Islanders News: What is this losing two in a row thing?

Lack and Halak met in Vancouver. Who lost? Halak.

Lack and Halak met in Vancouver. Who lost? Halak.

The Isles lost 3-2 in Vancouver last night, but the parts I heard on the radio called to mind how names like "Lack" and "Halak" should not be in the same game. ("SAVE by ... la(c)k!" Wait, who?!) Too confusing. Pete and Re-Pete.

Islanders Reads

• Recaps of the game: Late-night turnover theatre [LHH] | Sloppy again, with Hickey fessing to his mistakes [The Times, Post and Daily News -- HAHA just kidding, Newsday] | Isles were slumpbusters for a couple Nucks. [Nucks Misconduct] | Vancouver shuffled lines for secondary scoring, then got secondary scoring from unexpected places [Province]
  
• Fresh off IR, Michael Grabner talked about what ailed him. Also: The oddity of his and Roberto Luongo's three teams all in the same building. [Newsday]
• Also returning was Matt Donovan, with an excellent accompanying photo. Plus Mikhail Grabovski quotes on Randy Carlyle. [Newsday]
• He's injured right now with MRI results pending, but Ryan Pulock is an AHL All-Star. [Soundin' Off] Full rosters: AHL
• John Tavares and Thomas Hickey watched the WJC final together. They were on the last Canadian team to win gold. Hickey knows the tournament, but really this perfectly describes hockey, even though we act like wins and losses are always in players and coaches' control: "I just don’t think people understand how hard it is to win that tournament," Hickey said. "We won it two years in a row and couldn’t have been closer to losing it at the same time."
  
• Did you get the memo? Both John Tavareses are awesome. [Province]

#Isles had 59 shot attempts to 46 for #Canucks, but Vancouver blocked more shots (26) than got thru to Lack (23)

— John Kreiser (@jkreiser77nhl) January 7, 2015

Beyond the Island

• Zach Parise left the Wild to be with his very sick father, J.P. This just sucks. [SB Nation]
  
• Randy Carlyle was fired, as you surely heard. PPP is elated. Everyone's writing obituaries. [National Post] Meanwhile, a reporter uses the passive "they say you're uncoachable" with Phil Kessel, who lets him have it. [PPP]
• 30 Thoughts begins with that topic, and continues with a whole bunch of WJC/prospect talk. [Sportsnet]
• Patrik Elias got his 1000th point and 600th assist in a win over Buffalo. [In Lou We Trust]
• Elias' teammates are in awe -- and he even got a text from Parise, despite what their family is going through. [NHL]
• Boston's season will be "a complete failure" if they miss the playoffs, says a Jacobs. [ESPN]
  
• Brian Burke and agent Rich "nuclear" Winter are starting a pricey hockey-centric MBA program. (Why pay 70 grand when you can learn how to GM from the LHH comment threads?)
  
• A bunch of NHL stars surprised a bunch of sled hockey players by joining them for a game, which is awesome. [SB Nation] [Sportsnet]
  
• Also awesome: Vladimir Tarasenko. [SB Nation]
• A reason, perhaps, to watch the All-Star Game: The NHL will unveil player tracking. (Picturing: "This guy floated. That guy floated. No one made contact."]