10:49 pm: Seems the fans weren't the only ones with high hopes. It's reported the Islanders held a closed door meeting immediately after the game. This one included GM Garth Snow. BTW, that is unusual.
We had such high hopes. The Isles beat some excellent teams and then faced Carolina, a team they have not been able to beat. Home ice, same line-up and momentum should have been able to carry them.
It didn’t.
Once again, the defense let them down. Art Staple called it “Brain Cramps.” Butch Goring called it “sloppy.” Many of us call it typical. Don’t get me wrong, Canes’ goalie Anton Khudobin, the ex-Bruin, made some excellent saves. But the Isles had too many mistakes, turnovers and one episode of Thomas Vanek basically falling asleep as a goal was scored on Nabokov.
It was in deed an ‘ugly night’ as Newsday’s Art Staple called it. The Isles top line was “brutal in their own zone.” Even though the two goals the Isles scored did come from their top line. But that didn’t matter. There was chance after chance for them to take the lead, take the game or at least tie it up, and they failed. They let up two goals in 57 seconds. All three of the Canes goals happened in the second period. How do you explain that?
That is SIX in a row. SIX. Chalk it up to youthful defense or anything you’d like, but it just goes to show the Isles cannot put any decent winning streak together. They’ll win one, two, maybe even three, but they cannot manage to put their heads together long enough to make a statement.
Were there any bright spots to discuss? Isles managed 40 shots on net. Calvin deHaan made mistakes in his 21:36 of ice time. Everyone made mistakes, including Andrew MacDonald. There were 18 Islander giveaways to the Canes’ 13.
Capuano calls it ’puck decisions.’ Maybe it’s inexperience, maybe it’s just not enough hockey sense. But right now, the Islanders don’t have the luxury of losing, especially not to division rivals.
Whatever good can be taken away from this game will be negated by the standings. And that is a shame for those fans that made it out tonight, some from as far away as PA who didn’t have the best treatment from the SMG staffers and then had to endure three goals in the second period that would lead the Canes’ to a win.
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