updated 11:00
Halak in net...color me surprised



The Islanders play a little afternoon matinee today as they host the Flyers at the Coliseum today at 1pm. The Islanders split their weekend games against the Penguins and the Canadiens. Surprisingly, Jaroslav Halak played in both of those games and while he was good in the teams win against Pittsburgh, he struggled in Montreal, much like the rest of the Islanders team. For as sloppy and ugly as the Isles were in Montreal they still had a chance after two periods. There were simply too many turnovers and the special teams continue to struggle.

One Islander who is not struggling is Kyle Okposo who had five goals and an assist over the course of the weekend. We all know Okposo is a streaky score but my goodness five goals in two games. Let’s hope this streak continue as the top line has been very good of late. John Tavares had a goal and four assists and Josh Bailey had five assists this weekend.
While the Islanders’ penalty kill has been better of late, when it struggles it struggles horrifically. The Isles will have great stretches of killing penalties and then they will have games where they give up three power play goals. The team really needs consistency when they are shorthanded and they also need to stop taking stupid penalties.

The power play is also in a funk and quite frankly it is just too cute at times. Too much passing and not enough movement off the puck is the perfect formula for an average power play and that is what the Isles have right now. When the power play is clicking they are getting pucks to the net from the point with plenty of net front presence that provides screens and dirty rebound goals. Right now the power play is just stagnate and if they can get some shots from the point on net, then teams must respect that and the seam passes they consistently look for will suddenly open up more.

I’m not sure what to expect from the crowd today with a 1pm start. I would expect we will have lots of kids in the stands today and even with the early start time the barn should still be rocking. I would not expect however the noise that resonated from the barn on Friday. It was so loud in the third period that I thought the Coliseum might fall down.

Lineups are not out yet for the game but I wouldn’t expect any changes to the lineup. I would also expect Chad Johnson to be in net this afternoon. Once the lineups are announced I’ll update this thread if necessary. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.

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