Don't have a good feeling about this one for the Devils. Is Nabby starting? Didn't catch who was in net for you guys on Saturday.Originally Posted by Big L
Should be a good game tonight. Both teams seem roughly equal.
Don't have a good feeling about this one for the Devils. Is Nabby starting? Didn't catch who was in net for you guys on Saturday.
Big win! Seemed like they wanted to give it away in the second but a good job at keeping the Devils scoring chances to a minimum.
And what a punch by Martin!
Edit to add: as nice as a win that was, one of the things that stood out tonight is how ridiculously small and unimposing the Isles back line is. I don't have a problem with any of Lubo/Streit/Martinek/Hickey/AMac individually, but that has to be the softest D corp in the league. I really hope Carkner is in the line up tomorrow.
Last edited by crasherino; 04-02-2013 at 10:37 AM.
A ton of blocked shots tonight, I felt like I was watching Devils vs. Rangers, not Devils vs. Islanders. Devils really only had a handful of real scoring chances, Isles did a great job of only making Nabokov make some relatively easy saves. Devils really only controlled play in the 2nd and I had a feeling they'd fall short by only cutting the lead in half by period's end. I know the Isles have their share of struggles with 3rd period leads, but the Devils offense has been anemic. There's some real issues with this team right now. Good win for you guys.
P.s. to make things worse, the Rags won tonight.
Nice win. Devils definately controlled the second. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sweating it out with the isles third period struggles. Glad to see they didn't quit. Then again, it was on the road. Too bad the next game is at home.
And I think we both can agree - too bad the Rangers won.
Went to the game tonight. Good to see so much orange and blue in he sea of red in Newark. Excellent, needed regulation win.
Honestly I thought the Devils carried play for the vast majority of the game but the Isles did the most with their opportunities.
Does Poulin start tomorrow? If he doesn't get the nod tomorrow he won't the rest of the season.
I was hoping Poulin would get the start in Pitt. Oh well. Should start tonight. Nabby needs a rest. I don't have much faith in a worn out Nabby.
The Isles were flying in the first period and badly outplayed the Devils, IMO. On the flipside, it seemed like in the 2nd period, every time the Devils dumped the puck in, there was a guy there. Guys like Ponikarovsky, Zubrus, Bernier and Clarkson are just too physical for them and the Devils were able to hold the puck deep for most of the period.
Credit to the Isles though in that despite getting out physicaled, they didn't have any major breakdowns (expect for the lone goal) that put someone free in front of the net. Usually they're good for 2-3 defensive breakdowns a game.
I wonder if we'll see Anders Lee tonight.
signing viz was another great move by Snow. hopefully some of the recent high picks in Bridgeport make their way up.
You gotta figure (more like hope) that the Isles will have one or two top 6 Forwards come out of that prospect group. Nino N. is supposedly playing better in Bridgeport this year and Strome has been moved to Port for the remainder of the season.
There are enough high end prospects that they can fill a really legit team top to bottom from their prospects. Of course, they could still somehow manage to sh!t the bed as well like the last two decades.
The smart move would probably be to go after a top line d man by offering some combination of young forwards. If Bailey and Okposo keep this up, they could have some nice trade value.
Should be interesting to see what happens if Anders Lee really contributes right away. Six games and he burns that first year of the entry contract. I wonder if part of the reason they convinced him to sign was that they promised they would let him play out the end of the year with the big club.
I bet he play tonight and that they put him with Taveres and Moulson. We'll see...
Would love to see a more physical winger with JT (JMO, Boyes is luggage) but that would be a big jump from ND, huh? My guess is that Reasoner sits and Lee is put with Aucoin and Grabner. That would be a nicely balanced line - Lee's strength complementing the finesse of Grabner. Then you keep the Cizikas/Martin/McD line together as well as the first two. I agree that Boyes' days are numbered on the Island.
But what line he skates with is secondary - I just hope he gets in the lineup. This kid is supposedly a late blooming stud prospect. The fact that the Isles were able to sign him speaks volumes (along with signing Viz).
What about any goalie prospects? I think Nabby's really starting to show his age, and the Isles definately need a plan for next year and beyond.
True. But I sense they have to shake up that top line. It's just not producing. It's a big jump for Lee, but they need to shake up the dynamic and I don't see them messing with the 2nd line (which has been really carrying the team during this stretch). 3rd line, as you point out, could also be where he gets slotted.
They do, but Nabby has been more strength than weakness this year. And the guy has been money in the shootout. If he can shoulder this year's workload, next year should be a cake walk with a less compressed schedule. I think he has gas left in the tank...
Nilsson is hurt but both he and Poulin are considered decent goalie prospects.
If Capuano is that ballsy, I would respect it.
I am admittedly overly excited about Lee playing. Growing up, Rick Tocchet was one of my favorite players - a tough, physical player that could score. I've been waiting for the Isles to have that power forward for about 20+ years now....
You were right. Anders Lee will play wing on third line. Top two unchanged.
Anders scored a goal in his first NHL game, pretty cool.
Now lets hope they can close out the third with a lead at home and secure the two points.
Great, hard fought win. Isles played a solid game, only a couple breakdowns. Kept up pressure instead of sitting back in the third. Maybe they finally got the message. Surprised, actually, considering they played last night, and won vs the Devils. I was expecting a bit of a letdown tonight, awesome they didn't. Great third period.
Crowd sounded really loud, looked like more seats filled than usual, but Howie said there were plenty of empty seats.
Moulson finally put one in.
Impressive win. Islanders really dominated and were unfortunate to only be up a goal late in the third period. Second line is still playing the best hockey but good to see Moulson brake through. He needs to get going.
Only critiques: Boyes needs to get demoted from the first line. Poulin only gave up 2 goals but was extremely shaky, imo.
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