Lightning 4, Islanders 2: For Tavares & friends, it's a slump
by Dominik on Dec 21, 2009 9:55 PM EST
in New York Islanders Game Recaps
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PrintGood news: Hey, the Islanders powerplay actually produced a goal! Bad news: The penalty kill gave up two. The Islanders played well 5-on-5, with Dwayne Roloson and his post bailing them out two critical times in the first period. But their special teams let them down again. In addition to the Lightning's two PP goals, their third goal was scored before the Isles could regroup after killing off one at the end of the 2nd period.
The Isles were booed off the ice at the end, and with results like these that's no surprise.
Game Sum. | Event Sum. | Corsi | Recaps: nhl.com | Isles |
When I said before the game that if the Lightning play up to their talent level, it's their game to lose, that's what I meant. Both on the powerplay goals and in their fantastic 5-on-5 in the first period, Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier moved the puck -- with Ryan Malone twice doing the trenchwork finishing -- at a level the Islanders cannot match. Despite the Isles outshooting the Bolts 38-28, that talent spelled the difference.
We can probably call this John Tavares' first official slump at the NHL level. It's now five games without a point and six without a goal -- his longest of the season in both categories. Tonight he only got one shot on goal, plus two more that were blocked. His line looked far less dangerous than the Frans Nielsen line, something reflected in the balance of shots directed at the net on their shifts.
Still -- and not that he will reach the same heights expected of Stamkos -- but looking at Stamkos tonight and all season long tells you what a difference a year can make for a 19-year-old in the NHL.
[Bit more plus highlights and Roloson's crazy goal-line saves video after the jump.]
I would say it could be time to reunite the Moulson/Tavares/Okposo line to get them going, but Okposo with Bailey and Nielsen actually had some nice chemistry tonight. Their best shift created the Islanders' second goal which, ironically, was scored by Nate Thompson (?!) because those forwards had kept the puck in the Lightning end long enough to live through a line change.
Rob Scrhemp continues to work hard, but without much result. It's not that he's creating things that his linemates aren't converting -- he's just not creating much danger at 5-on-5, period. And of course, he's part of a powerplay unit that isn't posing much of a threat now either.
Roloson, Acrobat
But for now, enjoy Roloson's insane acrobatics on the goal line, which kept this a game for much longer than it otherwise would have been:
And for the rest of the game highlights, including some nifty goals by both sides (NATE THOMPSON?! and a nifty Hillen-Bailey-Hunter connection), we'll add them later, but whenever they're posted you can find them here, here you go:
This road is getting rough, and not looking any easier in the days ahead.
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sob… crying… :(
This sucks.
Let Us Go, Islanders!
(Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
It's part of the struggles you expect a developing team to go through
I am sure Sid had games like this his first year. The Isles have made some steps forward but they still have a long way to go. The players on the roster now have a lot of growing to do and this team will need another massive injection of talent from the draft, FA, and trades this summer before the core can be said to be complete.
{sob} I know.
All BC said granted, it still sucks when you reach this transition point in a season. A little hot streak could bounce them back into that pretender area, of course, but the lack of goals and PK inefficiency is making me wonder whether that can happen this month.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
contending was a longshot anyway
I am looking for things to build on in the offseason. JT is for real and Moulson is too. Hillen and Andy Mac are two keeper defensemen. Want to see what Joensuu can do and want to see more from Kyle and Bergy. Want to see what DP can do and I’d like to see Mikko a few games late in the season. Am still hopeful about Tambellini, Garth will need to work on a potent second line and injecting more talent into the blueline as well as improving the specialty units. There are positives to draw on and going through the doldrums now without tanking will improve our draft position.
I'm NOT letting them off the hook, but.....
…..the atrocious officiating in this game was a VERY big factor in it being lost – the game-winning goal wouldn’t have happened were it not for that absurd puck-over-glass rule; that said, the good teams find a way more often than not to transcend such adversity – if Tavares’ recent woes are related to one of these Pronger-like contemptuous cheap shots (he threw off JT like an old coat – truly PAINFUL to watch) then it’s high time for Snow and Gordon to bring up Rechlicz so a message is sent that any such idiocy will come at a very, very steep price as it’s become apparent that the Islanders can’t rely on the league to protect its young stars; sooner or later he, K-O, Bailey will be lost for the season (or even longer) as a result of such garbage…..don’t get me wrong; I’m no cheerleader for goonery but SOMEthing has to be done or we’ll be lamenting bigger losses…..
- it's this aspect as much as anything.....
…..that’s making the level of fan frustration so much higher, I suspect; NOT fun to see people you’ve invested a lot of emotion (and money!) in, getting more or less abused without recompense night after damned night…..
Yeah, I won’t deny, I was pretty ticked at some of the calls. The sequence of throwing JT out for winning a stick battle, then not calling Stamkos for the very same offense a minute later was infuriating. When TB scored just after their PP expired at the end of the 2nd, I couldn’t help thinking they shoudn’t have been put in that situation to begin with.
Chickendirt says Gordon needs to work the refs more; there may be something to that. But the Isles still had more PPs (which they earned with good 5-on-5 work), and they’ve got to turn the PK around.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
they should give dwayne the save(s) of the year right now, how can you top that?
why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?
how can you top that?
only by literally standing on his head?
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
You have to feel bad for Okposo at this point. He must be gripping that stick so tight he is leaving some sawdust/graphite on the ice now.
Sooner or later someone is going to have to tell the truth about the Lighthouse Project and when they do I will probably be really old if not dead.
Oh yeah. He’s shooting every which way. Smith made a fantastic blocker save through a screen on him. Hell, you have to feel bad for his sticks at this point, the way he must be squeezing them.
Love the updated sig. Painfully true.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
Small problems
I am obviously a proponent of finishing badly to get another draft pick, as should have come across in previous responses to these blogs (its been a while though). However, I have started to notice some very concerning things. The beginning of the season led me to believe that maybe the Isles weren`t as far away as I thought. I knew they would fall back to reality and that is not what concerns me, its that while falling back to reality some players are performing in a way that doesn`t provide hope for next year and beyond. We`ll start with goaltending. Roloson was good last night and has been this year, his numbers 9.10SP and 2.95GAA are average, amybe a little above considering whats in front of him. And I see him as a perfect 1A to DiPietro next year if he comes back healthy. Biron, on the other hand, has been lousy. I was never under the impression that he was any more than a stop-gap and a draft pick come trade deadline time. But, with stats he has, and a meager two wins, he is in jeopdardy of being worth nothing in March. He needs to be worth at least a 3rd or 4th in March to be of value.
When it comes to defense, I know a lot of people on this blog see Witt and Sutton and maybe others on D as tradeable assets but, unfortunately that is just not the case. And even worse, they won`t be contributing next year. Plus/Minus is not the be all, end all, but, Witt is -19. That is unreal. Especially when compared with Sutton at +2. How can they be so different on the same team if one is not a far superior player? The really bad news, is Sutton is the UFA and Witt is someone we have to pay next year. To the tune of $3M. I was previously a fan of Gervais and Martinek as cheap 3rd pairing guys. Gervais is -12 and Martinek has again displayed his complete inability to stay healthy (maybe not his fault but, when its going on 4 years in a row, it may be time to cut ties). I have come to think Sutton maybe moved in Mach for a 3rd and would be happy with that but, Witt and Gervais need to show improvement b/c they will be here next year.
Up front, again, I have always been a fan of Richard Park but, again, he is -17. Unreal. That needs to improve or he can`t be part of the future. On the other hand I have never been a fan of Nate Thompson, and despite his goal last night, he was on the ice for 2 against, and is -12. God, I hope they don`t bring him back next year. Lastly, Kyle Okposo scored 18 goals last year, he is on pace for 12. That is a huge backward step for a lynchpin of our franchise. I expected Tavares to struggle at times but, Okposo needs to be a leader on the ice and needs more production. The truth maybe that he is a 2nd liner, leaving us to find another top liner through the draft or FA.
Maybe all this obvious, i just think the slide back to reality (the bottom of the standings) has been accompanied by some real bad behaviours and is puttingh some dents in our planning for next year and beyond.
I’m pretty much with you on the defense, and the question of whether Biron will be a desirable asset come Feb./March.
With Okposo, I’m not terribly worried because he’s still so young and he’s playing pretty well despite the goal drought. His role has also been shifted around quite a bit (back and forth between line 1 and line 2) and — even bigger — he’s playing the point on the PP. Guys are going to get a big chunk of their goals on the PP, yet on the PP he’s not generally used in a position of “scorer” right now, but more of a setup man/placeholder.
Park’s figure concerns me, even though it doesn’t concern the coach. One thing with him, Thompson and Jackman though: The fourth line is pretty much always going to look like that. If its’ not Nate, it’s someone else coming in being asked to block shots, throw a body, do some PK time and generally get outplayed by the opposition’s better players. Fourth liners are like middle relievers — below average as major league players, but occasionally have big years or do things that pleasantly surprise. I’m not pretending their 5-on-5 figures aren’t bad, I’m just not sure whoever replaces them next year will be any better without … better defensemen.
All of this to me speaks to the long cycle of this rebuild. They are going to need to replenish players on the NHL roster next year (even for these 4th-line roles) or else spend the time grooming younger guys on the job, which is going to produce up and down results like this.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
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1979-80
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May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
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May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
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May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
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May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
