Thomas Vanek wanted to leave a lasting impression if he was to never play another game in an Isles sweater at the Coliseum. He began the scoring this afternoon playing on a line he was unfamiliar with. It didn't matter. Cal Clutterbuck and Calvin deHaan earned the assists. That's something they'll talk about for a long time.
Less than a minute later, Vanek had another goal and Nielsen and Visnovsky were on the score sheet. If this was for the scouts checking him out, it was a nice job.
With so many players out of the line-up, Jack was back to line-up Yahtzee, a game left to him by Scott Gordon. Josh Bailey was rolled out on the first line. Frans Nielsen didn't look worse for the wear after rehabing a broken bone in his thumb. Anders Nilsson made 29 saves on 34 shots.
They were leading after the first, the were leading after the second with a goal by Ryan Strome. The started the third period, and I went outside to take care of my dogs. In the five minutes that took me, the Panthers had tied the game in the first 4:18.
"HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?" I screamed. Certainly many others did the same. But it was the same story we have seen so often. The wheels just fall off the bus and the Isles allow their opponent to gain momentum and then overpower them.
Why? We don't know. Neither does Jack.
From CA_NYHockey 's report for NY Hockey Journal,
“The way that we’re losing is frustrating for me because it’s not like a structural or a systematic function,… coach Jack Capuano said. “It’s just a little bit of a mismanagement of the puck tonight. If you look at the chances that we had on the power play with the two-goal lead, and the two-on-one we had, we could have put the game away.
But they didn't. Again. Back to losing at home, in front of the faithful. It is a shame.
Vanek played over twenty minutes in possibly his final performance as an Islander, but Andrew MacDonald played 25:56. He may be gone by Wednesday as well.
At this point, I just don't know what to think. I'm hoping that the Isles find a suitable trade partner, but if they don't, moral will be through the floor and it won't matter at all whether they win or lose. And that won't be much fun at all.