Islanders’ J-F Berube proving to be solid No. 2 goalie
Islanders goalie Jean-Francois Berube can't glove a shot that goes wide of the net during the second period against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Credit: AP / Gene J. Puskar
NASHVILLE — The Islanders took the day off Wednesday on the occasion of their only visit of the regular season to Music City. They could have used the time writing country music lyrics to fit their situation.
Maybe something about being far from home (where they have played only twice in a month), losing someone special (goaltender Jaroslav Halak) and / or getting tangled up in a triangle of ill will (with the Rangers and Penguins).
Then the uplifting finale: Finding a new love, as in former No. 3 and now rising No. 2 goalie J-F Berube, who until Tuesday merely was a promising 24-year-old with a mostly minor-league resume.
Not anymore.
Berube opened eyes in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Penguins in which he saved 33 of 34 shots, seven during an overtime period that did not end up mattering to the result but certainly mattered to his image.
“An absolute wall back there,” Anders Lee said afterward. “He did everything he could to keep us in the game and we were right there because of him.”
Said coach Jack Capuano, “We saw what he can do. There’s a reason he’s on our roster. So we have a lot of confidence in him. I just like the way that he’s dialed in and focused.
“It was tough when we had three goalies and Halak and [Thomas] Greiss were playing a lot and getting a lot of time. He stayed focused in practice, he worked hard and hopefully he can build off his performance.”
Berube is sure to get more chances to do so. Greiss is expected to start against the Predators on Thursday, but Capuano has made it clear he is against forcing Greiss to play both ends of back-to-backs.
That means there likely are at least three more starts in Berube’s near future. The Islanders play on consecutive days March 25-26, April 4-5 and April 9-10.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Berube said of his role down the regular-season stretch. “I’m just going one day at a time and trying to improve my game as much as I can and if they need me, I’ll be ready.”
Berube now has three NHL starts, spread from October to February to March. But he is not without big-game experience. Last season he led the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs to the Calder Cup.
His coach and teammates are not sweating his ability to translate that to the big time.
“We practice with him every day, and it’s hard to score on him and he presents a challenge,” Lee said. “So for him to go out and do it in a game, it’s no surprise to us.
“But it’s obviously reassuring to know you can have a goalie like that back there with his solid play giving us a chance every night.”
Notes & quotes: Hockey Canada announced that George McPhee, the Islanders’ special advisor to the general manager, has been named co-general manager (with Brad Treliving) of Team Canada for the 2016 IIHF World Championship.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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