Saturday, January 31, 2015

Poor Special Teams Doom Isles in 4-1 Loss

This afternoon, our Islanders dropped their second straight game, this time by a score of 4-1 to the Red Wings.  Here are some of my notes from the game:

-While Johnson wasn't at his finest today, he wasn't bad either.  He got no help around him which didn't have a good impact on his game.  He gave the team a chance which is all you can ask from your backup.

-The officials were atrocious today. the embellishment call on Brock Nelson specifically was one of the worst calls I have seen in a while.

-Save for a couple third period spurts, the team never really had their game going at all today.  It is like the early start threw them off and they were already back home tomorrow having their Super Bowl parties instead of concentrating on the game at hand.

-The penalty kill was atrocious yet again today as it has been for a majority of the season to this point.  If they are about holding coaches accountable I wonder if the thought creeps into their head to let go of Greg Cronin who has failed to this point.

-On the topic of special teams, while the power play was a little better today than it was the other night, it still wasn't near good enough.  The team is way to stagnant on the power play and looks for the pretty play rather than getting the puck on net and creating chances.

Given the Islanders recent success in Detroit, an effort like todays was surprising.  The team really never got anything going and that is evident by their relatively low shot count.  They need to take the next two days and regroup as they prepare to take on the Panthers on Tuesday.

Next Game: Tuesday @ Home vs Panthers

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