Doug Weight defends his decision to use John Tavares in shootout against Oilers
Islanders head coach Doug Weight leaves the ice after losing to the Blue Jackets at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018. Credit: Brad Penner
BANFF, Alberta — Islanders fans have complained for years that as great a player as John Tavares is, he is significantly less than great when it comes to shootouts.
Many of them let Doug Weight have it on social media Thursday night when, after Connor McDavid gave the Oilers a 2-1 shootout lead in the third round, the coach sent Tavares out to try to match him. Tavares failed to do so, and the Islanders lost, 2-1.
Asked after practice on Friday if he still has confidence in Tavares in shootouts, Weight said he does, but he admitted he wavered before sending him out against the Oilers.
“Looking back, I was looking at two or three different options,” Weight said. “It took me a couple of seconds. But their captain scored. [Tavares] scored some big goals for us. His last three games have been his best games in the last six weeks, and yeah, I have confidence in him.
“If you look at numbers and look at guys who have a specialty in the shootout, we don’t have a lot of guys like that. I think Ebs [Jordan Eberle] is really good in shootouts. I think guys have hot streaks, but we’re not really made for a shootout, per se.
“But I was thinking Fritzie [Tanner Fritz], I was thinking Anders [Lee], I was thinking Bails [Josh Bailey], I was thinking Brock [Nelson].”
What about rookie sensation Mathew Barzal?
“I wasn’t going Barzy,” Weight said, “because I wasn’t happy with the through-the-legs move in the last two minutes and 10 seconds, so I wasn’t doing it. But that’s for another day.”
Added incentive
The Islanders have incentive to win Sunday beyond ending an eight-game losing streak. The Flames are in a tight race for a playoff spot, and if they miss out, it will enhance the value of the first-round draft pick the Isles received in the Travis Hamonic trade. As for the Islanders’ situation, they are nine points behind Columbus for the final wild-card spot. They have a game in hand on the Blue Jackets.
“We have to get ourselves back in the conversation and start scaring some people, and we’ve been right there,” Weight said. “We have to take a step . . . There’s no give-up.”
Another Gibson start?
Weight said goaltender Christopher Gibson will get “significant consideration” on Sunday for a second consecutive start and his third on the four-game road trip.
He has looked good in two losses, one in overtime and one in a shootout — against the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and the Oilers’ McDavid.
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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