Dee Karl: Premonition or Prediction? Afterglow of a 4-1 Isles Win A full 60 minutes is all it takes.

Dee Karl: Premonition or Prediction? Afterglow of a 4-1 Isles Win
A full 60 minutes is all it takes.
- Dee Karl

Dee Karl: Premonition or Prediction? Afterglow of a 4-1 Isles Win
A full 60 minutes is all it takes.
- Dee Karl

nice win but now need to keep it going against the Devils...

It's nice to see them play a system, and play with heart.

Some real nice surprises so far this year!!!

Awesome game. Playing as one unit, they can beat anyone..

nice win but now need to keep it going against the Devils...
- kear20

That's what we need now. Consistency. If they come out and the y play well and lose its ok. As long as they continue to play like they want to win they'll end up on the positive side eventually.

That's what we need now. Consistency. If they come out and the y play well and lose its ok. As long as they continue to play like they want to win they'll end up on the positive side eventually.
- Cptmjl

i'm pretty sure they don't get to the rink and say i want to lose today...i know when i get to work i don't say "gee i want to suck today" anyways..the devils will be a good gauge as they make everyone look awful offensively...should be a good challenge

It seems to me that the last three games underscore exactly where our improvements need to be. Against a finesse team like Pittsburgh, the defense is effective and able to play well by filling the passing lanes and offer puck support in all three zones. Against teams like Winnipeg and Boston, the Isles play a similar game but find themselves battling immovable clutter in the crease and corners.

I think they proved last night that if they maintain a decent level of intensity and responsible play, they can win plenty of games, but ultimately they need to find a way to counteract the bigger teams. The addition of a true power forward and bully top four dman would put us well on our way to doing that.

I really liked the game I saw from Hickey last night. The kid is aggressive and seems to have good vision. Were it not for Okposo flubbing JT's one touch pass on the fake slapper from Hickey, it would have actually been an even prettier goal than Moulson's pass to JT.

Nielsen continues to concern me as his game has become increasingly tentative.

Nabby played about as effective of a game as you could ask. Despite the defense playing well, he still had 37 saves, many of which were damn tough one's. A total shame they couldn't hold on for a minute longer. You just knew they were going to blow it when the started collapsing low in the final 2 minutes.

I'm starting to believe that Matt Moulson is the second coming of Luc Robitaille. Neither were blessed with great skating ability yet both always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Lucky Matt?

JT, I thought his first period was not a good one. Way too many blind passes. Getting to cute with the puck get's your defensemen in a lot of trouble. He settled down and adjusted and played an awesome game in the 2nd and 3rd. Still, his line needs someone to pick up their defensive game. JT tries, but he's simply not physical enough.

Did anyone notice how awesome AMac was? It almost makes up for his first 5 horrible showings.

Streit sucks defensively. If you can't clear Pascal Dupree from the crease, you've got problems. Streit looked like he was trying to push Chara out of the way...

This is one of the few games I have to give to the coaching staff. The kids really looked like they came out mentally prepared. Whiile at times overwhelmed in terms of puck possession, the managed to recover without giving up a bad goal.

Good game!

What a novel concept that they need to play a full 60 minutes, No poop Matt. Hopefully they can stay motivated and keep bringing it.

Okposo still very inconsistent. Streit still driving me nuts in defensive end and great on offensive side (especially on PP). Love seeing grabner score on Break away. Casey C is as good as we hoped... I am not thinking top 2 lines but he is a really good 2 way player.

Bailey will be a nice addition too..

CPT u asked me about the results.. .JT almost a point a game last year, Moulson 100 goals in 3 seasons, Grabner 54 goals in 2 seasons, Hamonic and AndyMac very solid players on defense.. .I guess I was trying to say our issue has been the 1 or 2 soft goals let in a game by our sub par goaltending. We were not getting blown away.. on the offensive side we have had very good results. top 7 PP last year..etc.

We have gotten good players.. and have good ones coming up (Ulstrom, Casey, etc.).. I see those as results not just w/L which I know u will say is the only result that matters.. but... We have some results and more help on way (Nino, Strome, Poulin, etc... ) I am cautiously optimistic.

It seems to me that the last three games underscore exactly where our improvements need to be. Against a finesse team like Pittsburgh, the defense is effective and able to play well by filling the passing lanes and offer puck support in all three zones. Against teams like Winnipeg and Boston, the Isles play a similar game but find themselves battling immovable clutter in the crease and corners.

I think they proved last night that if they maintain a decent level of intensity and responsible play, they can win plenty of games, but ultimately they need to find a way to counteract the bigger teams. The addition of a true power forward and bully top four dman would put us well on our way to doing that.

I really liked the game I saw from Hickey last night. The kid is aggressive and seems to have good vision. Were it not for Okposo flubbing JT's one touch pass on the fake slapper from Hickey, it would have actually been an even prettier goal than Moulson's pass to JT.

Nielsen continues to concern me as his game has become increasingly tentative.

Nabby played about as effective of a game as you could ask. Despite the defense playing well, he still had 37 saves, many of which were damn tough one's. A total shame they couldn't hold on for a minute longer. You just knew they were going to blow it when the started collapsing low in the final 2 minutes.

I'm starting to believe that Matt Moulson is the second coming of Luc Robitaille. Neither were blessed with great skating ability yet both always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Lucky Matt?

JT, I thought his first period was not a good one. Way too many blind passes. Getting to cute with the puck get's your defensemen in a lot of trouble. He settled down and adjusted and played an awesome game in the 2nd and 3rd. Still, his line needs someone to pick up their defensive game. JT tries, but he's simply not physical enough.

Did anyone notice how awesome AMac was? It almost makes up for his first 5 horrible showings.

Streit sucks defensively. If you can't clear Pascal Dupree from the crease, you've got problems. Streit looked like he was trying to push Chara out of the way...

This is one of the few games I have to give to the coaching staff. The kids really looked like they came out mentally prepared. Whiile at times overwhelmed in terms of puck possession, the managed to recover without giving up a bad goal.

Good game!
- keaner17

Well keaner, as much fun as it is to debate you, I can't disagree with anything you wrote. Dead on with everything, especially the success or lack thereof depending on the type of game. The Isles have more skill and speed than in the past, so they look pretty good in games that are more open with room to skate. But they still lack toughness in the top six, so when it's a tight checking game, they just can't fight through nearly as easily.

Noticed what you said about Tavares early on too, but I do think when you have the world on your shoulders, sometimes you can try to do too much. I know exactly which passes you're referring to though.

Thought AMac played OK in Winnipeg, too. He has more of a chance than anyone to make a mistake, which is probably why we notice him when he does, because he logs an insane amount of ice time. Over 28 minutes against the Jets and over 26 minutes last night. He plays nearly half of every game...bound to slip up a couple of times when you're out that often.

Agreed on Nielsen, too. Like I said, intelligent player -- a good player. But he's gotta get more involved physically...not necessarily destroying people...he'll never do that. But just more involved. Although...he did actually throw a check last night. Anyone see it? It was in the corner on the forecheck. I about fell out of my chair when it happened. He was even credited on the stat sheet!

Nielsen has 5 points in 6 games and is a plus 3. Seems ok to me. He is not a physical player and he never will be.

Nielsen has 5 points in 6 games and is a plus 3. Seems ok to me. He is not a physical player and he never will be.
- Vukota

Yeah I have no issues with him either.. our most responsible Forward on the defensive side by far. I don't care if you don't hit someone if you are all over their best player in the d-side and are getting some points to boot.

Looks like Mcdonald will get a year suspension for boarding a pen player.. Has a hearing around 11am today..

Great game last night minus the mcdonald boarding and okposo not showing up..

Crappy needs to place okposo on the 4th line or send his lazy @ss to the minors. Has been a useless lug since season started and just dragging JT's line..

Sucks Streit cant play D Nabby really deserved to get a shutout last night..

Look at his (Nielsen's) stat lines in the Boston and Winnipeg games...the only two physical contests they played. One assist (on the PP when there was more room), one shot, and zeroes across every other category in nearly 38 minutes of ice time for those two games combined. The good is the one assist...but he plays smaller when the games get more intense is all I'm saying.

a few observations:

-nabby was outstanding!!!
-streit should be traded now, he isnt going to be getting any better or younger. value is high
-boyes, jt, and mm looked SICK on the pp together
-ko honestly looks 5 steps behind everyone, he needs to be moved (diff line or traded)
-boyes needs to play with jt and mm
-hickey and strait have looked very good
-someone let neilson know that hockey is a contact sport (fwiw, id trade him)
-reasoner played a solid game (as did cizikas and martin)
-grabner is in beast mode in every facet of the game. finishing, checking, pk
-every time i watch ulstrom i like him more and more
-carkner is doing ok...at best (but i like his physical presence on the ice)

a few observations:

-nabby was outstanding!!!
-streit should be traded now, he isnt going to be getting any better or younger. value is high
-boyes, jt, and mm looked SICK on the pp together
-ko honestly looks 5 steps behind everyone, he needs to be moved (diff line or traded)
-boyes needs to play with jt and mm
-hickey and strait have looked very good
-someone let neilson know that hockey is a contact sport (fwiw, id trade him)
-reasoner played a solid game (as did cizikas and martin)
-grabner is in beast mode in every facet of the game. finishing, checking, pk
-every time i watch ulstrom i like him more and more
-carkner is doing ok...at best (but i like his physical presence on the ice)
- LetsGoIsles

When Carkner just fell down off that offensive zone draw, I did my best Picard Facepalm and started wondering when he'd be scratched. But after that, I thought he played relatively well...cleared the crease a few times, threw a couple of hits, and didn't stand out in a bad way from that point forward.

The Penguins board is having a hard time figuring out how they got their butts kicked last night...

Interesting quote from Capuono...

"I'm sure nobody gave us much of a chance tonight against a really good hockey team, but you know what systematically I thought we were a little more structured."

Nielsen has 5 points in 6 games and is a plus 3. Seems ok to me. He is not a physical player and he never will be.
- Vukota

I think the points stat is a bit misleading. I'm not saying Nielsen isn't a productive player but more that, as UIF mentioned, he seems to disappear when the game becomes physical. I'm not expecting him to throw earth shattering hits (like the one that knocked UIF out of his seat) but I also don't want him to fail in puck pursuit or turn the puck over due to an aversion to anything physical. What really concerns me is, I didn't see him totally avoiding collisions or cluttered areas two years ago. Now he is. Maybe he'll get over it as the season picks up, but I find it troubling that a guy in an impact role like 2nd line center is appearing to shy away from intensity.

Nielsen has 5 points in 6 games and is a plus 3. Seems ok to me. He is not a physical player and he never will be.
- Vukota

Big part of both our power play and penalty killing which someone are both great currently

Well keaner, as much fun as it is to debate you, I can't disagree with anything you wrote. Dead on with everything, especially the success or lack thereof depending on the type of game. The Isles have more skill and speed than in the past, so they look pretty good in games that are more open with room to skate. But they still lack toughness in the top six, so when it's a tight checking game, they just can't fight through nearly as easily.

Noticed what you said about Tavares early on too, but I do think when you have the world on your shoulders, sometimes you can try to do too much. I know exactly which passes you're referring to though.

Thought AMac played OK in Winnipeg, too. He has more of a chance than anyone to make a mistake, which is probably why we notice him when he does, because he logs an insane amount of ice time. Over 28 minutes against the Jets and over 26 minutes last night. He plays nearly half of every game...bound to slip up a couple of times when you're out that often.

Agreed on Nielsen, too. Like I said, intelligent player -- a good player. But he's gotta get more involved physically...not necessarily destroying people...he'll never do that. But just more involved. Although...he did actually throw a check last night. Anyone see it? It was in the corner on the forecheck. I about fell out of my chair when it happened. He was even credited on the stat sheet!
- UIF

Likewise, and I find that complimentary!

with any luck Colin McDonald gets 4-5 games and the Isles will call up Nino for those games. McDonald has been ineffective and with Aucoin and Ullstrom playing reasonably well having a different winger could help. Could possibly swap Okposo to the third line and slot Nino in on JT's wing if Nino shows he can play at the NHL level this time around.

Look at his (Nielsen's) stat lines in the Boston and Winnipeg games...the only two physical contests they played. One assist (on the PP when there was more room), one shot, and zeroes across every other category in nearly 38 minutes of ice time for those two games combined. The good is the one assist...but he plays smaller when the games get more intense is all I'm saying.
- UIF

I completely disagree. It's not just about stats with him. He is the only center capuano can put out there in every game situation and be confident in him to protect a lead, play a point on the pp or kill a penalty. He does everything very well and his point production the last few seasons is up there with a lot of #2 centers. He is still under rated and now being under rated by his own fan base. He is by the far the most versatile player on this team.

Good two way center,great on pk,good on power play, good late in games in own zone,and best shootout % of all time.

Please, no one ever knock him again. It doesn't make any sense

with any luck Colin McDonald gets 4-5 games and the Isles will call up Nino for those games. McDonald has been ineffective and with Aucoin and Ullstrom playing reasonably well having a different winger could help. Could possibly swap Okposo to the third line and slot Nino in on JT's wing if Nino shows he can play at the NHL level this time around.
- Isles_since_6

I think Nino would have been the call up if his agent wasn't such an idiot. I bet someone else gets the call instead.. or even Boulton.. .