Islanders Show the Penguins How It’s Done

Last night I was watching the Islanders game, not just because it meant something for the Penguins but because I watch hockey games every night because I have such a love and passion for this game. I really wanted to see how Islanders would handle the pressure as opposed to what seemed to be some shaky legged Penguins.

One of the first things that I noticed was the immediate aggression from the Islanders, a feeling of “Okay we have to get this done“. They knew they had been gifted an opportunity by the Penguins that they were not going to let slip away.

They had already dropped the bag against the Capitals, and I just had a feeling they were not going to do that again.

On a good zone entry, BAM! Brock Nelson sends one home for the Islanders to set the tone at 10:26. As I said if you can set the tone by getting the first goal, especially in the first period against teams that have nothing to play for, it goes a long way, and the Islanders haven’t been known for good first periods so that was a massive goal. That aggression and drive paid off, that was something the Penguins needed against the Blackhawks but didn’t have.

Right after the goal the energy coming off the players during the celebration and the roar of the crowd at UBS Arena was amazing, it felt like playoff hockey. You couldn’t help but feel happy for them, after all personally….I was rooting for them.

Why? The Penguins blew their shot, an opportunity that they probably shouldn’t have even had to begin with. The best outcome for this team was to lose, it sends a message to FSG. If they make it into the playoffs, I don’t know if FSG has the hockey knowledge to make big changes, or possibly even horrifically not firing Hextall. But I do believe even if we made the playoffs, they would know enough to send Hextall to the curb anyway, or I would hope. The thought that they might have kept him would give me nightmares I haven’t had since 01-02 Redwings.

Another obvious strength to the Islander’s game is their goaltender Ilya Sorokin, my god what a great player, he made numerous big saves to keep the Islander’s somewhat sloppy breakdowns from losing them the lead. Unlike Tristan Jarry who never makes the big save when the Penguins need it the most.

How hard can it be for guys like Sidney Crosby to work their tail off for a goal, for that to be followed by the abysmal goon brigade of Jeff Carter’s line to breakdown defensively, then Tristan Jarry proceeds that with an even worse effort to let in a soft goal that kills all the moral they made.

Montreal does eventually get on the board at 17:38 from Rem Pitlick who scores on a nice one timer to tie the game. How do the Islanders respond? Do they give up another a minute later and collapse? No, they in fact score a minute later! The pressure never stops the willingness not to give up or get shaken and to just keep playing their game. So here comes that phrase to my head again “Get it done“. That’s all the Islanders are thinking.

Now it isn’t all sunshine and roses for the Islanders, they aren’t some perfect roster that’s going to have some easy ride into the Stanely Cup. During that first period a lot of turnovers and a lot of puck control issues, they also seemed, similar to the Penguins in that they struggle with Montreal’s speed.  Another weakness was their powerplay, and oh boy they gave up a doozy of a short handed goal by Nick Suzuki. I said to myself my god it must be because I’m rooting for them, I’m the problem jinxing everyone! Now that Nick Suzuki goal was beautiful, he’s such a great young talent. Describing it doesn’t do it justice so I’ll share it here.

Then at 16:00 in the third, on the powerplay, Anders Lee deflects one in on a shot from Sebastian Aho (Not that one, defenseman Sebastian Aho, not point machine Carolina Aho before anyone gets confused.) The place went electric, that crowd was so loud and every save that Sorokin made after that you would have thought was from Dominik Hasek in a game seven.

Despite some of the flaws the Islanders have, they got it done. This team doesn’t have a Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, nobody even close, but what they do have is a good game plan, they’re solid defensively, they have great goaltending, depth scoring, and heart.

That last one may be the most important one of all, and maybe, just maybe out of all the teams, the Islanders may be the one to take down the big bad Bruins and be the upset team. Maybe they’ll pull off a run like the 2011-2012 LA Kings, you never know…