11:21 am: As per Newsday's Art Staple in Tampa Bay, Ryan Strome is headed back to Bridgeport with his gear. Uh oh. Isles making room for the return of Radek Martinek.
7:42 am Isles Loss “Self Inflicted”
It started as all the games have started recently, with the Isles down by a goal early in the first.
REALLY early. Only 32 seconds in, Aleksander Barkov beat Poulin with an assist from Brad Boyes. Okay, not to worry. We’ve seen this movie before. Fifteen minutes later, Drew Shore beat Poulin again. Four minutes after that Nick Bjugstad did it again. Down by three to end the first period. A deep hole, but as we’ve heard often “The most dangerous lead in hockey is the three goal lead.” There was still hope.
On the other end of the ice, Tim Thomas, the
ALMOST Islander, seemed to be in excellent form (for an old guy who took a year off from hockey) making save after save and robbing the Isles of getting back in the game. It looked like a shut-out for Thomas until Colin McDonald and that gritty fourth line finally broke through at 19:29 of the second period.
Okay, a sigh of relief that the game wouldn’t be a TOTAL embarrassment. I say 'total' because two of the Panther goals (okay maybe three) were “self inflicted” as Jack Capuano told Peter Ruttgaizer during the post game. And Daniel Friedman described Andrew MacDonald’s play as "abysmal."
Could that be directly related to the absence of 28-minute-per-game man Travis Hamonic who is now day-to-day with an ‘upper body injury’? Yes, Hamonic was sorely missed last night and the Scottie Upshall’s short handed goal sealed the Isles fate at 15:59 of the second period.
For all the good things the Isles did, they were mired by the mental miscues and ‘puck management’ errors once again. A by-product of a youthful defense core?
To my surprise, Sean Bergenheim didn’t hit the score sheet at all. In his 20:54 of ice time, he took five shots and only laid two hits. But when he was on the ice, he was noticeable.
Thomas Vanek continued his point streak scoring the Isles second goal 2:38 into the third, but couldn’t get anything else past Thomas no matter how hard he tried. And… he tried. Okposo also earned a point for a helper on Vanek’s goal.
So… There you go. Still trying to play catch-up and really disturbing Butch Goring.
Butch Goring @91Butch 8h
#Isles disappointed in isles game tonight.I believe these are must wins if u are to make playoffs.Florida back in front with games in hand
The hole is deep.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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