A funny thing happened on the way to the Islanders’ third straight loss. The Canucks imploded taking penalty after penalty and the Isles power play caught fire. Before you could realize if you had fallen asleep and dreamt everything the Islanders exploded with a 7 goal third period to stun the Canucks 7-4.
New York was ok at even strength the first 40 minutes but their penalty kill put them behind 3-0 after two periods. As bad as the PK was the power play got its act together long enough to go 3 for 3 in the first 5 minutes of the third. Josh Bailey; yes Josh Bailey got the ball rolling but the play of Anders Lee, Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson and Calvin deHaan at least gives Islander’s fans some much needed hope for next season.
I never questioned Anders Lee’s ability to produce offensively at any level. His question was always his skating. It is a night and day improvement over last season, frankly its light years improved from the start of this season. He has really put in a ton of work and it is now paying off in spades for the young forward.
Ryan Strome still needs to get stronger; we can see that. I expect another season working with John Tavares will greatly improve his strength. We are however seeing his skill; it is starting to come through on the ice. He has the vision, the shot and the ability to get to an open area where the puck is going to be.
Look we know this season is lost but moments like the third period last evening can at least give us some hope moving forward. There are many question marks with this team. The Islanders have to address the goaltending situation at the end of the season. They also need to bring in one reliable defenseman. But there are signs that some of these kids are going to develop into very good hockey players.
This organization has shown no commitment to improving externally. Therefore I am more than skeptical that they will be able to be winners at the start of free agency. As a result; all we have to hang our hats on right now are these kids. All of them will not succeed the math simply says that doesn’t happen. However if enough of them reach or exceed their potential this is going to be a much better team moving forward. The responsibility is now on the management to do their job and show the fans of Long Island that they are serious about winning. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter and Instagram at @dandannoodles78