Before we get into the disaster that was last night. The Islanders have just announced that they have waived Colin McDonald. If he clears, he will be assigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Once McDonald clears Andes Lee will be called up. Another move will also have to be made to make room for Lubomir Visnovsky.

The Islanders returned to a disturbing resemblance of last season’s team in the second period of last night’s 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Everything was back to normal, the Coliseum was half empty, quiet, and the Islanders were flat, out of sync, and sloppy. This lead to a four goal outburst by the Leafs, handed the Isles their first defeat on home ice. While the Isles weren’t great in the first period, they were good enough to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The next twenty minutes were all too familiar: sloppy play, a lack of hard work, and zero execution.

There is plenty of blame to go around, so let us start with the coaching staff and then we will examine the players. Before I get on the staff, I do not think Head Coach Jack Capuano should be fired after a two game losing streak. That is just silly. However, the entire staff will be held under great scrutiny now that the coaches actually have an NHL roster to lead. To be blunt, the fourth line is getting WAY TOO MUCH ice time. They always seem to be on the ice and all too often they are pinned in their own end. The disturbing sight was the fourth line had some good shifts in the third period as they were moving their feet and being physical. My question is: where was that in the first and second periods?

The first line is not scoring at even strength. Nikolay Kulemin was moved alongside John Tavares and Kyle Okposo and they did have some good shifts in the third period. I’m not going to blame the lines lack of success solely on Cory Conacher. My point is that it is clearly not working and changes need to be made. Jack Capuano does a poor job at managing in-game changes. He rarely uses a timeout to stop momentum and he doesn’t change goalies until a game is out of hand. He also is far too stubborn to change lines in-game and I just don’t understand his love affair with the fourth line.

Regardless of what the Islanders do this season, a majority of this fan base will never be satisfied with Jack Capuano as their head coach. When the team is playing well and winning, the response is: “Our players are great.” When the team is losing, the response is: “Our coach should be fired.” I just want to look at the big picture. When the team is winning, everyone deserves praise and when they are failing, it is more than just the coaching staff; the players deserve blame as well.

As for the team, the defense at even strength in the second period was non-existent. While the Leafs did capitalize on a couple of fortunate bounces, they had way too much time and space. You simply cannot give Phil Kessel that much space. He will make any goalie in the league look average. While Jaroslav Halak was shaky, he was hung out to dry.

I believe that Cory Conacher should be on this roster, just not on the top line. I just don’t see the chemistry working on the top line and perhaps Kulemin is a better option for the next few games. This team also needs Mikhail Grabovski back in this lineup as he adds defensive responsibility and offensive creativity that is sorely lacking right now. At some point, Anders Lee must be called up and placed in this lineup.

If we look at the big picture, this team is 4-2 after six games. They have done a lot right, but the performance in the second period is not acceptable and cannot be tolerated this season. I can live with loses if everything is left on the ice. But I cannot live with a team gliding for twenty minutes. That falls on the players and the coaching staff. It is only two losses, but this team must respond with a strong effort in Boston on Thursday. The team will lose games this season but a long winless streak must be avoided. As always, for all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.

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