Islanders Defense Is A Concern

The Islanders had an opportunity to improve their record, move up in the standings, and take some momentum into Tuesdays match up against the New York Rangers. After beating the Pittsburgh Penguins the night before, the Islanders returned home to face the lowly Philadelphia Flyers and lost. The term “consistently inconsistent” is in fact the theme that this team is currently going through.  Many fans are looking for some kind of change made. Some want Ryan Strome up, Brock Nelson playing everyday, Eric Boulton to be off the team, some have even said a coaching change is needed. Two problems I see with those suggestions. First, the Islanders are scoring goals and two, Capuano is not going anywhere, especially when the assistant coaches and General Manager are on the same page. So let’s take a look at the defense, a group that did not change much from last year. Continue reading →

Complete Win For The Islanders

I told you it was going to be a fun game to watch! I knew I was watching on a rerun last night so I purposely did not look at any of the scores until the game was finished. Other than Phoenix, this was probably the best
complete game the Islanders have had when the score was close. There wasn’t much to dissect in terms of what the Isles did wrong because there was definitely more  good to watch. Here are some pluses and minus from my thoughts of the 3-2 Islanders win over the Oilers. Continue reading →

Isles Stumble To The Jackets

A couple of positives is that Nabokov has been solid and the defense continue to get on the score sheet. This time it was Visnovsky getting in on the offense. Tavares now has two points in two games, so I wouldn't worry folks, he'll be scoring soon enough. Okposo has been close as well. When the top players do start scoring, the flood gates will be open.

The one thing that bothers me is that I'm still not seeing a killer instinct to finish off a team when the Islanders have a lead. To me, that's learning on how to win hockey games. Columbus should not be that close to the Islanders crease with half a period to go in the game. The Islanders must focus on clearing the crease and getting the puck out of the zone over the next few days before Phoenix arrives on Tuesday.