Last season, the New York Islanders got out to an absolutely miserable start which was highlighted (or perhaps I should say low lighted) by a 14-game losing streak. The horrific start cost then head coach Scott Gordon his job and he was replaced by Jack Capuano. Capuano and the Islanders became a feisty opponent and despite fielding a lineup that looked more like an AHL team than an NHL team they had a fairly solid 2nd half of the season which included an ambush of the Minnesota Wild where they prevailed 4-1. The loss was a classic sort of let down game that had plagued the Wild for the last few seasons. While the Islanders have improved since last year, most of its improvements have come internally as opposed to being big spenders in free agency. The modus operandi for the Islanders is simple, if you outwork your more talented opponents good things will happen. This will be the test for the Wild as they head to New York for an afternoon game as the U.S. celebrates Columbus Day. They are coming off a quality win over expansion rival Columbus while the Islanders are coming off a disappointing first game against Florida. Minnesota should win this game, but it will have to put out a superior effort to offset what will be a very determined opponent.
The Wild exhibited a different level of intensity in its first game on Saturday night, using its improved team speed to put Columbus on its heels. The Islanders are a better skating team than the Blue Jackets so they must be prepared to play fast right away. But the biggest test may be the mentality over readying themselves for a hard-fought road game against an opponent they know they’re better than. If the Wild can show that they can play their best game, with a solid effort on the road that could be another sign of an improvement of this team over last year’s version. Can the Wild take that next step with a victory in the Nassau Coliseum (Mausoleum)?
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1st Period Thoughts: For all the dominance the Wild had on Saturday night, it was precisely the opposite as the New York Islanders outworked and out skated Minnesota throughout most of the period. Minnesota’s forwards seemed to be thinking a few seconds too slow and the Islanders’ aggressive puck pressure was creating all kinds of turnovers and disrupting any semblance of an offensive attack for the Wild. The Wild’s best line was its 3rd line of Kyle Brodziak (who was in my opinion the lone standout in the period for the State of Hockey) Darroll Powe, and Cal Clutterbuck. This was the only line that seemed to have jump in its skates that was even close to the Islanders. The rest of the Wild seemed to be going in slow motion; especially the top line of Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley just appeared to be gliding around the ice as the Islanders were easily able to thwart their work in the offensive zone simply because this line wasn’t skating. Even with two early power plays the Wild were unable to generate much more than a few long range shots taken under duress, so much for the man advantage eh? The Islanders were causing Minnesota all kinds of problems in its own zone as well, as the top line of John Tavares, P.A. Parenteau, and Matt Moulson were all over the place, using their superior acceleration to create space for themselves on the ice. Niklas Backstrom was being moved from side to side in his crease a lot like Denis Lemieux from Slap Shot as the Islanders were firing shots from all over forcing him to come up with some big stops. The look of stunned anger by Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo was priceless as he glared over at the team after they gave up a power play goal on a rocket of a slapper by Andrew MacDonald that beat Backstrom cleanly. New York added another goal on a quick redirect by Frans Nielsen. This goal seemed to spark a little energy in the Wild, and they finally generated a few shots on goal as the mantra clearly was get into the zone and fire it on goal and give the Islanders Al Montoya at least a little work. Brett Bulmer had a nice shift late in the period, moving well and getting his stick into the passing lanes as Minnesota briefly employed a 2-man forecheck. To the Islanders credit, their hustle was allowing them to get bodies and sticks into shooting lanes and even when Minnesota had a chance to fire the biscuit towards the goal it never reached Montoya as New York blocked 7 shots in the period. A great example of promising attempts denied by a good shot block was a diving Mark Eaton who poked the puck off the stick of Mikko Koivu who was driving to the Islanders’ crease. Not a good period for the Wild on the road who were off to a pretty sluggish start and trailing by two.
2nd Period Thoughts: I am going to take a wild (no pun intended) guess that a certain Minnesota hockey team got chewed out during the intermission. The result of whatever motivation / chastisement was a much better effort. A perfect example was an early shift by the team’s 4th line of Nick Johnson, Colton Gillies and Kyle Brodziak who controlled the zone for nearly 45 seconds to start off the game with some hard work cycling the puck down low. Minnesota was skating much better, and was able to create some problems for the Islanders on the forecheck. One player who was a beast in the first half of the period was Colton Gillies who was all over the place, delivering hits and winning battles for the puck along the boards. The forecheck was also creating more scoring chances and Al Montoya was facing some quality shots; even from up close as he denied Guillaume Latendresse on point-blank-range opportunity. Latendresse seemed to be a bit ‘ornery’ out there, throwing his 230lbs frame around and even getting into a bit of a scuffle with former Oilers’ defenseman Steve Staios and both would earn a trip to the sin bin. The Wild were still guilty of overhandling the puck and being a little too hesitant to make the pass or take the shot so they missed some additional chances due to their own lack of initiative. Minnesota would earn a fairly long power play; which at one point morphed into a 4-on-3 and despite great puck movement and a few nice shots were unable to beat Al Montoya who was moving efficiently in his crease. Even as the Wild was fortunate enough to draw an additional Islanders penalty giving them a brief 5-on-3, the Wild were unable to find the back of the net despite some good chances for Dany Heatley who was taking every chance to uncork a slapper. The Wild had to feel a little frustrated that they were unable to capitalize on the power plays, but it certainly was a vastly improved effort over their 1st period.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild would start the period off well, skating with intensity and hustle that again was causing issues for the Islanders in their own zone and resulting in scoring chances as well. The Islanders were again blocking shots with great frequency and frustrating Wild shooters as they tried to test Montoya. Minnesota finally lit the lamp just a 1:13 in the period on a nice play off the rush as Guillaume Latendresse dropped a backhand pass to a trailing Matt Cullen who snapped a shot by Montoya to cut the Islanders’ lead 2-1. Brett Bulmer seemed to find another gear in the 3rd period, and exhibited some of the nastiness he had been touted for as he absolutely destroyed John Tavares with a vicious check in the Wild zone. Minnesota’s top line wasn’t able to get a whole lot accomplished as the Islanders used a smaller and speedier line to deprive them of time and space and while they did get off some good shots more often than not they were spending time chasing after pucks as the pesky Islanders forwards were stick checking very effectively. Minnesota would pull Backstrom with over a 1:30 left, but spent most of that time with the extra attacker trying to prevent a goal being scored on the empty net which included a painful block of a shot by Jared Spurgeon. I liked the hustle, but the team seemed a bit disorganized and while the dump in’s were better executed the Islanders defenseman were able to retreat, gather up the puck and quickly chip it out of the zone without much difficulty. Give Montoya some credit, he made a great save to move across his crease to deny a quick wrap around chance by Heatley.
Niklas Backstrom was good enough to give Minnesota a chance to win this game, making 14 saves in a losing effort. Defensively the Wild’s defenseman were guilty of chasing a bit too much as well as being caught flat footed. Only Nick Schultz seemed primed to play, while the rest of the blueline seemed to be reacting rather than anticipating the play. They can try to blame the poor ice all they wish (which it clearly was) but that shouldn’t make you play ‘wait and see’ hockey and all too often the Wild’s defenseman were a half second late in supporting the play or being ready to pull the trigger on a point shot so it actually had a chance to reach Montoya instead of being blocked away. The Wild’s penalty kill didn’t get all that much work and gave up the first goal on what was a clear defensive breakdown as no one was there to sweep away the rebound that went right out into the high slot where MacDonald took his time and blistered a shot by Backstrom. Mike Yeo’s death stare after that goal said it all.
Offensively the Wild created some good chances on the power play, but just couldn’t connect when they needed to as Heatley fanned on a few opportunities but I like the fact they’re trying to set him up. He’s clearly their most dangerous shooter, and I felt he was working hard out there. Heatley made a great move to lift the stick of John Tavares who felt he had an uncontested break away. The 2nd line of Cullen and Latendresse was arguably as effective as the top line and oddly enough its been Latendresse that has been the set up man for Cullen and not the other way around.
While I really liked the effort I saw out of Trevor Gillies and Brett Bulmer, but one player who seems a bit lost on the ice is Cal Clutterbuck. I am not sure if its because Bulmer, Gillies, and Powe are all guys that like to hit but he doesn’t stick out nearly as much. Considering his experience, I was expecting him to shine a bit more than he did. He just seems hesitant, which is something you were totally unable to say through his first few seasons in the league. I hope Clutterbuck remembers this line, “When crushers try to become scorers, they become ushers.”
Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo reflected on his frustrations about the 1st period, “We just weren’t ready to battle, they were winning the battles for the loose pucks and because of that we spent the whole period in our own zone.” Yeo wasn’t making excuses even when offered by the media in the post-game interview, “It doesn’t matter, we need to find a way to play our game.” He finished it up by saying, “We need to learn, to mentally and physically prepare ourselves to battle” and I have to agree with him 100%. That was certainly refreshing over hearing the tired line Todd Richards never hesitated to use after a frustrating loss of “we’ll have to look at the tape” which patronized just about anyone who watched his team play. The let down doesn’t surprise me and while they certainly picked up their game in the 2nd and 3rd periods it still wasn’t good enough to earn a victory. Hopefully as Yeo stated, its a lesson they have learned before they play tomorrow night in Ottawa.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild’s roster this afternoon was: Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak, Nick Johnson, Brett Bulmer, Darroll Powe, Colton Gillies, Matt Kassian, Clayton Stoner, Jared Spurgeon, Marek Zidlicky, Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon and Marco Scandella. Josh Harding backed up Niklas Backstrom. Pierre-Marc Bouchard (suspended for the next two games) and Brad Staubitz (suspended for the next two games) were the scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Al Montoya, 2nd Star Andy McDonald, 3rd Star P.A. Parenteau
~ Attendance for today’s game was 11,278 at Nassau Colliseum.
Wild Prospect Report:
C – Zack Phillips (Saint John, QMJHL) ~ Phillips had another strong game Sunday afternoon as he starts the season absolutely on fire tallying a goal and an assist in the Sea Dogs’ 6-2 victory over Victoriaville. The Fredericton, New Brunswick-native was also strong in the faceoff circle, going 11 for 18 (61.1%) as well as a +2. Phillips is hoping to lead the Sea Dogs to back to back Memorial Cups, and with Saint John in 2nd place overall in the QMJHL they’re in good shape to do so.
C – Tyler Graovac (Ottawa, OHL) ~ Graovac has had a good start to the 2011-12 season, scoring 3 goals and 8 points in 7 games. The 6’4″, 195lbs center had an assist and was a +1 with a fighting major in the 67’s 4-1 victory over the Plymouth Whalers.
C – Mikael Granlund (HIFK Helsinki, Sm-Liiga) ~ Mikael Granlund impressed fans during the team’s annual prospect camp, and he has returned home to Finland to complete his military obligation however its not just to dig latrines and fire his rifle. He is also going to try to help his team win back to back Sm-Liiga championships. So far he is in fine form as the league’s 2nd leading scorer with 4 goals, and 14 points in 8 games.
Houston Aeos win season opener 4-1 over Chicago
In a game very similar to the Wild’s season opener, the Aeros absolutely dominated during the first two periods of play to get out to a 3-0 lead after 2 periods of play. Casey Wellman lit the lamp twice and Jed Ortmeyer and Jon DiSalvatore had the other two goals as Houston cruised to a victory. Matthew Hackett had 24 saves in the victory. The Aeros penalty kill, killed off all 9 Wolves power plays and Houston struck twice on the man advantage themselves. Kris Foucault had two assists for the Aeros. Houston’s next game is this Friday against its in-state rival the Texas Stars at a game in Austin. Head Coach John Torchetti‘s squad just dominated the 1st two periods before putting it in cruise control in the 3rd.
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