SB Nation - Brendan Witt

Bruins set to face Islanders

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:44:50 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

The Bruins are on Long Island to face the New York Islanders tonight. The Bruins are looking for revenge after a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Islanders back on November 16th. The B's enter tonight's game looking for their third straight win after two impressive victories over the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the Isles will try to stop a three game skid.

Know Your Enemy

New York Islanders (11-13-7)

Head Coach: Scott Gordon

Bruins record vs. Islanders this season: 1-1-0

Leading Scorers:

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - John Tavares	15	11	26	-1	6

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Matt Moulson	14	9	23	5	16

Projected Starting Goaltenders:

Tim Thomas

#30 / Goalie / Boston Bruins

Height: 5-11

Weight: 201

Born: Apr 15, 1974

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Tim Thomas	17	1016	7	7		42	2.48	488	446	.914	3

Dwayne Roloson

#30 / Goalie / New York Islanders

Height: 6-1

Weight: 180

Born: Oct 12, 1969

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Dwayne Roloson	18	1079	9	4		50	2.78	585	535	.915	0

Injury Report

Boston Bruins Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Dennis Wideman	other-excused	12/12/2009

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Byron Bitz	other-illness	12/12/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Milan Lucic	ankle	11/26/2009

New York Islanders Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Radek Martinek	knee	11/07/2009
Andy Sutton	groin	11/29/2009
Doug Weight	other-excused	11/07/2009

Notes:

- The Islanders have only played 11 games at home this season, but have looked relatively good in their own building (6-3-2).

- Bruins are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.

- The Islanders and Bruins are both 18.3% on the power play this season.

- The B's now have the best penalty kill in the league with 86.4%.

- It will take more than an SUV to stop Brendan Witt

- Byron Bitz and Dennis Wideman both skated in the morning skate.

- For more on tonight's game, check out Lighthouse Hockey

- Game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on NESN. Public Skate open tread starts at 6:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Islanders Fan YouTube Video

Off the Post - December 10th

Conico do Mayo Miracle — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:24 -0000

[UPDATE] - Happy 40th birthday, Rob Blake! Love, Rudy Kelly (j/k).
[UPDATE] - St. Louis Game Time (the newspaper which spawned the blog) reproduced a segment of "Ice Chips" - questions answered by none other than T.J. Oshie's dad - on the SLGT blog. Highly recommended.
In case you weren't aware, TCY's boy-toy Logan Couture is a great prospect.
Manny Malhotra will be at the Sharks Store signing autographs on December 15th; if you're going, mention it in the comments, and be sure to contribute to Manny's tip jar.
The Ottawa Senators are failing to get production from their high-priced acquisitions... and Jonathan Cheechoo's name doesn't even come up once.
Rudy Kelly really, really, really hates Evgeni Nabokov... who may or may not be a lock for Team Russia.
Ed Jovanovski gets suspended for 2 games, causing him to miss this Saturday's contest against the Sharks; meanwhile, Silver Seven gets irate at those defending JovoCop.
J.R. chimes in on the recent suspensions.
The Nashville Predators slowly climb towards the 14,000-person attendance benchmark required for full NHL revenue sharing...
...which leads us to yet another article on why Canada deserves a 7th team.

Look, I hate Brenden Morrow as much as the next tealblood... but that's Corey Perry he just upended, so you have to smile just a little.

A car gets hit by Brendan Witt.
Enter Boucher....
Mark Messier gets named as the Canadian GM for the 2010 world championship, and decidedly ignores Gretzky's record behind the bench to recommend his old buddy for the coaching position.
Going into last night's game, the Sharks were 1-for-17 on the power play... medical experts are not ruling out MGS as a possibility.
If you ever doubted it, yes, yes indeed - NHL'ers read SBN blogs.
Behind the Net adds analysis to the Brodeur vs. Sawchuk debate.
Sean Gallagher has a sit-down with Andy Murray... kinda.
If you'll excuse me, my buddy OdinMercer and I are going to go celebrate Cinco de Coyo...
...in the meantime, who's the better rapper = Crosby, or Ovechkin?

Wednesday Links: Pretending the game tonight is in Sweden edition

averagejoe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

by Tom Gannam - AP

Listen Polak, the puck goes in the net, not the player. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

View full size photo »

All games are exciting, but games against the Red Wings carry that little something extra. That something? Pure, unfiltered hate. I won't be wearing anything red tomorrow. Let's go Blues.

Blues news

For your viewing pleasure: Blues vs. Wings. Tonight. Hopefully, there will be blood. [CBS Sports]
Unreal: "You get a chance and you start thinking about it and trying to pick a spot. That's when you get into trouble." -- Brad Boyes about the Blues struggling offense. Shockingly, the team is going to try putting the puck ON net tonight. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Columbus and the Blues made a trade yesterday. In case you missed it, the Blues have acquired the new Trent Whitfield. Odds Pascal Pelletier even sniffs this NHL this year? [Belleville News-Democrat]
Kick-ass read on Wendy Pleau and her battle with cancer. Only downside to this argument, I kind of think less of Larry Pleau. How do you not know how to use the microwave or washing machine? Come on, man. [ESPN]

Scouting the Enemy

Detroit forward Valtteri Filppula got his wrist cast off, but is still a few weeks away from coming back. [Freep]
Even though he's a Wing, I gotta admit Justin Abdelkader has a cool name. He's playing a bigger role for the Wings. Oh and Ville Leino will be scratched tonight. [MLive]
To find more about the Wings, feel free to check out Winging it in Motown. If you want to fit in, just say things like "Steve Yzerman is a god." or "Our goaltending sucks." Or, you could just say nothing at all since that seems to be the norm over there. [Winging It In Motown]

Hockey news

Results from Tuesday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Oh, Wednesday is another full slate of games. [Yahoo! Sports]
In an investigation that won't change shit, Marc Savard' contract is being looked at by the NHL. Just like Chris Pronger and Marian Hossa before him. What happened to those guys? [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
The Hurricanes Cam Ward is back. [ESPN]
Montreal forward Ryan White was called up from the AHL, but the Canadiens didn't report it properly forcing his removal from the game. [ESPN]
Team Canada (hockey) will be announced on Dec. 30. [CTV Olympics]
Brendan Witt is a bad, bad man. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

I have a good friend whose facebook updates 80 percent of the time about how awesome he is. He is, a facebrager. [facebraggers]
MTV has a new show called "Jersey Shore" that has some of the most incredible (and not in a good way) people. Anyway, apparently (I don't watch the show) the characters all have some stupid nickname. If I were on this site, my name would be DJ Douchebag. What's yours? [Unlikely Words]

Video

This video is simply amazing. This is sexism at its finest, and by the I mean holy shit is this sexist.

Bonus video

Anyone know the weather forecast for tonight in Detroit?

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. I'll be working tonight so I won't be at the GDT, but you guys should still kick ass without me.

Did you find the hidden message in today's links?

Tuesday afternoon links: Letestu back to AHL, Hit kings and Witt gets hit by a car

Hooks Orpik — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:29:39 -0000

Mark Letestu did well in his recent NHL cameo, but now he's back to Wilkes-Barre. [Post-Gazette]

Wheeling Nailer defenseman Cliff Loya checks in on how the season is going down there. [Faceoff Factor]

The Penguins are racking up the hits [Penguins.nhl.com]

Ode to Noted. [Pens Universe]

Edzo's Mellon memories. [Empty Netters]

Hurricanes captain Rod "The Bod" Brind'Amour was a healthy scratch last night, is he about at the end of his rope? The once solid defensive center has a combined plus/minus of-42 since the beginning of the 2008-09 season. [WRAL Sports]

Florida Panthers just can't stop nailing each other. [Kuklas Korner]

The top 10 goon moments of the decade. Some ugly moments here [Puck Daddy]

Islanders' defenseman Brendan Witt gets hit by a car, dusts himself off saying "I'm okay, no big deal". Witt's expected to play tonght. [TSN]

Your Yukon truck is no match for Brendan Witt, Warrior D

Dominik — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:59:46 -0000

This used to be a nice Yukon. [Edit: For anyone confused: NO, that's not the one that hit Witt. He got up, you know.]

View full size photo »

Shark attacks, truck attacks -- no problem.

Even if he's lost a step on the ice since his heyday, this is why so many fans love Brendan Witt:

Witt was crossing Arch street to get a cup of coffee when a gold Yukon truck made an illegal turn and hit the 34-year-old. Newsday says Witt tried to jump on the hood of the vehicle before being thrown to the ground as he was struck.

"I'm okay," Witt told the crowd as he dusted himself off, according to Newsday. "I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal."

The story gets better, with on-looker's stunned reactions ("It was like Clint Eastwood"), in that TSN link (above) and Katie Strang's report at her Newsday Isles blog.

Of course Witt will still be in the lineup tonight. Like you expected any different?

Poll

If a Yukon truck hit me in Philadelphia I would:

Lightning 4, Islanders 0: Mike Smith shuts 'em out while Rick DiPietro inches back

Dominik — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:36:28 -0000

More photos » by Douglas Healey - AP

Rick DiPietro's return to live action in Bridgeport ended up being far more interesting than the Islanders' performance in Tampa Bay.

Browse more photos »

Oh hockey, you beast, you giveth and you taketh away. One night you treat us to a perfectly executed, convincing win against the hottest Southeast foe. Two nights later you frustrate us with a flailing powerplay that couldn't get the puck in against a Southeast team that had lost four in a row.

Though the refs made a soft interference call to disallow what would have been the only Islanders goal, Lightning goalie Mike Smith very much earned this shutout. Though all the "intent to blow" calls lately make me wonder how the refs allowed Ryan Malone to poke the puck free from Dwayne Roloson's glove on the first goal, the Islanders very much earned this 4-0 loss.

Game Sum. | Event Sum. | Recaps: nhl.com | Isles

Final - 12.5.2009	1	2	3	Total
New York Islanders	0	0	0	0
Tampa Bay Lightning	2	0	2	4

Complete Coverage >

It wasn't that the Islanders were awful, but they were certainly out of sync. Had they faced a weaker goalie, perhaps they'd have achieved a more flattering score. Tip your hat to Smith's 30 saves -- several of them highlight reel quality -- and hope for his sake that this is a sign his pre-concussion form is attainable.

Partly thanks to Smith, and partly due to their own failings, the Islanders drew several powerplays but could not score. The first was a generous 1:21 5-on-5 that produced a few chances and a few gaffes. Shortly after that failure, Brendan Witt took a frankly stupid slashing penalty on a Martin St. Louis breakaway, and the Lightning converted on the ensuing PP to make it 2-0. To add insult, the anticipated first John Tavares-Victor Hedman meeting produced little of interest from either of them ... until Hedman finally netted his first NHL goal on a nice pinch to complete the scoring half way through the third.

The Witt Penalty

Well, there were two, but the first was another example that makes me wonder if they ever can teach this old dog new tricks. It's the new NHL -- it has been since 2006 -- and you simply cannot take free hacks at a guy on a breakaway anymore. What was worse about this one is the home run pass from Vincent Lecavalier was bouncing, so St. Louis had to chase it off to the side, in a far from ideal shooting position. So not only did Witt take a sure-penalty slash on a guy, he took it on a guy who was now in a low-percentage shooting position. And the slash, incidentally, did nothing to weaken the scoring chance. It's hard to unlearn old habits, I know; it's also hard to watch a guy who used to be very effective make the same avoidable mistakes.

The Bergenheim/Nielsen/Hunter Line

Thursday they were heroes for shutting down Kovalchuk and company, tonight Sean Bergenheim, Trent Hunter and Frans Nielsen were each minus-2. [UPDATE: No, no they weren't. As our emerging eagle-eye commenter BenHasna pointed out, the NHL game sheet had it wrong yet again. This line wasn't on for goal #4, but rather Witt and Jackman and friends were. Question everything.] But they didn't have awful nights; they produced some of the Islanders' better scoring chances, with 8 shots between them. (Hunter's first-period blast even cracked the glass behind Mike Smith.) But no one looks good in a 4-0 shutout.

The 2009 Draft Matchup

Well, this angle was a dud. Eighteen-year-olds playing night after night in the NHL will have their anonymous nights, and tonight was no different for Tavares and almost for Hedman. If I were watching in a vacuum, I'd have had a very hard time figuring these two guys were the two brightest stars picked last summer. Hedman's goal salvaged his night and made it memorable. But before then, he looked like a very big guy with agility and the capacity to be a pretty good defenseman.

Tavares left even less of an impression: He looked like a guy with some nice hands and moves, which only yielded a single shot tonight. (Hedman had two shots.) That's alright; even superstar veterans have quiet nights. I know both of these guys will treat us to some epic nights for many years to come.

Steve Downie: Still a Fool

Steve Downie showed nice hands scoring a powerplay goal in tight during the first period. Later, he showed the complete lack of perspective that has landed him in trouble multiple times in his checkered career. After zealously stabbing at Roloson's pads past when play was whistled dead, he received the predictable shoving response from upset Islanders defenders, including Andrew MacDonald.

Downie's Mensa response? To immediately start raining uppercuts on MacDonald, as if they were in a fight. Downie picked up the extra roughing minor, and could have drawn more for his three free shots. At every level of hockey, there's always some guys who just don't get it.

The Powerplay

It's still anemic. 0 for 5 on this night, with 7 shots on goal. In fact, the Islanders looked more dangerous at 5-on-5, which is probably why they drew so many powerplays.

* * *

Overall, a disappointing showing in what might have been quite a winnable game. Worse, a missed chance to climb a little in the standings and create some space above the Flyers, who were demolished at home by the Capitals in Peter Laviolette's Philadelphia debut.

Rick DiPietro Returns

There was a more significant event tonight, of course: Rick DiPietro's return to competitive action in Bridgeport. He let in one softie among 3 goals on 13 shots in 40 minutes of action (actually, a lot of that time there was no action). The Sound Tigers built a 3-0 lead before Springfield erased that against DiPietro. A 3rd-period surge gave Bridgeport a 7-3 win.

We'll have more on that tomorrow, but check these reports from nhl.com, Chris Botta at FanHouse (and his PB play-by-play), and Islesblogger Mike's live blog as well as his Twitter bits on the game. You know Mike Fornabaio will have more, too.

Flyers 2, Islanders 1: Boucher shuts the door

Dominik — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:48:41 -0000

Josh Bailey's scoring streak ended, but at least he formally received his wings: See, you haven't officially "made it" to the NHL until Chris Pronger foolishly crosschecks you behind the net, putting your team on the powerplay. Congratulations, Josh.

Unfortunately, additional powerplays didn't matter, because the Islanders couldn't replicate the sweet John Tavares pass to Trent Hunter that created their first and only goal. While the Islanders played very encouraging hockey for two periods, Brian Boucher shut the door and kept them from expanding the lead. (The post also helped, keeping Kyle Okposo in a slump.)

Game Sum. | Event Sum. | Recaps: nhl.com | Isles | BSH

Final - 11.25.2009	1	2	3	Total
Philadelphia Flyers	0	1	1	2
New York Islanders	1	0	0	1

Complete Coverage >

In stark contrast to the Leafs game (which, amusingly, still feels like a "loss" in my head, making this feel like a four-game losing streak), the Isles handily outplayed the Flyers and outshot them 28-17 through two. After a demoralizing tying goal in the final minute of the 2nd -- with the Flyers converting their only powerplay of the night -- the Islanders then got one measly shot in the third.

Scott Hartnell's goal, ramped up over Martin Biron by Brendan Witt's stick, felt inevitable. To have your way with a team for two periods -- getting under the Flyers' skin by playing aggressive, clean hockey -- and only come out of those two periods tied, well that sets up a classic let-down, woe-is-us scenario for the third: "We deserve to be ahead," "goals in the last minute hurt" -- all the hockey cliches are in play with a young team missing its vocal captain Doug Weight.

That said, there were were some positives and negatives. As marveled after Monday's OT win in Toronto: Hockey's a funny game, which is why Dwayne Roloson stole a win from an awful Islanders performance Monday, and Boucher stole a win from two periods of awful Flyers performance Wednesday. So it goes. The third-period letdown was really disappointing, but it felt like only a matter of time before the Flyers woke up and controlled play for a while.

That's not excusing their third period; just an observation that this happens when you have a good team on its heels but don't put them away. Scott Gordon, incidentally, was ticked off -- and distinguished this third-period failure from the other kind we're more familiar with:

"In the first and second periods, we took the ice that was available," Gordon said after watching his team lose its first home game since Nov. 7. "In the third period, the only thing we wanted to do was make plays, and as a result we didn't generate any speed coming into the zone. We were easy to defend against in the defensive zone because there was no element of speed."

Positive: Jon Sim. Credit where credit is due. He did his job, got under the Flyers' (and most importantly, Pronger's) skin with physical play and by setting up shop around their net. He is snake-bitten and unable to finish many choice chances, but I imagine Scott Gordon keeps using him because he creates those and because he can be this kind of pest.

Negative: The PK. Truly, the penalty kill has been great this year -- and overworked. So naturally, what happens on a night where they only have to kill one penalty? Goal. Only two shots on that kill, but the second one counted. Richard Park, Nate Thompson, Andy Sutton and Jack Hillen were out there for the entire kill, and by the end of that long shift they had collapsed too low, allowing the Flyers to set up a bang-bang goal Biron didn't have a chance on.

Positive: Trent Hunter. The only guy better than Bailey at setting up Hunter may be Tavares. That was a beautifully threaded pass, and Hunter got just enough of it to slip it under Boucher. Hunter has played 10 games this year and earned points in 9 of them. Nice to have you back, #7.

Negative: Brendan Witt. Yes, his penalty led to the Flyers goal, but the elbow was a corner-battles type of penalty (that Dan Carcillo milked), and the Flyers were going to get their powerplay some time. Hartnell's goal also deflected off of Witt's stick; since Witt was battling with his own man in front of the net, I won't get on him for that -- just trying to do too much. But it was another game that didn't look good for the veteran. Martin Biron bailed him out with a glove save on a 2-on-1 when Witt coughed the puck up at the Flyers blueline.

Positive: Martin Biron. He did what he could. Twenty-seven saves. The game-winner wasn't his fault on Witt's tip (nor, obviously, was the powerplay goal). As a few pointed out in the game thread, he again didn't get much goal support. On a night when he could have gotten a big win over his former team, the offense fell short and Boucher got the glory.

* * *

Afternoon game tomorrow, which is always scary, the day after a food holiday. Who knows what we'll get and how the Penguins will come out.

Meantime, happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll be thankful for a fun Islanders season and the fact you all keep returning to this site to talk some hockey. If you're in Canada, well, just go ahead and celebrate Thanksgiving again anyway. We Americans tend to do it by overstuffing ourselves, so you can't go wrong there.

Losing streak ends! Flyers squeak by Isles 2-1

Travis Hughes — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:13:38 -0000

More photos » by Seth Wenig - AP

24 days ago: Philadelphia Flyers' Scott Hartnell, left, celebrates his goal with teammates Mike Richards, center, and Jeff Carter during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009, in Uniondale, N.Y. The Flyers won 2-1. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Browse more photos »

[TSN Recap] - [Boxscore] - [NYI Reaction]

Final - 11.25.2009	1	2	3	Total
Philadelphia Flyers	0	1	1	2
New York Islanders	1	0	0	1

Complete Coverage >

The losing streak is finally over. It probably shouldn't be, but it is.

Yep, the Philadelphia Flyers squeaked one out tonight on Long Island, beating Martin Biron and the host Islanders 2-1. They were able to pick up the 'W' thanks to a strong third period in which they only allowed one shot on goal. Keeping the play in the Isles end for just about the entire twenty minutes was a necessity, given the sad performance they showed in the first forty.

With the exception of a select few, the Flyers drifted through most of this one like a log in the Delaware River, and they looked as alive as a fish in the Schuylkill. Trent Hunter gave New York the lead about eight minutes in as the Islanders fired toward Brian Boucher at will. Boosh had to make 17 saves in the first period alone -- the only reason the Flyers were even in this one to begin with.

The second period dragged on in similar fashion to the first, with the Isles controlling the play and the Flyers not putting up much of a fight. But at the end of the second, a Brendan Witt roughing penalty gave Philadelphia their first man advantage of the game, one they didn't let fall by the wayside.

Claude Giroux took the puck just above the faceoff circle, waited a second, and fed Mike Richards back door along the goal line for an angle drive that could've put a hole in the back of the net. Isles' goalie Marty Biron didn't even have time to realize Richards was sneaking to his glove side, let alone have time to react to the blistering shot. The goal was the drastic momentum shift the Flyers needed as they headed to the dressing room and prepped for the third.

The third was all Flyers, but they didn't put the game-winner behind Biron until the latter portion of the period. With about five minutes left, Jeff Carter sped down the left wing, and with two Islanders' pressuring him, he somehow threaded a pass through them both, cross-ice, to the trailing Scott Hartnell. Hartnell's one-time blast tipped off Witt's stick just enough to fool Biron and give the Flyers the lead.

Given the way the orange and black played throughout the first two periods, the Islanders probably should have put them away. Instead, they'll head back to Philly for the first time in over a week, take Boucher out for a round of beers, and put this losing streak in the history books.

After the jump, we'll have a few more thoughts on this one, answer our pregame questions, watch some highlights, and hand out a comment of the night.

Some assorted thoughts...

Did the Flyers fly home from New York? Their official Twitter feed reported around midnight: "Touchdown in Philly. Practice tomorrow at 10:30." Someone tell them its only a two hour train ride.
Boucher made up for any bad feelings we may have had toward him early in the season. I've said it already but I'll say it again -- he won this one tonight.
It's weird seeing Marty Biron in Islander orange, especially since he has the same pads as he did with the Flyers.
Poor Brendan Witt. With the penalty leading to the first Flyers goal and the deflection causing the second, it seems he was as important as Boucher in the orange and black sealing this win.
Claude Giroux had another fantastic game tonight.
Ian Laperriere did, too. He got in two fights in the first period as he tried to spark the team.
Despite the win, the Flyers still can't seem to put in a 60 minute effort. Unacceptable.
Richards and Carter took over the game in the third period. There was a determination there that we be extremely hard to beat, if we could only see it every minute of every game.
Isles coach Scott Gordon looked pissed after the game in his post-game presser. Here's the video. Stay with it the whole time.
The Islanders haven't defeated the Flyers in almost two years -- since February of 2008.

Questions With Answers

Can Pronger and Matt Carle shut down Tavares and the Isles' top-line? I thought they did a decent job. Their top-line scored their only goal, and it was mostly Boucher doing the containing throughout the night, but Tavares and Company didn't embarrass anybody or anything.
Will the Flyers be able to take advantage of knowing Martin Biron's weaknesses? Not really. Most of the shots they put on him were pretty weak, actually.
The Isles take 4.25 minor penalties per game, on average. That's about middle of the pack in the league, but the Flyers PP should get some chances tonight. Can they take advantage against a PK that's also average? The PP goal they got at the end of the second was the key to the game, it turns out. It completely shifted the momentum. But as for the question, its tough to say considering there was only one PP on the night.
Is Kimmo Timonen hurt? He didn't play in the third on Monday night, but the Flyers haven't said anything about his absence. Any indications tonight that something is wrong? Nope, he played 20 minutes.
Ice time for Riley Cote? 5:38. Movin' on up...

Comment of the Night

Haha.

>> Ben Feldman, reacting to the Flyers taking the lead

Highlights

Islanders Gameday: All hockey roads lead to Toronto

Dominik — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:15:08 -0000

Be honest: In your wildest dreams, did you expect the Maple Leafs to be this bad through a quarter of the season? After a shootout "win" over the vaunted Capitals in perhaps Vesa Toskala's best game since 2007-08, they are nine points behind our Islanders.

Just 21 games in, it's reasonable to expect things to get a little better for the Leafs. Already 21 games in, it's unreasonable to expect they won't be giving Boston at least a top-10 pick.

Last Year's Worst Team (8-8-7, 23rd) @ This Year's Worst Team (4-11-6, 30th)
7 p.m. EST | [they fly aeroplanes] Centere | MSG+, radio
Hub of Leaf Raking: Pension Plan Puppets

But for tonight anything goes, as a suddenly whimpering road trip comes to a close with John Tavares's first NHL visit to Toronto, where 100 family and friends are expected and 2,000 media members will eat each other for a bite of manufactured controversy in the Center of the Universe.

Another uncharacteristic Leafs goalie performance could turn this one. A big special teams night could be the difference. A ref's call that enrages Leafs fans could do it. Or, like Saturday in St. Louis, it could come down to one club winning 5-on-5 running away. But I'm expecting goals, as these two coaches think offense first -- even if neither has quite enough offense to make that philosophy pay off (Toronto: 2.52 GF/gm, 23rd; NYI: 2.70, 18th).

Win, and the Islanders' seven-game trip finishes 3-2-2. Lose outright, and their total regulation losses will have increased by 50% in the course of a single weekend. Go to overtime, and the ambiguous misery of the NHL's "The People Demand a Winner" bonus-point system means you can spin half of these results in any myriad of ways.

Missed Opportunity

The Islanders had two chances this weekend to pull ahead of the Rangers, who lost to Florida and are now 11-10-1. Now, life does not revolve around the team my dad called the Short Island Smurfs (supposedly thanks to broadcasting legend Gus Kyle, though I've never found a second source for that). But no matter the year, it's fun to feel some schadenfreude toward the Rangers. Perhaps tonight we leap into fourth place in the Atlantic, if only for just a moment?

Lineup Shenanigans

Defense: Brendan Witt will re-enter the lineup. Maybe we'll get an update and I'll edit this post, but is anyone else hoping Andrew MacDonald is not the one who sits in his stead? Just 23, the Judique, Nova Scotia native (you have to pull for hockey's Maritime* natives, no?) and '06 6th-rounder has been a bit of a revelation, doing everything necessary at Bridgeport and now in the NHL to prove he deserves a longer look, with a tougher load.

*Random fact: The combined population of Canada's three Maritime provinces is about one-fourth of Long Island's.

I never do this with such a small sample as three games, but here I go, so never say never: MacDonald's relative +/- (i.e. +/- per 60 minutes relative to his teammates -- it's the "Rating" column in the following link) looks positively lovely in comparison to his teammates. Now, that's in limited and possibly protected minutes (his quality of teammates is high, and quality of competition is low -- in a minimal sample). By not being on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal against yet, he looks good, period. I've seen him make just one defensive play that looked really bad and several defensive plays that looked really good. With Radek Martinek gone for the year, MacDonald is at minimum our #7 defenseman. Seems we should see whether he's worthy of the spot, no?

The Tambellini Situation: I have never spoken with Scott Gordon and do not have the luxury of deciphering his code in person. But everything about how he's handled #15 tells me he believes he's just a guy with scoring punch who must adapt his game to a "hustling, physical 3rd-liner" in order to earn a spot game after game. Somewhat like Blake Comeau, as a matter of fact. What always rings in my head is Gordon's comparison of Tamby to Andy Hilbert's career trajectory, in terms of adapting his game to the NHL (apologies, but I can't remember if it was Logan or Botta who got that quote, and my archives aren't clear on it). Or as Gordon told Katie Strang last week:

"Going to the tough areas, winning puck battles, getting into shooting lanes," Gordon said of the details lacking from Tambellini lately."When you stop doing the little things and you don't score, what are your contributions?"

I don't have a problem with that. (Admittedly, I have flip-flopped on Tambellini's ceiling 100 times in the last 3-plus years.) If he went on some sort of Moulson tear, maybe the view would change (again) and his evolution would continue. I know some here want to see him in a featured role; hell, if I were coach I'd at least not sit him for five or three games at a time.

But there are a lot -- a ton -- of third-line NHL players who spent their entire pre-NHL lives as the best among their peers, only to discover that in the NHL, that simply doesn't translate to the league's top 180 forwards. So they adjust. Or they accept life in the AHL or Europe. I think this is the message Gordon is sending Tambellini, and while the mechanics can be debated, in the end I suspect he's right. Either way, I'm impressed by the positive attitude Tambellini continues to employ in this situation.

The Leafs Situation

I admit I want to see the Leafs continue to struggle simply because any bizonkers media market (hello, New York) brings absurd melodrama to a whole new level whenever its featured team (hello, Yankees) struggles. It's so exaggerated in Toronto right now that one, um, writer, is picking candidates to replace Ron Wilson that -- are you sitting down? -- include Wayne Gretzky, Ted Nolan and Mike Keenan. Yeah, okay.

The Leafs have very real problems, of course, in every area not named Phil Kessel. Old friend Jason Blake has two goals. Last year's rookie stud Luke Schenn -- never the offensive equal of the three defensemen drafted before him -- has struggled mightily along with the team. Then there's ... the goaltending: Even with Saturday's performance, Toskala's save percentage is .869, old friend Joey MacDonald's in three games was .875, and new hope Jonas Gustavsson is just a 2008 MacDonald-like .901.

All of which is not really news, but anyway: We have good reason to expect a win tonight, and good reason to be crushed by a loss. Beginning Wednesday at home, the Islanders close out November with games against the three best teams in the Eastern Conference.

So tonight: a little urgency, please. Let's. Go. Islanders.

Islanders Gameday: Extending Julien's headache

Dominik — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:30:15 -0000

Here we have two teams coming off bonus point losses after coughed-up leads, but under entirely different circumstances with entirely different season-expectation subtexts.

[For today's logo tags, we reach into the "Never Forget Cartoons" folder]

New York Islanders (7-6-7, 5th/Atl) at Boston Bruins (8-7-4, 2nd/NE)
7 p.m. EST | [enema brand or touchdown or something] Garden | MSG+
Baahston wahtchas: SBN's Stanley Cup of Chowder | HBAdventure | Hub Hockey

The Bruins had a ridiculous, back-and-forth 6-5 OT loss in Pittsburgh (video highlights posted after the jump, because they are worth a look) in which only one goal came on the powerplay. Bill Guerin tied it with 0.4 seconds remaining in the game... just minutes after Sidney Crosby was stoned on a shorthanded breakaway that would've tied it... which was just moments after a Marco Sturm tip gave the Bruins the late lead.

The Islanders, of course, lost their 2-0 lead in Florida, but only made it to OT thanks to a two-goal comeback of their own led by Kyle Okposo and John Tavares.

While neither game was a happy outcome for the teams in question, the Islanders were at least playing their game. The Bruins got caught in a Gordon-esque shootout that surely turned Claude Julien's iconic dome red. Here's Derek Morris, relaying the company line:

"We scored goals, yeah, and we got a point, which was nice, but that's not our system we're going to play. We did things we don't normally do and we did them all in one game. We're lucky to get a point."

Here are the highlights of the Bruins-Penguins game, which had ridiculous deflections, crazy Tim Thomas saves (and gaffes) and ol' captain Bill Guerin shooting on goal at a critical moment.

Shots were an un-Julien-like 33-33. Can you imagine the Islanders' and Scott Gordon's reaction after a game like that? They'd be disappointed by specific breakdowns, and by the result -- but you just know the idea of getting in a shootout is not anathema to them like it is for the B's. Plus, with the young-and-innocent theme the Islanders have going on, you know Jeff Tambellini (if dressed) would be there saying the team is going to take the positives out of the performance.

Talk Me into a Win, Please

Which brings me to the Fan's Mental Plan going into tonight's game. The Bruins were facing a Penguins team energized by the return of Evgeni Malkin, so it's not stunning they were subject to a Penguins scoring party. But certainly Julien will have his troops re-focused on a stringent defensive game. Seven of the Bruins' last nine games have featured three goals or less. They've also been shutout three times during that span, by Detroit, the Rangers and Tomas Vokoun.

Naturally I'm hoping the Islanders can dictate play initially and grab another early lead and give Julien more reasons to furrow, but goals may be tough to come by. Julien is one of those coaches who's fun to hear talk hockey -- and even more fun to watch grimace when his team isn't following orders. Yet as much as I want that lead, what I fear most is a repeat of that first Bruins encounter (the 50th minute 3-0 meltdown in front of Dwayne Roloson, spoiling a great early-season performance). Something like that coming after Washington, Carolina and Florida, and all my big talk about blown leads being a good problem to have will ring a little hollow. Of course, the Isles seem to like their symmetrical record, and an outright loss would make them 7-7-7, so...

Lineup Shenanigans: MacDonald in, Witt out

That's my fragile mindset, anyway. Meanwhile, the big story as of Sunday night was the call up of Andrew MacDonald to replace Brendan Witt, excused for personal reasons. As I mentioned in the previous thread, I doubt this will be a drop off -- but jumping into the lineup isn't an easy task for a defenseman, and if the Islanders take a lot of penalties, someone will have to make up Witt's PK minutes.

In goal: Martin Biron's turn, no? Unless Gordon "likes Roloson against" Boston, as he did for their first encounter.

And in other lineup news, what'll it be for Jeff Tambellini? He sat out two in a row, while fellow healthy scratch Josh Bailey was back in the lineup after just one game in the press box. Road trips have a way of popping up maladies and "personal reasons" and who-knows-what, so maybe the decision will be made for Gordon. Or maybe Tambellini goes back in and we see a newcomer to the land of healthy scratches. I can guess who several of you would like that to be...

Prediction: Odds are 50/50 we go to overtime...unless the Isles go for that whole record symmetry thing.