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ISLES INFO |
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ISLES INFO |
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Menu NYI Database Transactions
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IslesInfo Comments: The Islanders came out flying in the first period, outshooting the Coyotes 13-3 as their offensive shot dominance continues. With those 13 shots the Isles scored on two of them. But it could have been much better. The Isles could have had a 4-0 lead but couldn't finish on a couple of spectacular chances. When it was 1-0 Alexei Yashin received a pass down low close in on Phoenix starting goaltender Brian Boucher. Yashin managed to deke Boucher practically out of his hockey pants, put when he tried to backhand the puck into the net it hit the post. Claude Lapointe, who had about 3 great scoring chances in the game, missed on a breakaway attempt. He tried to fake Boucher out and shot the puck on the ice under Boucher's pads. Boucher got lucky on the save because the puck hit the inside of his right pad and bounced back out. The Islanders first got on the board at 2:16 on the powerplay, which was important because the Isles needed to get out early on the young and injured Coyotes. Roman Hamrlik took a rising shot from the point. Mark Parrish made an absolute beautiful deflection of the puck down to the ice, making the puck bounce underneath Boucher's legs and into the net for his fourth of the season. At 16:42 the Islanders got the 2-0 lead on another powerplay goal. It was a 5 on 3 for 21 seconds thanks to a crunching hit against the boards by Danny Markov on Shawn Bates. This goal was scored by Yashin and boy was it a blast from the left faceoff circle! Boucher had no chance as Yashin deposited it over Boucher's left shoulder into the top of the net. Yashin had a goal and an assist in the period and Hamrlik assisted on both goals. - The second period was almost an exact turnaround of the first period. This was in large part to the Islanders getting called for 4 straight penalties. A lot of them were the Islanders fault. But it just seemed like the referees had it out for the Islanders tonight. So many calls for the Coyotes were borderline and there were so many calls that took place that were not called in the Islanders favor. Paul Stewart shared the officiating duties tonight with another rookie referee. We all know that Stewart's games can be pretty erratic at times. The Coytoes cashed in late on the first try at 2:08 when Mike Johnson would receive a lucky pass in front of Garth Snow, who started for the Isles. Before Justin Mapletoft could get a stick on him, Johnson whipped the puck at Snow hoping to get the puck through. It found a way and the Isles lead was cut in half to 2-1. With the Islanders parading to the penalty box, Phoenix would eventually get their own 5 on 3 advantage. A snake bitten Daniel Briere would notch his first of the season on a blast from the point to tie the game up at 2-2. Tony Amonte got an assist on the goal. Phoenix had 5 powerplays in the second period to the Islanders one. - The Islanders came back out in the third period and tried to emulate their play of the first period. At first it succeeded. But by the middle of the period the Isles once again got into penalty problems. Some of them were blatant bad plays by the Islanders. But it also seemed like the officials put their whistles away concerning the Isles and any calls they may have drawn. The worst play was a boarding call against Lapointe when he went to far while with a hit with a man down. The Isles were already down a man because of a bad play by Bates when Markov turned the tables on him and went down hard after Bates pushed him hard into the corner. Markov milked it out all he could. But things started rocking as the Isles killed off the 5 on 3 attempt. The fans were getting into it and the kill was very high tempo. One player largely involved with the Isles kill was Jason Wiemer, who cleared the puck out of the Isles end two different times. But Wiemer would end up making the biggest mistake a hockey player could make a short while later. With 3:31 remaining in the game, Wiemer grabbed the puck on the right side boards. As he turned he fired the puck back up the middle into the high slot right onto the stick of Shane Doan. Doan blasted a shot on Snow who was able to get a glove on it. But the puck bounced up into the air, where Landon Wilson was in the perfect place at the right time. He batted the puck out of the air and into the net to give Phoenix a 3-2 lead. Wiemer was visually distraught on the bench and commented after the game that it was a stupid play. There really wasn't an Islander in sight where he was sending the puck. The Coyotes held on to take the win. Now the Isles drop to 2 games under .500 for the second time this season at 3-5-1-0. The Islanders went 1-3 on their 4 game homestand. Obviously not good. They get right back to action Wednesday night when they visit Carolina, who the Isles lost to 4-1 earlier in the first game of the homestand. They'll return for 2 more games at home during the weekend. Fight Card: None. Commentary: This is totally unacceptable. Losing a two goal lead at home is not good. Losing three out of four at home is not good. Some of the players decisions in this game were horrible. The goaltending has been horrible. Though Snow did have a good game tonight and deserved a better fate. But once again the trend continues of allowing many goals on few shots. At one point the Isles were outshooting the Coyotes 15-5 and only leading 2-1. Kenny Jonsson also hot the post in the second period. Things are just not going our way.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Had an ok game. Was a little taken aback at Isbister's reaction to the press he has been getting the last few days. He kind of played it down, saying the press was just making a big deal out of his 2 goal performance against the Flyers. Which kind of signals to me that he doesn't want any added pressure. Has to bother you a little. Alexei Yashin: Had a great first period. 2 points including a awesome goal. But, he missed a chance to give the Isles the 3-2 lead when he fanned on a shot in the slot. There were a lot of bodies around, but after fanning he was only able to get a weak backhander on Boucher. Shawn Bates: Took a really bad penalty in the third shoving Markov into the boards during a 2-2 tie that was not needed. Then, even though it was their last chance, he had the puck bounce over his stick at the point with Garth Snow pulled, negating any chance of tying it up. Mark Parrish: Scored his team leading fourth of the season on a beautiful deflection. What hand eye coordination. He almost did it again later in the game. Raffi Torres: Gotta love how he throws the body. You can always hear when he's on the ice. But he is scoreless in his last 4 games. Dave Scatchard: Played well, but missed the net on two chances from the slot. Arron Asham: Surprisingly plays well with the puck when he has control. If only he can shoot the puck on net more and develop some scoring ability. Jason Wiemer: What can you say? Dumb, Stupid, Moron...you can throw every name in the book at him for the ill advised pass up the middle he made. Wiemer has not really fit in well with the Isles so far. Could there be changes soon with the trade rumors coming out of Ottawa about Wiemer recently? Milbury will probably give him some more time. Jason Blake: Played another great game. Uses his speed. But he doesn't score. Yes, he's a fourth liner, but he has to pitch in. Claude Lapointe: Has played great offensively lately. But in this game it was evident, like so many times before....that if Claude Lapointe had just one of Mike Bossy's hands he would be an all star. ( Thanks for that one Joe Mick! :) ) Justin Mapletoft: Shows smarts. Hopefully he can develop a scoring touch soon along with Torres. Howie Rose compared Mapletoft to the talent the Isles developed during the Cup years. As well as mentioning his apprenticeship with Brent Sutter. Steve Webb: Threw some good body checks. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Had a good first period notching two assists on the powerplay. But there was one point where he tried to make a pass up the middle in the first period, but was bailed out by the defense and Snow. Perhaps Wiemer thought he'd do it better. Adrian Aucoin: Leading the league in total icetime. But he has been in the penalty box too often this year as well. Eric Cairns: Made a few good passes in the game. Kenny Jonsson: Still played a bit sparingly in the game due to his cut finger, but it was more than he played against Florida. Hit the post in the second period. Radek Martinek: Is still getting beat on the check at times by opposing players to the net. Mattias Timander: Made a bad play that eventually led to Wiemer's bad play. Goal: Garth Snow: Like I said, deserved a better fate tonight. But both he and Osgood are not coming up with great performances. How can the Isles be outshooting the opponent so bad as they have this season, yet be giving up so many goals?? The Isles having the worst save percentage in the league. Coach: Laviolette could be at fault for allowing the Isles to take a too many men on the ice penalty in the first period. With the 18 second faceoff's, Shawn Bates got caught lingering out on the ice while 5 new Islanders jumped over the boards and headed for the faceoff. Bates tried to speed back to the bench, but it was too late. Perhaps it was Bates who should get the blame.
Coyotes 3, Islanders 2
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSE GOALTENDERS PHOENIX COYOTES DEFENSE GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
PHO - 2 of 8, NYI - 2 of 5.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Can Izzy Stay Hot? Oct 29: The Islanders will be looking to bounce back tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes. And it couldn't come any sooner as the Isles are surely chomping at the bit to return to the ice with a good effort following Saturday's disappointing start. Phoenix vs. Isles: One of the lone bright spots in the game was the play of winger Brad Isbister. After being somewhat challenged by coach Peter Laviolette to stand in front of the net and use his body to get goals, Isbister pretty much did just that and potted the only two Islander goals of the game against Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see who starts in goal for the Islanders. Laviolette has shown a great amount of confidence in Chris Osgood, as he should. It's most likely Ozzie will start, so as not to leave the bad taste of the last game in his mouth for too long. He really is due to have a good start. But Garth Snow has played well in relief lately. Perhaps Laviolette goes with Snow Wednesday night in Carolina to exact some revenge for the bad loss the Islanders suffered to them at home earlier in the month. - The Islanders need to jump out early on the Coyotes. They are hurting right now with about 7 regulars out of the lineup, including their #1 goaltender Sean Burke who suffered a sprained ankle last week. Brian Boucher is filling in during Burke's absence. Phoenix does have some speed. Mike Johnson and Ladislav Nagy are dangerous players for the Isles to keep an eye on. Most talented is probably big left winger Shane Doan, who would look great in an Islander uniform. They also have some good veteran leadership in the likes of Claude Lemieux and defenseman Teppo Numminen. The Isles need to put up 100% against these guys. If they do, they should come out with a win and return to .500, due to the fact that there really are no big name players with Phoenix after Amonte. This will be the only meeting of the season between the two teams. Update: News out of Arizona today has the Coyotes possibly starting young Patrick Desrochers in net tonight against the Isles. It would be Desrochers first start of the season since he was called up recently to backup Brian Boucher after Sean Burke went down with injury. Desrochers has played in 5 career NHL games, all last season, and his career record is 1-2-1 with a 3.70 GAA and .848 SP. What Could Have Been? IslesInfo still has a lot of questions as to why Tony Amonte isn't skating for the blue, orange and white this season. So far in the young season, the Isles current wings have shown nothing to dispute the fact that Amonte was a needed addition. - As we look back at the non-signing of Amonte, lets first look at his season to this point. Thus far he is the leading scorer for the Coyotes going 3-5-8 in 10 games played following their 3-2 overtime loss to the Rangers last night. Many questions arise. Why didn't the Islanders sign Amonte? Did they just feel he was going to be overpaid, as Mike Milbury alluded to? Was it a Charles Wang decision that he was just unwilling to add any additional payroll this summer? The Islanders were looking at the big picture. And it told them that their payroll would rise from last seasons $34 million, to $40 million after raises were doled out. But when the Islanders ended the 2001-02 season, their biggest needs were 1) a scoring winger, and 2) a physical defenseman. Many believed that is what was separating them from being true contenders. So when the Isles had an opportunity to add a Tony Amonte for just money, they should have jumped at the chance. Yes, Amonte cost about $5 million, maybe a little more. But why not go with $45 million. Is that much more than $40 million?(Yes, I know that sounds crazy to a reader who is not a millionaire. But just stay with me here, hehe) Did the non-signing have something to do with the state of Computer Associates over the summer? The market was pretty shaky just a short time ago. Will we ever know? Will the Islanders EVER be players in the free agent market? They never have. And this past summer, they SHOULD have. - On the flip side, Amonte went to a team that is now 3-6-0-1. Struggling just a little. Phoenix is for the most part a young team. Was he drawn in by the Wayne Gretzky factor? Phoenix is currently struggling financially as well. Even though they are having a new building built. But they felt it was important to shell out the dough for Amonte. Finally, why wouldn't Amonte take less money to play with the Isles, whom he could have helped make a contender? He could have been Alexei Yashin's linemate. That would seem a better option than playing alongside any player on the Coyotes. Michael Peca questioned Amonte for his decision and perhaps he had something there as well.
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
