Islanders mistakes cost them in loss at Montreal
Photo credit: AP | Montreal Canadiens' Guillaume Latendresse, right, is stopped by New York Islanders goaltender Martin Biron, left, during second-period NHL hockey game action Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009, in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Ryan Remiorz)
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Montreal 5, Islanders 1 (10/22)
MONTREAL - Following their morale-boosting and emotionally-taxing first win of the season, the Islanders fell 5-1 to the Canadiens last night in a demoralizing and mistake-riddled game.
The Islanders were undisciplined, reckless with the puck and irresponsible in their own zone. They took seven penalties, turned the puck over 23 times and allowed Montreal to pelt goaltender Martin Biron with 43 shots.
For all the talk of a complete sixty minutes, last night was more like a horror hour.
"Our legs didn't have anything and certainly our heads didn't have anything," coach Scott Gordon said. "The turnovers the penalties, the poor decisions with the puck, we were an easy team to play against."
The Islanders looked sluggish in the first period and allowed the Canadiens to control the puck in their offensive zone.
The Canadiens, who outshot the Islanders 15-7 in the first twenty minutes, took a 1-0 lead when former Ranger Scott Gomez capitalized on a giveaway in the Islanders defensive zone. Gomez fished the puck out from between defensemen Radek Martinek and Mark Streit to beat Biron over his right shoulder with a turnaround wrister at 7:55.
Former Islander Marc-Andre Bergeron then scored a power-play goal at 18:36 with a bomb from the right point to give the Canadiens a two-goal advantage.
The Canadiens had decent chances throughout the game. Several Islanders said the game could've been a lot worse than 5-1 had Biron not made some big saves. Simply, they did not do enough defensively in front to give him any help.
"We had some serious breakdowns," Andy Sutton said, "They got too many point-blank chances. I don't know where it starts and where it ends, but we've got to get back to the basics and provide more support."
The listless play continued in the second, when the Islanders managed only five shots on goal against Canadiens backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
And yet another giveaway in the Islanders defensive zone - this time by defenseman Mark Streit - ultimately led to another goal for Montreal, as Max Pacioretty spun and shot all alone in the slot to extend the Canadiens lead to 3-0 at 3:34.
"When you turn the puck over in your own zone, a team like that is going to punish you," Streit said.
The Islanders lone goal of the night was on an opportunistic play by Josh Bailey, who scored his first goal of the season by pressuring Halak behind the net, seizing the puck after Halak fanned on it and backhanding one in for a shorthanded empty-netter at :54 of the third.
Later in the third, Mike Cammalleri lasered one from the right circle for a power-play goal at 10:35 to reclaim the Canadiens' three-goal lead and Maxim LaPierre wrapped it up with his tap-in from the crease at 12:59 to make it 5-1.
"It was us shooting ourselves in the foot," Gordon said. "Lesson learned for us. We're at the point now where there are no excuses. We have to get the job done and win battles and we didn't tonight."
Notes & quotes: Islanders captain Doug Weight, who has recently felt under the weather, did not make the trip to Montreal.
