Gordon pleased with Islanders' 60-minute results
Photo credit: AP | New York Islanders left wing Matt Moulson, front left, is congratulated by teammates Jack Hillen (38) and Frans Nielsen, of Denmark, after his first-period score against Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. (November 16, 2009)
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Nov. 16: Islanders 4, Bruins 1
There is a simple way, it turns out, to put the kibosh on all those infuriating, frustrating, deflating Islanders' shootout losses. "If we're fortunate enough to get in the playoffs, there won't be any shootouts," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said yesterday.
Such an observation says two revealing things about this season's team. First, that it has been able to repeatedly get through 60 minutes on even terms with opponents, a clear improvement over its 26-47-9 record in 2008-09. Seven of the Islanders' 13 losses have come in overtime (2-3) or that maddening lottery known as the shootout (1-4).
More interesting, of course, is the fact that "playoffs" would be in the Islanders' vocabulary. Having gained at least one point in the standings in 12 of their last 14 games, the 8-6-7 Islanders have positioned themselves squarely in the messy Atlantic Division race.
They are a mere five points out of first place and feeling good about themselves. It appears to be a team that has begun to play freely in the second year of Gordon's aggressive system, without stopping to think. "Feels like that, too," defenseman Bruno Gervais said.
"Scott said to us last year, 'I know you guys are having to think a lot,' " Gervais said. " 'But if you stick with us, it'll become habit.' The work didn't just start this year. It started last year. We're glad it's rolling now, instead of waiting until February to get going."
By gaining at least one point in four consecutive road games - with three more coming up in Minnesota (tomorrow), St. Louis (Saturday) and Toronto (Monday) - "everybody has a little more bounce in their step," Gordon said. And the fact that their two victories (one in overtime) were coupled with two exasperating shootout losses, one of them after 11 rounds in Washington, was not on Gordon's list of concerns.
Shootout results, he said, are so beyond his control that "I don't worry about it. When you get down to it, it's just a bonus point. I don't beat up on the players about it. It's a card you're dealt.
"Those one-pointers [for getting to overtime] are important. The only thing bad about [losing a shootout] is the opponent gets the extra point." So, while there "have been a couple of games where we probably deserved a better fate, what I've tried to stress it that it's what we're doing for 60 minutes that will make the difference."
Notes & quotes: Gordon gave a handful of players - forwards Kyle Okposo, Richard Park and Nate Thompson and defensemen Mark Streit and Andy Sutton - a day off from practice because they were either "a little banged up or not feeling well; nothing serious," he said. Forward Doug Weight (upper body injury) and defenseman Brendan Witt (personal reasons) also missed practice.
