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A Baby, A 1st Goal & A Hat Trick

January 6, 2014, 10:07 PM ET [6 Comments]
Dee Karl
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Kyle Okposo and his wife Danielle welcomed their first child into the world today. Kyle made the correct decision and didn’t play tonight against the Dallas Stars. His absence in the line-up was a golden opportunity for Ryan Strome who became part of the Tavares, Vanek power play unit. At 1:41 of the second period, Ryan Strome cut the Stars’ lead in half. Jamie Benn and Erik Cole had scored in the first period while the Isles had played okay.

The funny thing is that my Donaldson Subaru car dealer, Andrew Mongru, who is a life-long Isles fan, sat in my new Impreza with me talking about how Ryan Strome really needed to play with John Tavares. “They’re wasting him.” he told me. But at 6:50 pm, I didn’t know that Okposo wouldn’t be playing. I guess Andrew was right. Strome would be more effective on the ice with John Tavares and Thomas Vanek.

But the hits just kept coming. At 7:29 of the second, John Tavares tied the score with his 18th goal of the season. Two minutes later, that’s not figurative, it’s literal, Peter Regin finally found the score sheet and the back of the net with the help of Bailey and Hickey to give the Isles the lead.

With only a few ticks left on a Casey Cizikas’ penalty, the Stars tied it up. Brock Nelson would show off his strength, hockey sense and skating ability moved the puck down the ice around anyone in his way and snapped the puck passed Lehtonen. Zeeker and deHaan would get the assists. It was such a beautiful goal, I screamed in my living room, but it didn’t bother the husky pack.

The Isles headed into the dressing room with a single goal lead and a lot of confidence. Tavares would get his third point of the night with an assist on a Brian Strait goal at 1:24 of the third period. That was nothing for Captain JT. He would also score on the power play at 6:19 of the third and then again, for the hat trick at 16:53.

What a night for the Captain. The hats cluttered the ice in honor of JT’s fifth hat trick. A 7-3 Isles win and a five point night for JT.

When Peter Ruttgaizer asked Tavares what was different when they hit the ice in the second period, John told him he didn’t think they played poorly in the first, but seeing that Poulin was a little cold going in for an injured Evgeni Nabokov midway through the first, they stepped it up. “We get better as the play goes on.”

In true Tavares fashion, he gave all the credit to his line-mates for the goals. “I was a lucky guy to have the open ice.”

Butch Goring said that puck management and decisions were much better this game. That’s a good thing considering how Jack Capuano has complained after each loss. They were finding the loose pucks. “When you start to do those things and you’re beating the opposition to the puck, you’ll do good things.”

It was a damn good thing they won a game on home ice before heading out on the extended road trip. As far as Nabokov is concerned, we can only hope that his injury is just a little tweek that needed the night off. He did leave on his own power, but it could be another flare up of the same injury he had before.

When Jack Capuano was asked about John Tavares' night, Jack said "A lot of people dream of those nights."

As for the rest of the team, he was satisfied with their effort. "We went as a team. Our attention to detail, our approach to the game, we did a lot of good things. We have to continue that. We can’t have any complacency now. I liked our work ethic, our detail When you’re focued and commited you have a chance."

Maybe, just maybe, the Isles can start to string some wins together. But only if they continue to not rely on one line and have everyone contribute.







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