9:38 pm: I am shocked. This is the team that is supposed to be playing every night.
Peter asked Jack about the time out that he called and how he managed to calm down his hockey team. "They (the Penguins) came out hard in the second. I told them just to get back to basics. Do what we did in the first and just relax a little bit." The Isles managed to frustrate the Pens which lead to their mistakes.
"They got frustrated at times but they're a good hockey team. They're not a team you want to get into 5 on 4 or 4 on 3 situation." No. Not with the weapons they have in Crosby and Malkin. However, Jack admitted they had talked about them before the game "You can't shut them down but you want to contain them take away their sticks."
Al Montoya played well in Nabokov's releif. Jack told him to relax and "...he made some huge saves for us."
When the Isles face the Penguins again on Long Island they may be shorthanded too. They will consult the doctors tomorrow.
Pens fans didn't get their money's worth, but Isles fans certainly did. Yes, there was something strange in the cosmos tonight.
9:27 pm: With both MacDonald and Hamonic in the box, the Penguins had a 4 on 3 advantage. Blysma pulled Theissen and Neal scored on the power play. Smart move. I will be shocked if the Isles give up this lead. But then, they've shocked me before.
9:09 pm: Crosby serving a penalty for Theissen's delay of game penalty and the Isles are back at work. Staal comes away on a short handed attempt, but the Isles are playing smart.
Josh Bailey has played very well tonight and has another multip point game on the score sheet. So does Frans.
9:05 pm: Nabokov returns to the bench, but Art Staple mentions that Ullstrom is not on the bench. Penguins go on the PK for Crosby cross checking PA Parenteau. 13:52 left of the third.
8:57 pm: Oh crap. Nabokov has been replaced by Al Montoya and will not even be on the bench for the rest of the game due to a lower body injury. Fluery has been replaced by Thiessen just because....
8:39 pm: Something is wrong in the Universe as Frans Nielsen scores his second goal of the night on a breakaway and Fluery comes out to challenge him. (Dumb move) His own player bowls him over, he loses his helmet and Frans scores easily. Bailey and Reese get the assists. Amazing.
8:33 pm: With Sullivan in the box for slashing, David Ullstrom scores a power play goal while being at the right place at the right time -- on MAF's door step. His fourth NHL goal. The Isles did not fold after the Pens tied it up.
They talked about character -- this is what they meant.
8:28 pm: At 12:48 of the second period, Kyle Okposo scored an unassisted goal to give the Isles back their lead. It's the second goal over Fluery's glove hand. (Shoot there!!! shoot there!)
8:25 pm: The Isles kill off a Penguins Power play where they used five forwards and Nabokov seemed uncomfortable, but Montoya remains on the bench.
8:13 pm: As Art Staple said on Twitter, the Isles are getting over run even after Capuano calls a time out.
8:09 pm: Well, the Pens have figured out the Isles game and in two and a half minutes, the Pens have tied up the game. Neal scored the Pens second goal.
I am guessing this will turn into a Penguins blowout after a very promising 1st period by the Isles.
8:01 pm: As the second period begins, the TV flashes a statement from Robert Walker (I hope that's the name) from Nassau County that Butch reads. It says that the County has conducted tests and the Coliseum has PASSED and poses no threat to employees, however Ed Mangano is still committed to getting a new arena and keeping the NY Islanders in Nassau County.
Whoa. Just Whoa. Considering that it was reported that all previous tests came back with unacceptable levels of asbestos, I'm a little surprised that these "tests" came back satisfactory.
It's not what you know, but who....
I'm just saying.
And as I said that Pascal Dupuis just scored for the Pens which surprised a prone Nabokov.
7:42 pm: With 3.8 seconds left in the first, Michael Grabner took a pass from Frans Nielsen and skated towards Fluery. He took the shot, Fluery went to glove it and it passed right over his glove and directly into the back of the net. I screamed.
Casey Cizikas made that play happen as he forced the turnover in the Isles zone. They added a little time to the clock and the face off was at 5 seconds. It didn't matter. The Isles head to the dressing room up by two. A dangerous lead in a dangerous building.
7:13 pm: Reese rings off the post behind Fluery and Frans Nielsen is there to bang it in as Fluery is sprawled in the crease. It's a great feeling for Reese who is from the Pittsburgh area and has friends and family in attendance.
Tues 7 pm: Underway in Pittsburgh with owner Charles Wang on hand to see his team take on the best team in the league. Jack and Company said they look on this as an opportunity and a challenge. That's an excellent way to look at it.
Tues 1:40 pm: What is the deal with Nino? Obviously his youth is a bit of a problem, but what else is it? I actually thought he played pretty well the last few games. Yet, Jack has chosen to sit him again.
Is he being punished? Is he being protected?
The good news for tonight is that when it comes to the power play the Isles stand at 22.6 percent, 24-for-106 on the road. The Isles have the second-ranked road power-play in the league. Doug Weight should be mighty proud of himself. However, the Islanders are also 0-11-2 in Pittsburgh since a 4-2 win Dec. 21, 2007. They have scored two goals and been shut out three times in their last four meetings at the Consol Energy Center
I got that from the Daily news: ( http://nydailynews.stats.com/nhl/preview.asp?lg=NHL&g=2012032716#ixzz1qKvim3pT) Not exactly a stat to make us think positively tonight. Although handing the Penguins two points to push them ahead of the Rangers is indeed a bonus -- but not much.
Tues 12:01 pm: From Art Staple of Newsday, line-up will remain the same tonight in Pittsburgh. Nabkov in Net and both Mark Eaton and Nino Niederreiter are the scratches.
There are many fans who are taking advantage of the pre-sale code for the game at the Barclay center in October. Will you be there? How about tonight? If you're not in Philly, you can hang with other fans at Jakes Steak House in East Meadow.
Personally -- I'm not even sure how this game will go tonight. I'm just hoping everyone leaves the arena walking. That's all.
More as it comes through.
Mon 11 pm: Just when the possibility of the bad press surrounding the Isles may have begun to fade away a new wrinkle in the saga that is forever the Islanders emerged.
A group of Coliseum employees, represented by their lawyer, have come forward with concerns about asbsestos in their workplace, a very, very serious allegation. Now the state and OSHA have become involved and this process of investigation and abatement is very rigid and controlled.
Uh oh. Is this something that Nassau County? Read some items and it seems like it's perfect timing for Ed Mangano who championed the Colisuem referrendum. What better way to get money poured into the Coliseum then by forcing the County's hand to do so.
Okay, that's possibility number one.
Possibility number two is that maybe Charles Wang thought this was a great idea to help him get out of the lease before 2015. Being able to get out of the lease gives him the flexibility to be courted even more by arenas looking for a tennant.
Then again, there are those thinking that since Nassau County doesn't have the money to fix the coliseum (should it run into the millions of dollars) so it's a perfect opportunity to force the County's hand to turn over the property as quickly as possible. Can they skirt the RFP issue? Can they just say "Yo! First guy to show up with a check in Mineola gets it." As another blogger pointed out, Charles Wang won't walk away from his investment in the Marriott property.
Throw in a $400 million dollar arena being built in Quebec, a Brooklyn arena hoping for another tennant and a new CBA on the horizon that may cause the NHL to miss yet another season and you've got a mystery not even Castle can solve.
The Isles will be done in the building by the middle of April. Testing may still be going on by then. Then the state will tell the County (the owner) and SMG (the management) what they need to do. Considering this is Nassau County it should take about four times as long as it would anywhere else.
Personally, I think possibility number two is the least likely. The Islanders already received bad press for ticket prices going up (although modestly when you actually do the math), I can't imagine they'd shoot themselves in the foot even more by encouraging a lawsuit that may cause other potential season ticket holders to reconsider going to a building that is unsafe.
I have walked many a secret hallway in that building. It's gross. And every upgrade they do to it is like lipstick on an elephant. I'd also like to tell SMG to hire better cleaning crews. (Staircases do NOT have to be filthy when the doors are first opened. Maybe clean them more than once every few days.)
So what now? Now we wait AGAIN for answers. Answers that will not come easily and once again, the fans are in the dark. Maybe the light at the end of the tunnel really IS attached to a train headed to Brooklyn. Maybe.
(it's late, I don't have tim to proof this and tomorrow the Isles play the Pens in Pittsburgh. A game that has me worried. But we'll talk about that tomorrow. )
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