Refs Hand Isles 7th Straight Loss

Tonight our Islanders dropped their 7th game in a row to the officials Penguins by a score of 3-2 in overtime.  Here are some of my notes from the game:

-The refs were absolutely horrendous tonight!  There were five instances off the top of my head where the Pens committed obvious penalties but play was allowed to continue.  The most notable of these was during the Islanders powerplay late in the game when Thomas Vanek was in front of the net he got mugged and assaulted not once but twice by Penguins players without a call.  So in frustration he goes and gives Matt Niskanen a tap on the leg and the ref gives him a penalty for slashing.  The referees must've thought they were in 1975 for a minute because the way Vanek was treated in front of the net isn't allowed anymore and was more custom back in that time.  Another clear case of buffoonery on the part of the officials was the cross checking call on Tavares late in the second period.  Tavares hardly hit him with the check and if the other teams captain did the same thing it would be looked over.  It happened earlier in that period when Crosby clear as day tripped someone deep in the Islanders offensive zone and there was no call.  While there was plenty more to say about the officials ill go onto the rest of the game.

-Awful defense by Hamonic and de Haan on Crosby's winner.  How do you just let him go by you and not do anything but some stick checks?  Why not take the body?  You will probably take a penalty because of who your defending against (just ask Brian Strait) but its better then giving up the goal there and something the Islanders defense as a hole doesn't do near enough.




-Nilsson looked pretty solid for a second consecutive start.  Until he starts to show otherwise with his play I think Anders Nilsson should continue starting in goal.

-Hickey had a rough game.  He was flat out skated around more then once which is very concerning for a defenseman.  Not only that but he was banged around with a couple big hits to.  It was nice to see him stand up for Nilsson in the third landing that nasty slash on Malkin.

-If someone did to Crosby what Malkin did to Tavares they probably would've gotten kicked out of the game, especially if it was someone like Boulton and gotten fined.  However, with Malkin it was only a two minute penalty and probably won't be looked at again.  After tonight I will severely question people who don't believe Howie Rose that a double standard exists in the NHL separating elite teams and everyone else.  It isn't right, it is just the way of the land so to speak.

-Good to see Okposo get back on the board after cooling off from his hot start.

-The Islanders need more secondary scoring.  Sure they are getting a lot of scoring from the top line but the rest of the lineup needs to put up solid shifts in both zones.


Next Game: Thursday 8PM @ St Louis