Islanders 2011-2012 Game 13 @ Avalanche Review:
OT LOSS: Isles 3-4 Avalanche
Record: 4-6-3
Summary:
This loss and the entire night for that matter, really stung the Islanders and their fan base. In a game that seemed so promising with the Islanders at one point being up three to zero over the Avalanche, things got bad very quickly. Sure it was nice to see Streit with a solid two-assist night, Josh Bailey's first goal of the season, and Matt Martin's protection of John Tavares, but anything positive in this game was overshadowed by this horrendous collapse. Al Montoya played a great game facing 51 shots and only letting in 4 for a total of 47 saves. Now that great goaltending is terrific, but when you factor in the 24 blocked shots the Islanders were credited with, that means that there was 75 shooting attempts for the Avalanche in this game. The Islanders cannot let that happen, and more importantly the coaching staff cannot let that garbage continue. Along with that, the third period was just inexcusable. The first two periods were very good for the Islanders, but then suddenly in the third it looked like another team had thrown on some Islanders sweaters. After that display, I believe the coaching staff and veteran players on the team really have some big questions to answer because the lack of motivation was disgusting.
Now despite the horrific third period performance by the Islanders, some of the blame has got to fall on the referees. As of late there has been some extremely questionable calls going against the Islanders and its costing the Islanders a lot of points. The Avalanche had an obvious game plan it seems, and that plan was to run Al Montoya all night. It resulted in two goalie interference penalties, but when Al Montoya did seemingly nothing and the butt-end of his stick hit an Avalanche players face, the referees decided to call it high-sticking and this all took place….(wait for it)….in overtime. As you would expect with the Islanders luck, the Avs scored the game-winning goal on that power play. This is the 2nd time in the Islanders first 13 games that a sketchy penalty was called against the Islanders in overtime which has led to the opposing team scoring on the following power play. In this particular game it seemed as though the refs were calling anything they could against the Islanders throughout the night.
So the game was awful, but I have got to mention the events that took place following the Isles on-ice meltdown. Immediately following the game rumors began to circulate that the Islanders had traded Evgeni Nabokov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Fedor Tyutin. Of coarse if you know Tyutin and Nabokov you would know that the rumored trade would be heavily favored to the Islanders. It seemed a bit too good to be true, I mean Tyutin is exactly what this team needs; a big, all-around defenseman who is in his prime and established as someone who can play top-four minutes, and getting him for an aging, temperamental goaltender who has been underwhelming at times would be fantastic. That skepticism seemed to be proven wrong when the Newsday Islanders beat writer, Arthur Staple, re-tweeted the source of the rumor. Immediately following that, I began to get giddy with excitement because it was then mentioned on the Islanders post-game report. It seemed like it was a done deal and the Isles had pulled off a tremendous move. Unfortunately I forgot the one thing that Islanders fans need to remember; never truly believe anything positive until you have seen the trade, signing, building, etc. first hand.
Quickly following that on-air report and various other sources of the trade, it became very clear that something was wrong with this. Numerous team officials had refuted the report and the source of the original rumor had said that he may have jumped the gun on announcing it as done. Then the most trusted man in hockey media, Bob McKenzie, ruined all hope of the deal by saying it was 100% not happening, at least that night. That, along with the meltdown of a game, produced probably the most depressing night for Islanders fans in a very long time. The Islanders right now are in the desperate need of some good fortune whether it be a big win or a nice trade, it has to happen soon because things are getting rough for the fan base.
Three Positive Players Of The Game:
1- Mark Streit-
He is an absolute force in the offensive zone, almost every scoring chance for the Islanders was at one point helped along by Streit and that holds true in this game where he had two assists.
2- Josh Bailey-
Little by little, Josh Bailey is beginning to look better and this game was a very important step for him. He finally got his first goal of the season and he looked good in the first period. Unfortunately his play in the third period seemed a bit like what he was doing earlier in the year, but I'll give him a pass on that because the entire team looked awful in the third.
3- Al Montoya-
Ok sure, one or two of the goals he let up should have been stopped, but he made 47 saves for gods sake. He is by far the best goaltender the Islanders have and in my opinion he is the key to getting out of this massive slump we're in.
Three Negative Players Of The Game:
1- Mike Mottau-
I am very unhappy that Capuano chose Mottau over Jurcina, and I believe this decision was one of the big reasons behind the collapse. Jurcina is very calming, he uses his size well and is usually very simplistic in his decisions, while Mottau is the complete opposite. He complicates everything and looked rough in this game.
2- Marty Reasoner-
C'mon Reasoner…he had provided very little thus far and as of right now I am very disappointed the Isles didn't retain Konopka for this spot. If I was Snow, I'd call-up Haley ASAP and sit Reasoner.
3- Kyle Okposo-
He didn't play bad at all, he actually played good….but he NEEDS to start putting some points up on the board. He is supposed to be a big piece of this club, yet he has 3 assists and no goals in 13 games.
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