After Tuesday night's loss at home to the New York Rangers, Jack Capuano sounded particularly frustrated in the post-game. The frustration sounded not so much about the overall effort but by the defense in particular, even with a off-hand mention of the potential to recall someone else from Bridgeport.
If you heard about or read sound bites and quotes, the full video via IslesTV is embedded above. (I often find seeing the visual context is a little more informative.) Among the themes and responses:
On the overall effort:
"I thought we played decent, but again it's the same mistakes with our D. Not poised enough with the puck, I think we turned it over too many times back there. Fell asleep on the too many men on the ice -- the refs explained, I didn't realize one of our D jumped up."
On the goals against:
"They're not defensive breakdowns. … We gave up one goal five-on-five goal against. ... We gave up two penalty kills, and our defense read a three-on-three rush totally off the charts, which we just went over all week long. So our D have to play better, that's the bottom line tonight. We have to win more wall battles as our forwards, but our defense has to find a way to play better."
On what else can be done there if they are repeating the same mistakes:
"Think about recalling a guy and putting him in the lineup, I don't know. The same mistakes can't happen. We only got six of 'em back there."
On what he thought of Thomas Vanek in his debut:
He played hard. It's going to take time obviously, on the power play, for him to get adjusted.
The threat of recalling someone from Bridgeport was in response to a question and was possibly just part of post-game frustration, exasperation even, but we'll see what comes in the days and weeks ahead. Mistakes are part of every game, but they stand out more on the blueline with Lubomir Visnovsky remaining out of the lineup due to a concussion.
The Islanders finished October under .500 and having made a jarring trade that cost them a popular and productive winger. They open their November schedule this weekend with back-to-back games, Friday night in Ottawa and Saturday night at home to the Bruins.
More from Lighthouse Hockey:
- Battle of New York Recap: Rangers 3, Islanders 2; Power play swing
- Thomas Vanek - Matt Moulson Trade: Players react at morning skates
- Thomas Vanek Trade Reports: Sabres retained salary in offers to Islanders, Maple Leafs
- No Pizza For Spicoli: Saying Goodbye to Matt Moulson
- [Gameday Bits] Unleash the Vanek! Plus Other, Non-Vanek News.