Isles Files
Your source for behind-the-scenes New York Islanders hockey news and information.
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- Isles lose to Wild 3-2 after Nolan's late game-winner
- Live Game Thread 22: Isles at Wild
- Lil Herb Brooks in the house
- Live chat with Katie Strang
- Witt out, MacDonald in; Biron in goal
- Clutterbuck on Tavares: I'll be in his ear
- Wild on the ice at the X
- Tambellini not expected to play against Wild
- Brendan Witt will rejoin team
- Moulson sworn to secrecy
- Trent Hunter happy to be healthy
- Andrew MacDonald sticking around
- Back to New York
- Live Game Thread 21: Islanders at Bruins
- Bailey Bounces Back
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Isles lose to Wild 3-2 after Nolan's late game-winner
Just when it looked like the Islanders would play their 11th overtime period in 22 games, Owen Nolan notched his second goal of the night with a little over a minute to play in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, stun the Islanders and give the Wild a 3-2 win at Xcel Energy Center last night.
Nolan's wrist shot beat Islanders goaltender Martin Biron at 18:53 as the Wild earned their first win in five games and the Islanders suffered their first regulation loss this road trip.
With 1:07 remaining in regulation, Nolan scored after Eric Belanger intercepted Blake Comeau’s clearing attempt at the blue line and connected with Nolan down low for the game-winner.
“We can’t point the finger at that last goal,” coach Scott Gordon said. “That was one bad play that happened for the wrong reasons. That’s just a puck that we need to get out of our zone.”
The more damning reason preventing the Islanders from securing a win, Gordon said, was their inability to cash in on a any of their six power-play opportunities.
“For long portions of the game we controlled the play," Gordon said. "We just didn’t score on our power play and that was the difference in the game.”
Despite a plentitude of chances on two third-period power plays, the Islanders did not have an answer for the Wild’s late comeback, courtesy of Nolan’s decisive tally and Mikko Koivu’s power play goal at 6:58.
“We did have a good 5-on-5 game, but wins come from power plays and penalty kills,” said Jon Sim, who finished with a goal and an assist last night. “We need to bear down a bit more on our power play. That was one that we let slip away.”
Although the Wild did not register a shot on goal until 7:21 of the first period, Nolan gave his team a 1-0 lead by banking a puck off Biron’s pad from beneath the goal line at 11:44.
The Islanders then dominated the second period— Sim and Josh Bailey both chipped in a goal apiece-- to boast a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
Trent Hunter made a deft back-handed pass to a wide-open Sim, whose wrister beat Niklas Backstrom at 3:07 of the second and tied the game 1-1.
Sim then came through with another key contribution in the second as he swung around the back of the net and dished to Josh Bailey below the left circle. Bailey lasered a shot from his knee for his fourth goal of the season that gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 10:23.
The Wild tied the game 2-2 with Koivu’s power-play goal in the third, however, when defenseman Marek Zidlicky faked a shot and fed across the ice to Koivu, who beat Biron at 6:58 to even the score.
Then Nolan’s goal at 1:07 assured that the Islanders would not even earn a point, as they have become accustomed to doing.
“You’ve got to know that at any point, those things can happen,” said Biron, who made 26 saves last night. “We learned that the hard way.”Tags: Islanders, Owen Nolan, Scott Gordon, Jon Sim
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Live Game Thread 22: Isles at Wild
Still trying to recover from the cuteness that is Lil Herb Brooks, who will lead tonight's "let's Play Hockey" at the Xcel Energy Center....
...back to tonight's game tho...
Brendan Witt is back with the team but he'll need at least another day of skating to get up to speed and back in the lineup. A-Mac gets his second game up with the Isles in Witts place.
Same lineup...Schremp and Tambellini are your healthy scratches, Biron in goal. Will update after each period.
UPDATE: Isles lead 2-1 after second period
Isles score two unanswered goals and Jon Sim picks up a point on each. First Sim scores on a wrister at 3:07 courtesy of a nifty backhanded pass form Trent Hunter. Then, after the Isles killed off a pivotal 1:35 of 5-on-3 time for the Wild, Sim assisted on Josh Bailey's fourth goal of the season at 10:23 as he swing around the back of the net and fed to the bottom of the left circle, where Bailey lasered a shot from his knee to beat Backstrom and give the Isles a 2-1 lead.
Isles will start the third having to kill off 1:26 of Wild PP time.
UPDATE: Isles trail 1-0 after first period.
The WIld do not register a shot on goal until 7:21 of the first period, but Owen Nolan gives the Wild a 1-0 lead at 11:44 as he throws the puck in front of the net from beneath the goal line and banks it off Biron.
Islanders were 0-3 on the PP for that period. Strategically speaking, since Burns was a last-minute scratch and Hnidy just received a 2, 5, 10 for instigating and fighting, the Wild will be hurting a bit from the blue line. Something the Isles might try to exploit.
Tags: Brendan Witt, Rob Schremp, Jeff Tambellini
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Lil Herb Brooks in the house
Practically beside myself right now in gush mode, as YouTube sensation Josh Sacco aka Lil Herb Brooks is sitting right next to me in the press box right now. ADORABLE. He's even wearing the same lil blazer and tie as he wore when re-enacting Herb Brooks legendary MIracle speech on YouTube (if you haven't seen it yet, you must)....
Honestly, too cute!
Tags: Josh Sacco, Herb Brooks
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Live chat with Katie Strang
Katie Strang talks Islanders and takes your questions today in a live chat at 4 p.m.
Tags: Islanders
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Witt out, MacDonald in; Biron in goal
Brendan Witt is with the team and participated in the Islanders skate but he will not play tonight. Gordon said that he is a possibility if they need him tomorrow, but I think it is most likely we will not see him play until Monday's game against the Maple Leafs.
Martin Biron in goal tonight for the Islanders
Same lineup, with Rob Schremp and Jeff Tambellini out.
Lots of guys are putting in for ticket requests with the Isles PR staff...seems like just about everyone has some sort of Minnesota connection. Kyle Okposo got together with family last night, as did Minnetonka, MN native Jack Hillen, who went out to dinner with his younger brother and sister while in town.
Live Chat at 4 pm (Eastern Time), so fire away any additional questions you may have for me then!
Tags: Brendan Witt, Dwayne Roloson, Jack Hillen, Kyle Okposo
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Clutterbuck on Tavares: I'll be in his ear
Wild agitator Cal Clutterbuck said he talked to former OHL teammate John Tavares this morning and warned him not to read to much into his trash-talk in pre-game warmups tonight.
"I'll be in his ear," said Clutterbuck, who played with Tavares in Oshawa during Tavares' first two seasons there. "I'll see what I can come up with in my nap today."
All joking aside, Clutterbuck said he isn't surprised to see Tavares' success at this level ---Tavares now has 9 goals and ten assists on the season.
"He's had success at every level," Clutterbuck said. "I didn't have any doubt that he could do it at this level. He's a guy who finds a way to put the puck in the net."
*** By the way, Clutterbuck and 6 of his Wild teammates are growing mustaches in support of Movember, a charity that encourages guys to grow mustaches to raise money and awareness about men's health.
"You think I choose to look like this?" Clutterbuck joked. "Nah, but it's a good excuse to grow one."
Gotta give a little bit of love to my best friend's husband, Kia, on this one. Kia first introduced me to the Australian-started charity a couple of years ago and has grown his 'stache with pride and fervor ever since. Not trying to brag here, but Kia and his wife Carly (who I've been friends with since middle school) were crowned Mr. and Mrs. Movember two years ago at the NYC Movember Ball, and I do believe Kia retained his crown last year as well. That's right, my friends are sweet.
Tags: Cal Clutterbuck, John Tavares
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Wild on the ice at the X
Here at the Xcel Energy Center for the Wild's morning skate (Isles are on next at 11:30...but remember we're an hour behind here). The WIld have lost their past four games (although two have gone into overtime), including a disheartening 3-2 OT loss at home against Phoenix Wednesday. They'll look to turn things around tonight against the Isles, who they have beaten four times in the past four games the teams have played against each other.
I should learn that it's not ever wise to try to predict which goalie will start for the Islanders but I would not be shocked if Roloson gets the nod tonight. Despite starting the past two games, Gordon has seemed to favor matching up both Roloson and Biron against their former teams. Roloson, who has lost only one of his 12 starts this season in regulation, played for the Wild for four seasons while splitting duties with Manny Fernandez.
Tags: Dwayne Roloson, Martin Biron
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Tambellini not expected to play against Wild
Expect Jeff Tambellini to remain a healthy scratch for Friday night's game in Minnesota against the Wild.
"It’s no so much what he’s got to do," coach Scott Gordon said. "It’s when he gets back in there making sure he doesn’t give me the option to take him out. He got a little off his game. That’s not to say he can’t get it back. When you don’t score you have to do all the little things and I just found that he got away from that."
D Brendan Witt is expected back after a personal leave. Does that mean recent call-up Andrew MacDonald is out of the picture? Gordon said MacDonald is going on the three-game trip (St. Louis Saturday, Toronto Monday) but "I haven’t decided," whether he will play. But Gordon had an afterthought, adding "Witt hasn't skated in a week."
Update on captain Doug Weight, who has an upper body injury. "He's kind of out of sight right now,'' Gordon said. "He's probably got at least three more weeks. At least.''
Tags: Jeff Tambellini, Islanders, Brendan Witt, Doug Weight, Andrew MacDonald
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Brendan Witt will rejoin team
Just barely made my connection in Milwaukee, so I don't have a ton of time but I've been told that Brendan Witt will rejoin the Islanders in Minnesota.
That's not to say Witt playing tomorrow night is a given, but regardless, he'll be with his teammates.
Tags: Brendan Witt
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Trent Hunter happy to be healthy
Extrapolating from his current rate of output -- four goals in just six games -- Islanders forward Trent Hunter would be among the National Hockey League's top five goal-scorers now if he had be able to play in all of his team's 21 games. A what-if that brought a laugh.
"I've just got to make up that lost ground," he said.
In fact, Hunter said, "It just feels good to be healthy." A muscle injury in his chest had put him off ice (as opposed to allowing him to be on the ice with his Islanders' mates), through the season's first 15 games -- when, it could be argued, his presence might have added needed offensive punch.
“He gives us that shot presence,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. “He’s got such a great release; the puck’s off his stick so quickly. He definitely provides another element — his size [6-3, 210], his ability to control the puck along the wall.”Hunter was the team’s co-leader in goals scored his first season with the Islanders (25 in 2003-04) and again was leading the way last season, despite missing time with a hip problem, when a broken ankle ended his season in early March.
Then there was the chest injury this fall. “It was getting pretty frustrating,” he said. “I had a couple of pretty long streaks [of good health] for a while, then last year, after Christmas, it sort of snowballed on me. It was just kind of weird.
“Missing all that time, I was just trying to stay as positive as possible. But you’re always apprehensive after missing so much time. I just wanted to get back and contribute in any way I can. My game is just trying to get the puck in areas and putting the puck on net.
“It’s nice to see it going in. That’s certainly the way you want it to happen.”******
With four days off between games and about to face six games in the next nine days, Gordon gave Kyle Okposo, Richard Park, Nate Thompson, Mark Streit and Andy Sutton a day off from practice Wednesday. Gordon said those players either were “a little banged up” or “not feeling well.”
Also absent were Doug Weight (upper body injury) and Brendan Witt (for personal reasons).
Tags: Trent Hunter
