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Gillies: @IBeatBizNasty2.0 & Lawson's Debut |
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I should have been there, but I wasn't. This was Bridgeport's Nate Lawson's NHL debut and boy, did he work for it.
The Islanders actually almost played a full 60 minutes. They outshot the Coyotes throughout the entire period. Assistant Coach Scott Allen's Penalty Kill unit did their job as the Coyotes went 1 for 7 on their Power Plays. The Islanders however, were only 1 for 13. Ouch.
Nate Lawson faced 35 shots and stopped 32 of them. On the other end of the ice, Jason LaBarbera faced 44 Islander shots. That is a lot more than most of the previous Islander games have produced. But it still wasn't exactly a full 60 minutes. The smallest lapse in defense was enough to tie the game at three with only a few minutes left of the third. The lead the Islanders had evaporated into hanging on for the point and then subjecting Lawson to a shoot out where he gave up all three goals.
Nate was so frustrated he immediately broke his stick against the net. He was 2 minutes away from having his first NHL game be a 2 point win. Instead it turned into a loss.
Trevor Gillies played his usual 3:07. But this time he made an even bigger name for himself by fighting with one of Twitter's biggest Hockey stars; Paul Bissonnette. The Islanders don't play Phoenix often, so this was just setting the tone early. This is exactly what Matt Martin told me the last time I interviewed him. They want every team to know, they will not be pushed around.
My Twitter friends and I all think that Trevor Gillies should be the next NY Islander on Twitter and take the name @IBeatBiznasty2.0. Give it some thought Trevor.
Nate Lawson gave up his first NHL goal to Radim Vrbata. I'm sure it's one he'll never forget. Jessue Joensuu tied it up and Michael Grabner put the Islanders up by one. Wolski tied it again and then Rob Schremp (who for some reason I knew was going to score) gave the Isles the lead again.
A late penalty on Grabner that was killed off was negated by the late goal by Hanzal (where's Gretl?) to take the game to a shorthanded overtime for the Isles.
Even with the loss, there were good things. Frans Nielsen played an outstanding game. Radek Martinek, Milan Jurcina and Andy MacDonald were all noticeable. Travis Hamonic is making a case for himself to stay in Uniondale. Those are the things that stood out to me tonight while I was half watching, half listening and stuck in my kitchen.
It's the Holiday season and Italian women who are having the family over for seven fish on Christmas eve do not get to play at hockey games so close to Christmas -- which sucks.
The chatter today on Twitter was that there had to be a move in the making with Nate Lawson in net instead of Dwayne Roloson. However, the word from the organization was that the decision to put Nate in net had nothing to do with the midnight roster freeze. And while it is now 10:46 pm, and while I know that there's a lot of work going on in Uniondale, I don't believe we have seen Dwayne Roloson for the last time as an Islander. But I could be wrong.
Rick DiPietro skated this morning but was held out for precautionery reasons with swelling on his knee. The big angry man I live with is thinking he will win the bet that Rick will be out of the line-up by Christmas. To me, a one game rest is not 'out of the line-up.' While we know that Rick's past problems with his knee have caused him to be out of the line up for extended periods (like entire seasons), I am holding out hope and not giving into the thought process that this is the beginning of the end for our rehabbing goalie.
A point is a point. But it should have been two. Give us something else to look and put Trevor Gillies on Twitter. That would be just as much fun as the fights he has on ice.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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