7:22 am: Last night I was a guest on NYSports Radio on WGBB AM. It would have been great if we had a win to discuss, but that wasn't the case. But we did have plenty as this week in Islanders Country was jampacked! Here's the link to last night's @icecreeps show also featuring @hockeyden, and paulies islander song!
I haven't listened to it yet. But hey! At least I didn't curse on air! Bonus!
Isles dropped their 13th straight game in an overtime loss to Atlanta. If that isn't bad enough, they lost Mike Mottau to a brutal eye(?) injury as he was hit in the face with a puck in the first period and was immediately taken to a hospital where he will stay while the team returns to NY.
This is another case for visors. Had Matt Moulson not been wearing a visor, he probably would have been in the hospital as well after that hit against the boards. You can't prepare for everything, but visors are well worth it and I don't understand why players are reluctant to wear them.
The emphasis was on quick changes and short shifts, but if you look at the game summary, JT's average is :58 and Wisniewski's is :59. But they were once again short handed with the loss of Mottau.
Michael Grabner was the goal scorer this time for the Islanders late in the second with an even strength goal. The Islanders were once again miserable on the power play that is now 0 for 24 in six games.
While it looked like the Islanders may actually have figured out a way to win this one, with Konopka in the box, Nik Antropov said 'nyet' and tied the game at one.
While there were chances for the Isles to advance, they couldn't break though Pavelec. At the other end of the ice, Rick DiPietro in his first start in weeks, made 33 saves. The most he's seen since October of 2008 (according to Rob Carlin.)
Rick was understandably disappointed that they didn't get the second point tonight. He told MSG that the effort is there, but so were the mistakes. The mistakes that lead to a loss. The 13th loss. But he wanted to be clear that these guys care about what's happening. I suppose that is a counter to Jack's "passenger" comment. "This eats at us. It keeps guys up at night and makes us sick to our stomachs."
Capuano said they played a little better in all three zones and it "has to turn around sometime." Tonight just wasn't the sometime they were hoping for.
In other news, Howie Rose decided to let his frustrations out while he thought his microphone was off. It was shocking to hear the veteran announcer say "Is it Spring Training yet?" and worse, "Let me know how this game turns out -- not that I particularly care."
Hey, it could have been worse. He could have thrown in a few "F" bombs and owed the FCC a few thousand dollars in fines.
According to Rick, to be a professional athlete, you have to have a short term memory and move on. Fans should have one too. If that's possible.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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