, when they’re taking out the Rangers, a greater good is at work.

Meanwhile, it was fun to see an underdog take the Wings down. But even watching that series unfold, it was clear there was a bit of black magic going on. The attraction wasn’t entertaining hockey, but rather the novelty of seeing a dragon go down hard. The “it’s playoff hockey, anything goes” mantra was starting to ascend to its absurd conclusion, which basically meant no man skates through the neutral zone — with or without the puck — without being impeded by hook, clutch and slash.

There were more forces at work than just Lemaire (like expansion), but he certainly gave fuel to the fire, and the Panthers added to it the next year. Don’t know if the league’s descent into obstruction hell was inevitable, but knowing what I know now, I kind of regret that series, as it became Model 1 for everyone on the merits of that kind of hockey where you commit so many fouls, the refs can’t possibly call all of them.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Nov 13, 2009 1:12 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

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Atlantic Standings

GP W L OTL PT
Pittsburgh 71 42 24 5 89
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Philadelphia 70 37 28 5 79
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(updated 3.19.2010 at 9:06 AM EDT)

New York Islanders Roster

# Pos. DOB W H
Josh Bailey 12 C 10/2/1989 188 6-1
Sean Bergenheim 20 LW 2/8/1984 205 5-10
Martin Biron 43 G 8/15/1977 180 6-3
Blake Comeau 57 RW 2/18/1986 207 6-1
Bruno Gervais 8 D 10/3/1984 205 6-1
Trevor Gillies 14 LW 1/30/1979 215 6-3
Jack Hillen 38 D 1/24/1986 200 5-11
Trent Hunter 7 RW 7/5/1980 210 6-3
Tim Jackman 28 RW 11/14/1981 210 6-4
Dustin Kohn 56 D 2/2/1987 200 6-2
Andrew MacDonald 47 D 9/7/1986 188 6-1
Matt Martin 46 LW 3/8/1989 192 6-2
Freddy Meyer 44 D 1/4/1981 192 5-10
Matt Moulson 26 LW 11/1/1983 206 6-1
Frans Nielsen 51 C 4/24/1984 172 5-11
Kyle Okposo 21 RW 4/16/1988 200 6-1
Richard Park 10 RW 5/27/1976 190 5-11
Dylan Reese 42 D 8/29/1984 195 6-0
Dwayne Roloson 30 G 10/12/1969 180 6-1
Jon Sim 16 LW 9/29/1977 195 5-10
Mark Streit 2 D 12/11/1977 197 6-0
Jeff Tambellini 15 LW 4/13/1984 186 5-11
John Tavares 91 C 9/20/1990 195 6-0

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