9:36 pm: Jack Capuano was happy with his team for 40 of the 60 minutes. He said they responded in the third after a very disappointing second. When asked what went wrong he told Peter is was the changes.
"We talk about it all the time, long changes, no oxygen in your brain. It’s tough to think.
We gotta get better at it."
The Isles set the pace in the first and ran rings around the Devils. But the Devils were the ones that took it to the Isles in the second. "We have to engage and dictate the pace. It was one of the worst preridos we played. We had way too many turnovers in the second. The power play came up big for us tonight."
Jack admitted there may be some lineup changes tomorrow. Maybe even Anders Lee, whom I've been hearing about for years. Will Nabby be back in net? Maybe.
9:26 pm: Thomas Hickey played a speed bump and it worked. Two minutes to go and Brodeur leaves his net for the extra skater.
The Isles couldn't get that empty netter, but they ended up with the win afterall.
The two points are theirs.
9:13 pm: Poni gave the isles another power play and it was like watching a different team. Nothing good came of that power play, but at least the Devils didn't score shorthanded.
9:06 pm: Keith Aucoin is pulled down in front of Broduer's net and the Isles get a power play and John Tavares makes it 3 - 1 from the right corner of the Devils' net.
8:26 pm: With less than 5 minutes left of the second, and the Isles being badly outshot, Thomas Hickey is called for tripping. Devils get a power play and the Isles are having a hard time clearing their zone.
8:11 pm: What did I say about Patrik Elias? What? Well it seems that Brad Boyes, Mark Streit and Radek Martinek let him dance around and fly to the net, make a beautiful pass that Ponikarovsky just bangs into the net sending Nabokov on his butt.
Part7:44 pm: Matt Martin knows how to dance. He hasn't done it that much lately with the addition of guys like Carkner and Boulton. But he'll answer the bell when called. But he's a gentleman.
At the 11:22 mark, Martin and Tom Kostopoulos dropped the gloves near the Islanders blue line and Matty landed two big blows to Tom's face. He felt him go lights out and held on to him going down. He immediately called the Devil's trainer over to the ice seeing Kostopoulos was in trouble. This team is making me fall back in love with them tonight.
7:21 pm: Travis Hamonic takes my advice too. Get in Marty's head early. 2 - 0 Isles with a pass from Nielsen to Hamonic.
7:12 pm: DID I NOT CALL THAT TODAY???? JOSH BAILEY with the Isles first goal of the night at the 52 second mark!
THANK YOU JOSH BOY!!!
11:56 am: Well, looky looky here! Radek Martinek in for Carkner and Josh Bailey is fine. He will play tonight. Same forwards as the Pittsburgh game.
11 am: I'm in the middle of working so this will be quick:
Anders Lee signs 2 year entry level deal & is told to report to NJ to practice with the Team.
Finley has been placed on IR - Oh look! A spot just opened up!
Ryan Strome has been re-assigned to Bport now that his junior club is out of their playoffs. Welcome Back Strome!
7 am: So the NJ Devils haven't won their last few games, but they are still four points ahead of the NY Islanders. This means that the Isles are still mathematically very much alive in the playoff race and it's April!
Sort of brings me back to the fateful Easter Sunday when Dubbie helped the Isles clinch that final playoff berth and we all rejoiced. Islesblogger Mike S even commemorated the event by getting new Isles license plates for his vehicle. It was a great day.
Well, yesterday was an Easter Sunday WITHOUT Isles hockey, but we have it today and it's very important. Surely getting into the playoffs is that crazy combination of who wins and who loses, but it's exciting and frustrating and always fun to watch.
The Isles and Devils have split their last four contests, but the difference tonight may be that Kovalchuk is out of the line-up. That's good for the Isles. But it will also mean that the defense will now have to pay more attention to the original NJD scoring machine: Patrick "Watch me pull a goal out of my butt" Elias. He can bite them in the final seconds of a tie game just before the buzzer sounds leaving the Isles with no chance and handing them a loss.
He's done it before, he can do it again. He must be stopped.
John Tavares has to make sure that his helmet let's out this little whisp of hair in the front. He seems to net the game winner when it does. We should put Shakey on that.
Marty Broduer has played the same way his entire career: stellar. But he can get rattled when scored on early in the first. Let's put someone on that task as well. Maybe a nice breakaway by Grabner, but Broduer isn't easy to fake out, so he has to keep his head up.
A nice little "garbage goal" by Moulson would be sweet. Sure he'll get smacked around in front of the crease, but hell -- he's used to it.
Or Bailey -- Josh Bailey -- and his renewed confidence. How awesome would it be for him to score a game winner on the greatest goaltender of our time? Do it Josh! The fans want to see it.
Count on Nabokov in net and Newsday's Art Staple will have the balance of the line-up later this morning from the Prudential Center. I'm curious to see if Martinek will be back in the line-up since he has so much experience with the Devils.
Capuano has shown so much trust in young Thomas Hickey that maybe he'll have a permanent place over the vets.
Isles will play the Jets tomorrow night in Uniondale. Did you call for that Guys/Girls night out package? It could be fun.
So let's see if we can will this team into the playoffs -- ahead of the Rangers of course -- even if the eurphoria may be short lived.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»