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Isles "Easy to play against" |
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What went wrong?
“They stopped skating. The Leafs got into their game.” That was how Butch Goring looked at it.
According to Capuano, they gave Phil Kessel “a little bit of space and he put it in the back of the net.” Twice. And everyone knows, you can’t give 81 that kind of room. So “Too much time and space” is what downed the Islanders this time?
Capuano had another idea, “Second period tonight, our puck management was the difference. They got a surge and some momentum.” Back to puck management. The second period killed the Isles allowing the Leafs four unanswered goals. “ But we had some chances. It’s a different game if we get the second one, but we couldn’t get it by him.”
Him -- that Bernier guy who “was really good tonight.” Really, really good.
Back to the video, Jack said they’ll point out some of the things they need to work on. “We dictated the play for a while and played the way we needed to play. We just couldn’t get the first one in the third to get it going.”
The third period was obviously different. The Isles pressured more, but just couldn’t get out of the hole they had dug for themselves. Capuano admitted that he felt some of the players weren’t playing as hard as they should and that John Tavares was vocal on the bench. “Some of the young guys need to know what it takes to win in this league.”
The injuries to more veteran players has left Capuano juggling lines and playing younger players. No word on how much time Hickey will lose after being cut by a skate and taking too many stitches to count to close him up. Injuries happen, bad games happen. It’s part of the process. But with so many players out, Jack is playing line combination Yahtzee again.
“It happens to every team in the league. We all have to figure it out. It’s a matter of getting everyone going. When you mismanage the puck. the ice can tilt in a hurry.”
John Tavares’s take on the game was a bit more pointed. “We were just easy to play against.” Ouch. It would be interesting to know what he actually says on the bench.
“ And obviously they’ve got some guys that can score some goals. They just executed better than we did.” It’s only six games, and it is a long season. There’s a game on Thursday so the Isles have to bounce back from this set-back. JT called them ’stagnant.’ and Butch said they just stopped skating. “We have to realize what’s bringing us success when we’re winning hockey games.”
As Goring put it in plain language. “These guys have to get their act together. They can’t get into a losing streak.”
If they do, they’ll be losing more than games. They’ll probably be losing their coach.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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