It Was Ugly, But It is a Win

Tonight, our Islanders managed to defeat the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 3-2.  Even with the two points, this is a win that I am sure will leave a sour taste in some players mouths as with the way the Islanders played tonight, they didn't deserve the two points.  Here are some of my notes from the game:

-The Islanders puck management was atrocious tonight.  They were, "out of sync" as the fan next to me at the game said.  That is putting it lightly in my opinion, they simply struggled at making simple passes tonight which was infuriating to watch.

-The team also had nothing left in the third period tonight.  The Oilers who played last night mind you were out skating and out hustling the Islanders.  The shot total reflected it to as the Oilers outshot the Islanders 15-5.  That is a very troubling sign that the coaching staff should be all over the team for.  The Islanders played down to their competition tonight and it showed.

-The penalty kill continued their pitiful play tonight.  We have the players that should make the penalty kill solid, but the system they play hasn't worked this season.  That failing system falls on coach Greg Cronin.  While there may have been minor tweaks made to the system at points this year, I don't recall a huge change to the system which seems insane to me because it didn't work while Cronin was in Toronto and the lack of success has followed him here.

-One of the few strong points of the game tonight was the play of Jaroslav Halak.  He really came up big at key points for the team tonight.

-Colin McDonald also had his second strong game in a row.  If he keeps this up, he may make the coaches job tough when Grabner and Clutterbuck get healthy.

-How Josh Bailey get the extra penalty for that altercation in the second period is beyond me.  I don't usually point out specific plays like this but that one truly had me baffled.

Even with the two points, an effort like this wasn't a good way to start a long home stand.  While they were fortunate tonight to get the two points, that may not happen again.  With some more weaker teams coming on the horizon, they really need to shape up so they can take advantage of it like they should.

Next Game: Thursday vs Toronto