Top Shelf – Islanders Daily 11/1/13

Oct 29, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; New York Islanders left wing

(17) and New York Rangers right wing

(15) fight during the second period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

So November is upon us, and it couldn’t come any sooner. Let’s take an objective look back at the last 12 games:

• The Islanders failed to string a pair of wins, but had little difficulty piling on the losses. (4-5-3)
• Long-time fan-favorite Matt Moulson was traded to Buffalo for an elite scoring threat in one Thomas Vanek.
• Michael Grabner was suspended two games for an open-ice head shot against Carolina Hurricane Nathan Gerbe on 19 Oct.
• Lubomir Visnovsky has been on the IR for the past few weeks with a concussion, suffered during the aforementioned Carolina matchup at the Coliseum.
• Brian Strait and Colin McDonald have also missed their share of games this month, as well.

So, the Islanders start the second month of the season one game under .500, and facing two difficult teams in back-to-back matchups:  the Ottawa Senators, tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre; the Boston Bruins at the Coliseum on Saturday.

Enough has been written and tweeted about the Isles troubles. Nothing for this team to do at the present moment other than understanding that the solution must come from within the locker room.

For chemistry to manifest itself, the Isles must stay together and work out their issues on the ice, be it practice or game night. No one quick fix is anywhere to found, and with most young teams, it’s all about making errors and learning from them.

Players like Matt Donovan, Brock Nelson, and Kevin Poulin will show their seams from time to time, and some errors will be much more magnified than others, all due in large part to the high expectations set back in May and the need from fans to show others that their Isles are a legitimate force in the NHL.

Patience and persistence, the Mantra for this month.

–RD (@rdnhl)

October Stats

Best Team Performance/Worst Team Performance

• BEST: Oct. 25th: 4-3W against the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center. SOG 28-42 PITT
• WORST: Oct. 26th : 5-2L against the last place Philadelphia Flyers at the Nassau Coliseum. SOG 28-32 PHI

November Schedule (15 games in all)

Home Games: BOS 11/2, NSH 11/12, LAK 11/14, DET 11/16, 11/27 WPG, 11/28 DET, 11/29 WSH–7 GAMES

Away Games: OTT 11/1, WSH 11/5, CAR 11/7, CBJ 11/9, MTL 11/10, TOR 11/19, PITT 11/22, PHI 11/23–8 GAMES

In Case You Missed It

• The Toronto Sun with some news on John Scott’s 7-game suspension. (Toronto Sun)
• Kevin Schultz takes a closer look at Mikko Koskinen, and wonders whether he’s the answer to the NYI goaltending question in the near future. (NYI Point Blank)
• New York Post with some more news on Matt Moulson: ‘You move on in life’. (NY Post)
• Please read the Rick DiPietro Owner’s Manual. Thank you. (LHH)
• Episode 7 of the Dump and Chase podcast now available. (EOI)

Two Minutes for Tweeting

Fair and accurate summary of recent events, I must say, with the last part of the utmost intrigue. Both Tavares and Moulson will learn plenty about who they truly are as players.

Andy with the ol’ tongue-and-cheek tweet of the day. In all honesty, I often wonder how many tweets are knee-jerk reactions and how many are sobering observations. Passion has a funny way of manifesting itself, no?

Around the NHL

• ANA–BOS: 2-3
• BUF–NYR: 0-2
• NSH–PHX: 4-5 OT/SO

Across the Sound

The Sound Tigers return to Bridgeport to take on Norfolk, hoping to shake off their poor October start.