“You Can’t Win ‘Em All” -- So Sayeth the Maven.
No, you can’t. Just ask the Yankees. The hard working Islanders lost to the Panthers last night 4-3. They fought to the last second and came back to tie the score three times. But Matt Mouslon’s attempt to tie it a fourth time as the final seconds ticked away rang off the post instead.
The road trip was a good one, with points accumulating while injuries mounted. But Scott Gordon is concerned. He told MSG’s Rob Carlin that he saw something in the first period that had been “snowballing” over the last three or four games and that they were “more opportunistic than anything else.” He was disappointed in the first period but said he was more encouraged about the second and third. “They went back to work.”
It was the JT Ice Show, as John Tavares scored his first career hat trick in Sunrise scoring all of the Islanders goals. He will remember it forever, I’m sure. His coach complimented him on his ability to muscle people to the puck to get the shots off. Something he would have never been able to do last season. “He has such great hands.” This season, John Tavares will prove why he went first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
James Wisniewski continues to play well for the Islanders and has racked up points in every game he has played so far. He is the only reason why the Islanders have not been completely devastated by the loss of Mark Streit. Scott Gordon used the words poise, deceptive and elusive to describe him. Too bad so many will describe him with a hand gesture. Maybe at the 50 game mark, that will all be forgotten.
P.A. Parenteau also had two assists in last night’s game which is sending some Ranger fans heads spinning.
There was one glaring problem last night that Scott Gordon did not address in his post game, but fans and analysts did: Goaltender choice.
If you look on the MSG website, there is a poll that asks who should be the Islanders No. 1 goaltender, DiPietro or Roloson. Currently the vote stands at 67% Roloson over 33% DiPietro. In the immediate post game report, Butch Goring made the comment that Rick over handled the puck in the first which led to a goal he certainly wanted back. Okay, he wanted all the Panthers goals back for sure; Weaver scored at 4:58 of the 1st., Bernier at 11:15 of the 1st, Booth at 15:57 of the second, and Dvorak sealed the deal at 13:28 of the third.
Rick had told me he was going to try to play simple and smart. He is trying. But perhaps with the loss of so many key players, including the absence last night of Andy MacDonald, DiPietro is reverting to his habit of trying to do too much. I thought Roloson should have started last night after Rick had played in Tampa. But, as we know -- my opinion doesn’t really count.
Jack Hillen replaced Andy MacDonald and told Newsday’s Katie Strang that Scott Gordon had told him to keep it simple. He took 18 shifts and played 13:36.
Blake Comeau played a team high 23:06 minutes and earned an assist point last night. I am glad to see the knee meets goalpost incident in Tampa didn’t pull him out of the line-up.
Josh Bailey was kept out of the line-up as a precaution. One I totally agreed with.
John Tavares will be appearing at the first meeting of the season for the Islanders Booster Club on Monday night. He is sure to receive a warm welcome and a lot of questions as the Islanders prepare to head back out to face the Montreal Canadians on Wednesday before the Habs fans descend on the Coliseum like locusts on Friday, 10/29.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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