Well, Saturday night was a nice win for the Islanders. Ricky DiPietro returned, and while Sabres fans were licking their chops over the prospect of their high powered offense facing a twice concussed rusty goalie, they were licking their wounds after he turned in a fantastic performance. Hopes were high coming into last night, as the Isles would be home in front of a boisterous crowd and ready to take another from the heavily favored Sabres. Alas, it was not meant to be. For reasons within and out of the Isles control.
From a within standpoint, they did not pressure the Sabres enough in the 3rd period. Two shots? Two lousy shots? Guys, there is no shootout in the playoffs, it is sudden death OT. You do not want to play OT with the Sabres. You need to generate more chances than that. Ryan Smyth showed up. Sillinger did, Hunter did, Hilbert did. But, in a replay of season's past, where the hell was our Captain, Alexei Yashin? The same tired story where he does nothing come playoff time. My patience is done. If he fails to show up the rest of this series, then Wang must cut his ass. Yes, he will cost $2.2 million against the cap of 8 years, but that is a hell of a lot better than $7.6 over 4. Cut his ass and be done with it. And Mr. Satan and Mr. Kozlov, where the hell are you? The defense played well, jumping into the play on offense. Ricky showed up as well, playing well again. Too many penalties again doomed the Isles, that and a lack of shots at Miller, who was not all that sharp on the two goals he gave up.
Which brings me to the things the Isles can't control, the refs. Calling two minors, one of the 4 minute variety at the same time? Calling a phantom penalty with under 2 minutes left? Calling that a GOAL? Hey Colin (Magoo) Campbell, thanks for the screwing, again. There wasn't a single replay that we saw that showed that puck over the line. What the hell replay were the officials in Toronto looking at. The only thing the Isles can do is to make sure they do not take stupid penalties or give the refs an excuse.
Now, a couple of things about the fans. The Coliseum is a great place in the playoffs, the fans are fired up, and look to give an edge to the hometown team. But who was the asshole who chanted "Rangers Suck" during the moment of silence for the victims of the shooting at Virginia Tech last night? I only hope his friends told him to STFU. That made Islander fans look bad. And it got worse late in the game after the last penalty called on Robataille, as fans littered the ice with garbage. What does that accomplish? All it does is stop the game, put people at risk of injury (in the stands and on the ice) and make Islander fans look like cretins. Yes, I was pissed as well, but boo, or start a chant, don't throw shit on the ice. It happened again at the end of the game. Billy Jaffe was right, there is no call for that. I hope the fans who attend on Wednesday are better behaved. Support your team, don't be an ass.
Can they still win, sure. It is not going to be easy. They had a shot last night, and if they can mount more consistent pressure on the Sabres they can take the next game. Then it becomes a best of 3. They have thrived with their backs to the wall the last couple of weeks. Now, if Yashin, Kozlov and Satan can remember that they are supposed to shoot and score, it will be a lot easier.
LETS GO ISLANDERS!
LETS GO ISLANDERS!
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2 comments:
Good analysis, Ed. I missed most of game 3, but I saw the replays of the penalty calls after the game. Can't say that I could tell what the penalty was, but that's the NHL. There's a lot of subjectivity in the calling of penalties. What one ref thinks is a penalty, another doesn't. It would be nice to see some consistency, especially during the playoffs, but it never happens.
7-0.
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