Islanders News: Capuano Sees Passengers; Ugly Night for Metropolitan Division

The New York Islanders lost in Chicago Friday night, but they didn't lose ground in the division: Every Metro team in action lost too: Philadelphia lost at home to Phoenix. Carolina lost (sort of...shootout) at home to Lost Angeles. Pittsburgh was blindsided by Florida 6-3 (Brad Boyes scored twice). And New Jersey lost in Calgary, 3-2.

More on last night's game:

NY Post: An uncharacteristically frustrated Capuano not only said there were passengers, but also...

"A few guys could probably learn from watching a game," he said. "To me, it’s about work ethic and battle level."

"We didn’t win the wall battles," Capuano said, "and when we did win a wall battle, we threw it to the middle of the ice. When you mismanage the puck against that team, when you don’t make them play a 200-foot game, you’re going to get hemmed in and have trouble."

Also in the Post, several notes including Matt Moulson's classic line about whether he was tired after rushing back from the birth of his second child:

"Obviously running on adrenaline. I felt perfectly fine. If I looked crappy, it was just me."

Yes, that John Tavares teeth-loss thing is a viral sort of thing. Here's Puck Daddy's.

From the other side, the Tribune focuses on game-winner Michal Handzus, who admits he hasn't been good enough to keep second-line minutes.

NHL.com has Hawks coach Joel Quenneville:

"Our shot selection might've been a little off-target tonight, but we certainly had the puck a lot and generated some dangerous plays." Quenneville said. "[We] didn't have the finish we'd like, but I liked what we gave up, and that wasn't much."

Beyond the Isles, here is a great write-up of Chris Bruton's journey to pro hockey and the Sound Tigers captaincy.

Also in the Connecticut Post, more on Kirill Kabanov's demotion and the belief showing up late for meetings was a "habit."

Elsewhere

• That Mike Fisher, he's a turnbuckler. Also in the Tennesseean: Shea Weber's slow start | Preds not panicked
• The Predators are struggling with offense. They were shut out by Toronto 4-0 last game. [On the Forecheck]
  
• Should Berube's Flyers ever elect for the 3-on-5? [SB Nation]
  
• Darnell Nurse sounds like an intriguing young player. [Copper & Blue interview]
• Steve Mason finds 60 minutes too long for focus, so he breaks the game into TV-sized bites.

FIG Picks

Leave your First Islanders Goal picks for tonight's game against the Predators over here.