New York Islanders: Five Keys Against Columbus Blue Jackets
Dec 10, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; New York Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak (41) makes a save against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
It’s “best” meets worst as the New York Islanders welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Barclays Center. Here are five keys to success for the Isles.
When the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets met up on December 10th, Columbus was just getting started on their 16 game win streak, the second longest in NHL history. Now, over a month later John Tortorella’s squad still sits second in the highly competitive Metropolitan division, and the New York Islanders, although having played well lately, are still in last.
For the first two periods of that game back on December 10th at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, the Isles played with poise and confidence and thanks to goals from Josh Bailey and John Tavares the two teams were knotted up heading to the third.
It all unraveled from there when the Jackets scored just two minutes into the third and went on to score four unanswered goals to turn a tightly contested hockey game into a laugher.
Jaroslav Halak was pulled after the 6th and final Columbus goal in favor for Jean-Francois Berube who made his season debut that night logging 5:37 of shutout hockey.
The Isles will certainly have to bring an improved game plan to Barclays on Tuesday when they get their second shot at the Blue Jackets.
Dec 10, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save against New York Islanders center Shane Prince (11) during the first period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
Play a Full 60 Minutes
It goes without saying that a full 60 minutes is required if the Islanders want any chance to turn their fortunes against one of the leagues best.
When the two meet again on Tuesday night for the second time, the Islanders will be playing the third of a six-game homestand.
In the second and third periods of Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers the Islanders looked gassed and played like it too. Playing most of the game in their own zone they were outshot 48-37 and squandered a 2-0 lead. The Islanders were lucky to escape with a point.
Granted Tuesday’s game won’t be at the back end of two games in two nights but the Isles have had the tendency all season to have spurts of poor puck management, and a lack of urgency long enough to put a close game out of reach.
Stay Out of the Box
The Blue Jackets high-powered offense has been a major key to their mid-season success. Led by forward Cam Atkinson, whose 23 goals are third in the league, the Jackets have the NHL’s best power play. Their 25% success rate makes them a force to reckon with.
The Isles penalty kill got off to a rough start in the season but have seen a recent improvement moving them up to 19th in the league, still a ways away from last season’s fourth best kill. It starts with guys like Casey Cizikis, Nick Leddy, and Nikolai Kulemin but even the captain has been making an impact when called upon.
Dec 10, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky (17) and New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic (3) fight during the first period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
Fire Away
The Islanders offense has certainly had its ups and downs. Inconsistency has been the name of the game and getting to the dirty areas has been an issue.
The offense will have dry spells like no other, and come out the next week looking like a powerhouse. They will certainly need the latter on Tuesday if they are to beat likely Jackets starter Sergei Bobrovsky. The 2013 Vezina winner is third in the league in save percentage and displays an impressive 28-7 record.
Like most goalies in the NHL, Bobrovsky falters when opponents have success in the dirty areas. Besides Anders Lee, the Isles struggle to come away with “garbage goals” on rebounds near the crease.
Using Lee and having a solid game plan to crash the net will benefit the Isles if they want to beat the Russian netminder, something that they failed to do in the December matchup.
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Keep The Fire Burning
The Islanders are 3-0-1 in their last 4 games and that has come at the hands of a few scorching hot players.
Since signing with the Islanders before the 2015-2016 season Thomas Greiss has been much more than a serviceable net minder, but the last week may have been his best with the team. Greiss posted back-to-back shutouts against the Bruins and Stars and looked solid yet again in Sunday’s loss to the Flyers.
The Islander’s goaltender was named the NHL’s second star of the week.
Greiss will likely be in net again on Tuesday and the team has shown control and confidence in front of the 30-year-old German.
John Tavares may have failed to beat Flyers goalie Steve Mason on a breakaway in overtime on Sunday, but don’t let that make you forget the captain is in the midst of his best stretch of the season. A career best 8 goals in his last 6 games including a hat trick against the Panthers, Tavares is on fire.
After taking the blame after Sunday’s game for not only his breakaway miss but failing to get back on the game-winning goal, look for Tavares to come out quick on Tuesday.
Dec 10, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) passes the puck as Columbus Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky (17) defends during the first period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
As cheesy as it may seem, this might be the most important aspect in order to beat one of the league’s best teams. All season it’s been one step forward two steps back for the Islanders. Every time they come away with a two or three game win streak, they turn the tables right back around and fall into their own traps.
Don’t look now but the Islanders are within five points of a wild card spot. Sure, they have six teams to jump but the season is barely halfway over and they have games in hand against nearly everyone in the East.
In Thursday’s win against the Stars the Islanders showed their best energy of the season. In interim Head Coach Doug Weight’s first game, the Isles seemed to find new life and carried that momentum all the way until Sunday’s game when they became simply tired.
As we head into almost a week since Jack Capuano was let go it will interesting to see if the team can carry that energy into a potential playoff stretch or will back into their old habits. It starts with believing in themselves and each other. If they want any chance at the second and final wild-card spot, their hot stretch will likely need to continue with a win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
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