Jack Capuano's post-game with media? Not too happy.
Mind you, Capuano isn't one to go ranting about his players, but he's usually not quick to express his disappointment in their effort. His tone is usually more matter-of-fact about factors in a loss. Tonight after the Islanders' 4-1 loss to the Rangers, he rattled off the reasons quickly:
In short, players:
- were tentative
- wouldn't take hits to make plays
- disappointed him with their poor battle level
- wasted opportunities with the powerplay, which "killed our momentum" with slow, deliberate play
- should be looking over their shoulders (not Capuano's words exactly) about Josh Bailey, Lubomir Visnovsky and even Jesse Joensuu gunning for spots
Capuano said he liked the play of Thomas Hickey and Joe Finley. He didn't like the Frans Nielsen line "losing board battles."
More from some of the players in Newsday's recap. (Our regular Lighthouse recap is over here.)
Evgeni Nabokov, always good for a straight assessment (if not a good game), had some critiques as well, saying he thinks sometimes the team is too content to be in close games:
"Two points is two points," Nabby said, not concerned about the opponent as much as he is about the points left on the table.
Their next opportunity for points comes Saturday at home, with a couple of new faces likely in the lineup. (Note: None of them are an old bunkered goalie.)
Finally, here is some fool who took his dogs for a post-game walk and decided to pause to wonder how on earth Michael Grabner's shorthanded breakaway got mixed into Capuano's postgame laments: