Well, yes and no. It could be business as usual if the business was losing games at home at the Nassau Coliseum. The Isles lost six at home before the break and tonight, back in action for the first time after the break, they get to face the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Phil Kessel and the Leafs are heading for a playoff berth while the Tavares-less Isles are once again heading for the draft lottery. We can only hope they have more balls than Buffalo. Snicker* Because we know they won't.
With Nielsen, Tavares and Matt Martin out of the line-up tonight, the bench will look considerably different and the lines, while having a practice under their shorts, will probably not have the chemistry that will be needed to win. But with adversity comes opportunity for others.
Nabokov had better have a stellar game tonight or the score sheet could get into double digits. Michael Grabner better show some of that Olympic prowess he demonstrated for Team Austria. And Thomas Vanek... well, if I was Garth Snow, with the trade deadline approaching and playoffs out of the picture, I'd keep him off the ice until a trade is made. Tell him to sit in the press box with his bags packed. But that's just me.
It is truly a shame that all the press the Isles are getting now is basically bad press. Yesterday on NHL Network Radio Newsday's Art Staple said they 'really spit the bit.' I had never head that saying before. But the team that wanted to contend for a Stanley Cup is NOT the team that is just trying to get through the next 22 games. It wasn't as soon as the Vanek trade was made. The gamble didn't pay off and it's back to square one.