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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 answer was No. With the Islanders struggling to get points lately, the coaching staff decided to pull a move that would hopefully light a fire under the team by inserting captain Peca into the lineup. The Islanders kept the move a huge secret for a while that they were even close to pulling a move off like this. Nobody knew. But when Peca came out onto the ice to take part in warmups, the question as to whether he'd play began to be whispered around the Coliseum. Then shortly after it was announced, unbeknownst to the Coliseum crowd, that the Islanders had instated Peca to play off the IR. The crowd was very pleased to see Peca step onto the ice after it was announced that Arron Asham was a scratch and Peca was not. They chanted "Mi-chael Pe-ca! Mi-chael Pe-ca!". Peca took the opening faceoff and stayed out on the ice for almost a full 30 seconds. This brought on speculation that perhaps that was all he was going to play. And in fact may have been a longer shift than expected. At first it seemed to be a good move and that perhaps the Islanders were responding. Peca remained on the bench for the rest of a first period that saw no scoring and the Islanders outshoot the Blues 11-8. The Blues are a hot team right now and the Islanders were doing well toe to toe. But here comes the second period. A period the Islanders have struggled in mightily as of late. - The second period began with Peca in the same place he was when the first ended, on the bench. And he remained there for the entire second period as it was evident he was not going to get another shift in the game. The Blues began to take advantage of some of the Islanders decisions on the ice. The first bad play of the night came by starting goaltender Chris Osgood. He allowed a rebound into the slot off a pretty weak shot. Thanks to poor defensive coverage Pavol Demitra grabbed the loose puck and was wide open. Just when you expected him to fire it on Osgood, Demitra shuffled it over to Scott Mellanby at the other end who deposited his second of the year to give the Blues a 1-0 lead at 4:42. At 9:28 the Blues took advantage of a horribly bad play by defenseman Radek Martinek. Martinek grabbed a loose puck up by the inside blueline, but instead of skating it out he turned back into his own end. With a Blue bearing down on his back he backhanded the puck right at the Isles own net, causing a bounce in front of Osgood. Dallas Drake jumped all over it and snapped it through Ozzie for a 2-0 lead. That pretty much deflated the Isles. With 24 seconds remaining in the period, newly acquired Martin Rucinsky scored his first of the season to make it 3-0 going into the third for the Blues. The Islanders have now been outscored in the second period 8-0 in the last three games. - Early in the third period the Islanders got a rare goal by speedy Jason Blake, his first of the season. It looked like maybe they were about to mount a comeback. Blake grabbed the puck behind goaltender Fred Brathwaite and reeled around to wrap it in. The puck somehow found it's way underneath Brathwaite and the Isles were on the board. But a little less than two minutes later the Blues began to dance around the Islanders and make them look absolutely silly. One guy would skate in on a breakaway, and miss.....only to have a trailing player tap in the rebound. That was exactly how rookie Eric Boguniecki scored his fourth of the season to make it 4-1 Blues. Cory Stillman scored his 5th on the powerplay at 8:45 and Bryce Salvador scored his first of the year at 12:08 to make it 6-1. They just passed the puck around crisply and shot both pucks right through Osgood and a very frustrated & lackluster Islander squad in the third. In the closing minutes of the game, Peca's so called "comeback" was mired once more by a chant of "Refund" by the Islander faithful. Here's a shocking stat: the Islanders went 10 periods, that over 200 minutes, without scoring an even strength goal. Before Blake scored, the last Islander even strength goal was Brad Isbister's fluke goal in the third period at Philadelphia that gave the Islanders a 3-3 tie. The Isles have now lost 4 straight, the first time ever under coach Peter Laviolette. They face Calgary at home Monday night. Will Peca suit up again? Fight Card: Steve Webb vs. Reed Low. This i'm sad to say, was no contest. Low absolutely crushed Webb. He threw punch after punch until Webb's equipment was all tassled and he was down on the ice. Never gave Webb a chance. Low is a heavyweight. Webb is a lightweight. Give Webb credit for trying to get something going. But he chose the wrong partner. Win: Low. Commentary: The Islanders are looking for anything to get out of their recent slump. But tonight they showed no patience in turning to an option that in my mind was not very wise. Michael Peca made his 2002-03 debut tonight as he took the opening faceoff. The crowd was delighted. I was delighted. But the final result totally changed my mind. I admit, if the Islanders had come out with a win in this game it would have been a great move. After all, I am an Islander fan just like everyone reading this. But that's not what happened and therefore you face the repercussions. Peca remained on the ice for almost the first 30 seconds of the game. It was probably longer than scheduled, but we all know Peca is a consummate leader and has a huge desire to play. He even threw a nice hit on a Blues defenseman before heading to the bench shortly after. For the rest of the game Peca sat back and watched the Islanders get whipped on home ice by a final score of 6-1 to the St. Louis Blues. For Peca to play, the Islanders decided to sit Arron Asham. It doesn't seem that the Isles are too happy with Asham's play. We all know about the mistakes he's made on the ice to this point. But if Peca was going to play, even with light duty, then play him. If he's not ready to play, don't play him. If the Islanders had gained a lead then they could have rested him. And you have to take into account that he may not be able to contribute as much as we'd hope right away because of the injury and rustiness. But I question tonight if the Islanders have their heads on right and if they are taking this season seriously? Did they think that by starting Peca for 30 seconds it was going to lead them to an emotionally charged win? Note to the Islanders: an NHL hockey game is 60 minutes, not 30 seconds. Once again, I'll admit I was as happy as anyone to see Peca in the lineup, and replacing Asham. I would never question that. But the effect the move was meant to have obviously didn't work. Teams in the NHL don't normally do these kind of things unless the player can play a few shifts here and there. - The Isles needed to take this game seriously and stay within the .500 range. This was an important, crucial game as teams in the conference are starting to gain points while the Islanders squander them off. This was not a move they should have made unless Peca could have played more and contributed more to the cause.
Report Card: Michael Peca: 30 seconds and out. If you ask me Peca never really seemed comfortable making a brief return, knowing he would be sitting on the bench for the rest of the game. Perhaps he did it to be a leader. And we know he is itching to come back big time. But I was personally surprised that Peca turned down a mid period interview. When you make a move like this people are going to want to know what's happening. I have the UTMOST respect for Peca. And I will go on record as saying he is my favorite Islander. But I was surprised by that. Brad Isbister: Showed nothing again tonight. When you go up against the best teams in the league, you need your best players to perform. He doesn't. Alexei Yashin: Is probably going through his worst stretch as an Islander. Has been getting less icetime because of it. And is not being double shifted as much lately. But Laviolette says he "doesn't see it." Shawn Bates: Has become the scoring leader on a team where he shouldn't be. Too much responsibility. Mark Parrish: Was pretty much neutralized on the powerplay tonight. The Blues did not allow the puck to reach his stick for any deflections. St. Louis deserves credit for good scouting here. Raffi Torres: Hate to say it, but maybe it's time to send Raffi back down to the Bridge. He is scoreless in his last 6 games and still looking for goal #1 after 23 career games. Dave Scatchard: Did not do much tonight. Jason Wiemer: Threw a huge hit in the first period on a Blue, knocking the player down on his back. Other than that, pretty much went un-noticed. Jason Blake: Scored, finally. The only goal of the game. Probably luck, but give him credit. Claude Lapointe: a penalty killing regular. The penalty kill gave up another two meaningless goals late in the game. Justin Mapletoft: quiet game Steve Webb: talked some with Peca on the bench. Perhaps Peca should have told Webb not to pick a fight with Reed Low. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: After a few strong games as of late, was as guilty as any other Islander defenseman tonight with missed assignments and poor coverage. Adrian Aucoin: A very quiet game. Didn't get many shots off at all. Eric Cairns: Saw some time in the third period. Tried to get some things started physically. Kenny Jonsson: Jus as i'm writing this i'm thinking to myself...did he play very much at all in the second and third period??? Radek Martinek: Awful. Plain and simple. Right before he made that bad play that led to the Blues second goal I was thinking how Martinek seemed very shaky with the puck. And the coaching staff, unlike last season, has noticeably gotten less confident with his icetime. And we think Peca's going to have an easy comeback from ACL surgery? Look at Martinek. Some players heal differently. Hopefully they will both return to form. Mattias Timander: Had maybe one good stretch during the first period. Goal: Chris Osgood: Looked a lot better early on. Must have had a good talk with Billy Smith because he was using his stick very well all period. But when things started to deteriorate in the second period, so did Ozzie's play. And eventually he just looked like the same goalie we've seen all throughout October. Coach: Whose decision was it to bring back Peca? Was it a good move or a bad move? Well, you know my thoughts. But obviously this was Laviolette's final decision. Plus, there had to be a pretty good promise to the team doctors that nothing would happen, otherwise you'd have to question the doctors for letting him return if he's not ready to play more than 30 seconds a game. Lavvy said they decided to make this move Friday night. At 3-6-1-0 was this a panic move?
Blues 6, Islanders 1
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSE GOALTENDERS BLUES DEFENSE GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
STL - 2 of 7, NYI - 0 of 4.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Regrouped Isles Ready to Roll Nov 2: The Islanders enter tonight's game against the St. Louis Blues at home on a current three game losing streak. They look to snap that streak against on of the hottest teams in the NHL as the Blues have gone 6-1-1-0 despite some injury problems. Isles vs. Blues Preview: The Islanders right now are desperate for a win. They currently are 3 points behind the 8th seed in the East and 3 games under the .500 mark. Any more than that and they will be entering the danger zone. One thing they can feel good about is the recent power surge on the powerplay, as the Isles have 5 in their last two games with the man advantage. On the other end of the spectrum, the penalty kill unit had really faltered as they have allowed 5 goals against in the last two games as well. The Islanders really need their defense working on all cylinders tonight because the St. Louis Blues are a very offensive minded team. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Chris Osgood will be back in net tonight after Garth Snow started the last two games. The reason i'm going out on a limb is because lately i've predicted the wrong goaltender to start. So only Peter Laviolette really knows. The Isles also need to try and get some offense going at even strength. On defense, Roman Hamrlik has been the hottest Islander as of late. He has been racking up the assists lately on the powerplay and has 7 on the season. That ties him for the team lead with Shawn Bates. Speaking of Bates, the Islanders have addressed their serious penalty problem as of late. Coach Laviolette reportedly put the team through a grueling one hour practice on Thursday, following a meeting that lasted almost an hour itself. Hopefully they will collectively fix this problem, as it is not just a select few taking bad penalties on the team, but even veterans. The Islanders tonight would do well with getting the lead, but this time not collapsing especially in the second period. It will be interesting to see if the Islanders can grab the lead after the first, or if they will be playing from behind. Tkachuk Feels the Blues Good news for the Islanders, bad news for the Blues. St. Louis will be without star forward Keith Tkachuk tonight after breaking his foot Wednesday night in a 7-0 win over Nashville. Tkachuk, who was blocking a shot, joins a slew of other Blues in the sidelines. - Bad break for Tkachuk as he was 4-4-8 in 8 games played until the injury. But the Islanders will still have their hands full with a team that has still found a way to win or tie in all but one of their 8 games. Doug Weight is their offensive leader as he has gone 4-7-11 in 8 games. The Blues are without captain Chris Pronger on defense with what could be a season ending injury. He had wrist surgery over the summer, but reportedly it has not healed right and he could be lost for much longer than originally expected. But veteran Al MacInnis is still blasting pucks at the net and is 3-6-9 in 8 games. The Blues did similar as the Isles this summer by basically standing pat in the free agent market. Something they don't regularly do. But they are getting some contributions from a lot of new faces in the early goings. A couple of rookie centers, Petr Cajanek and Eric Boguniecki are each averaging a point per game for the Blues. Tom Koivisto is second in scoring among defensemen to MacInnis. Cory Stillman was a steal for the Blues two years ago as he has 9 points in 8 games. And Pavol Demitra, though he only has one goal to date, is deadly with the puck and still has 8 points. The Blues are doing all this after having an injury bug hit their goaltending crew. They recently set an NHL record for having 4 different goaltenders notch a win in consecutive games. Fred Brathwaite recently came back from a bout with a bad groin and has started 2 straight. He's expected to start tonight. Their #1, Brent Johnson is out for another two to three weeks with a high ankle sprain and has not played yet this season. The Blues have gotten wins out of Brathwaite, Reinhard Divis, Curtis Sanford and Cody Rudkowsky. Recently, they signed veteran Tom Barrasso who is currently working out to get into shape. They also signed left winger Martin Rucinsky, who is expected to play his first game of the season tonight in the place of Tkachuk. The Blues are currently riding a 7 game unbeaten streak.
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
