Isles Fall 3-2 To Division Foes

Tonight, our Islanders had their three game winning streak snapped at the hands of Eric Staal and the Hurricanes as they fell by a score of 3-2.  Here are some of my notes from the game:

-Our defense which had been much better recently really betrayed us tonight.  Most notably on the first two Carolina goals.  The first one was a brutal giveaway by MacDonald whose struggles continue this year.  In his latest Newsday piece Arthur Staple made a comparison to Matt Carle when speaking about MacDonald who is in his contract year.  Carle managed to get a 6 year deal worth 33 million from Tampa Bay in the summer of 2012.  If MacDonalds demands are up there the Islanders should wish him well and send him on his way because he isn't a high enough level of player to warrant such a high salary.  The second Hurricane goal was just a complete breakdown.  Even with his struggles this year leaving Jordan Staal in the slot between the hash marks all by himself isn't a good idea and the Islanders learned that the hard way tonight.

-Tavares and Vanek combined for one of the Islanders prettier goals this season in the second period.  It was clear from the outset that their line along with Kyle Okposo really came to play tonight as they have for a while now.

-It's encouraging to see Vanek continuing to put up points.  Hopefully this continues, I think it would be a huge mistake to not retain Vanek going forward past this season.  Our first line is one of the better first lines we have had in a long time and we should try and build up the few strengths as a team we have not get rid of them.

-Given the defensive woes tonight Nabokov had a pretty solid outing once again.  I don't know what happened to him while he was out with his injury but he is like a hole new player.

Well, as I said on twitter, the results from this game were disappointing yet predictable on so many levels.  On one hand the Islanders are hot and are heading into a game with a divisional rival that is beatable and they will have a big home crowd behind them trying to will them to victory.  On the other hand, the Islanders have struggled against Carolina for the better part of two years now and for whatever reason the Islanders are notorious for playing less then stellar games in front of big home crowds.  As I said after the win against the Blackhawks the other night, will the real New York Islanders please stand up?

Next Game: Monday @ Home Vs Dallas