The Islanders need a good kick in the rear end. I don't know how else to say it. New York has not played a 60 minute game for a while now. Although their 12-4-3 record in their last 19 games would say they are doing something right. They have been playing with fire and it's starting to burn them. They are 1-2-2 in their last five games. That lone win, the Isles played a total of 7 minutes following perhaps their worst two periods of the season last Monday against the Florida Panthers. Jack Capuano was so frustrated with his team he didn't even go into the locker room during the second intermission. That was probably for the best anyway. It seems that this team has clearly tuned their coach out. Is it Cappy's fault or the players? It's a combination of both.
Lets start with Jack Capuano. Should have he been let go follow last season? Yes and no. No because last season was the first time in his tenure that he had a quality team. Their best regular season since the Reagan administration. Yes because, although the team did not show up in game seven against the Capitals, just 11 shots in the game, Capuano did not give his team the best chance to win. Anders Lee, the second-leading goal scorer on the team was scratched. Despite not even showing up, the Islanders were down just one and were handed the game's only power play with three minutes left in the game. Capuano did not pull Jaroslav Halak until after the power play. Also yes because their were plenty of viable candidates to replace him.
This season, like previous seasons, Cappy spins the wheel of forwards on a night basis and throws together the top three lines. There is no continuity. When Shane Prince was acquired at the trade deadline, he was immediately put on the top line in his first game. Ten minutes into the game against Vancouver, Prince was off the line.
Cappy has failed to hold the right people accountable. Has he ever criticized Kyle Okposo or even Josh Bailey? John Tavares, Frans Nielsen and now Lee has given the effort night in and night out. The top nine forwards with the exception of Ryan Strome and now Brock Nelson, get a pass on this team and the players know it and take advantage of it.
The most exciting thing to come out of Thursday's loss was Ryan Pulock's first NHL goal. How is he rewarded for it? A seat in the press box tonight so Brian Strait can take a dumb penalty and cause a key turnover. Pulock has done nothing to merit a benching. Cappy can spin it however he wants. Resting the 20-year-old because somehow he cannot play two games in three nights. Pulock has been fine during his time here.
General manager Garth Snow's lack of offseason moves could be Capuano's undoing. Snow relied on the maturation of his trio of young forwards (Lee, Nelson, and Strome). Nelson has pretty much had the same season as the previous one, hot for the few games, scoreless in a bunch. Lee started slow but has asserted himself back in front of the net and the results have been positive, 6 goals, 6 assists since the all-star break. Now to Strome, who was poised to have a breakout season following his 50-point first full season. He has failed to live up to it, scoring 8 goals and 24 poiints. Casey Cizikas has more points than Strome. The 2011 first-round pick spent a few weeks in the AHL back in November. The move failed to provide a spark. Snow also handled the deadline as if he knew that is job is safe this offseason, even with the transfer of ownership. Why would he care about keeping a first-round draft pick if his job was on the line?
The Islanders are three points behind the Rangers with two games in hand for second place in the Metropolitan Division and just five points ahead of the Flyers, who are a point out of the playoffs.
Now to the medical segment of this blog, Mikhail Grabovski will miss tonight's game vs the Dallas Stars and the next few. Grabovski missed ten games before returning Tuesday against the Penguins. He went back to New York prior to Thursday's game against the Predators. Casey Cizikas will play after missing Thursday's game with an upper-body injury. Stars forward Tyler Seguin will miss the remainder of the regular season due to a cut in his Achilles tendon. Seguin tweeted out a picture of it. I will spare the weak of heart and not post it.
The Stars and Isles have played high-scoring entertaining games recently. New York defeated Dallas 6-5 back in January and 7-5 back in October of 2014. The Islanders have struggled to find the back of the net lately, scoring 12 goals in their last six games after scoring 13 in their previous three. If they want to find a way to increase scoring they will need to find a way to increase their power-play chances. The Isles have had just six power plays in their last five games and have the second-fewest (195) in the league.
Since the Islanders have tuned out Capuano I hope they will listen to John Blutarsky
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»