The “Bridgeport… Islanders rolled to a 4-2 win yesterday over the Florida Panthers at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The influx of youth from Bridgeport has not only sparked this Islander team, but it has also created some badly needed competition and some of the veteran players have finally awoken from their season-long slumber.
Mike Halmo scored his first career NHL goal in pretty fashion as he took his own rebound out of mid-air and whacked it into the back of the net. Travis Hamonic, Josh Bailey and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who have taken 9 of 10 possible points in their last five games.
With ten NHL rookies currently on the roster - and most of these rookies making an impact - a funny thing has happened to some of the veteran players on this team: they are playing better. I am trying to figure out if Colin McDonald and Matt Martin are producing because they are playing with talented playmaker Ryan Strome, or if they are playing great hockey because they are suddenly feeling uncomfortable as some of the kids might push them off this roster next season. It is probably a little bit of both.
What the Islanders need to find is this desperate play in November. They need to play with this despair when the season is on the line and not when they are eliminated from playoff contention. This is where the head coach comes in. I have said all year that some “veterans… on this team simply looked too comfortable. These players are clearly feeling some heat right now when they see the kids come up and play hungry, desperate hockey.
Another thing I have noticed with this young team is how conservative a system they are playing. My question again for the coaching staff is this: If this system is clearly working with ten rookies, why not try it when the team was completely healthy? Perhaps some of the veterans simply would not buy into what is being played now, but this more conservative system is getting some modest results. It is both puzzling and confusing.
The Islanders return to the ice tonight at 7pm as they are in Canada’s capital to take on the Ottawa Senators. The lineup should stay the same with the only change being between the pipes. With Evgeni Nabokov playing last night, I would expect the Isles to start Anders Nilsson in net.
I need to reach out for one final push for my Bruins Foundation fundraiser which ends Friday. I'm raising money for my friend Lisa Berlinski who is running in the 2014 Boston Marathon and raising money for the Bruins Foundation. There are twenty items up for bid and 15 still have zero bids. I need your help please follow the link below and help out this great cause.
This is an all hockey auction with many amazing pieces generously donated. There are auction items from such hockey legends as Mike Bossy, Martin Brodeur, Guy Lafleur, Ray Bourque and much more. Please copy this link below into your browser window and press enter. These items are all reasonably priced but if they are too much for you please consider making a donation to this great cause. I appreciate the support of the hockey community and I really need your help for this great cause. Any donation would go so far in reaching our goal
http://www.32auctions.com/berlinski
Here is a link that provides information on what exactly the Bruins foundation is. http://bruins.nhl.com/club/microhome.htm?location=/foundation