New York Islanders Vs San Jose Sharks: Pre-Game Report

Eyes On Isles Pregame Report

Tonight , the New York Islanders (8-18-5, 21 Points) visit the San Jose Sharks (19-6-5, 43 Points) in game no. 32 of the 2013-14 NHL season. Here’s what you need to know before puck drop…

Where: SAP Center, San Jose, CA

When: Tuesday, December 10th, 2013, 10:30PM

TV: MSG+ (Howie Rose, Butch Goring)

Radio: 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 FM WRCN (Chris King)

Opposition Blog: Blades of Teal

Tickets:   New York Islanders Tickets

Tonight, the Isles finish up their Western road swing, as they travel to San Jose to take on the Sharks.

The Sharks have 43 points and have lost once at home all season. With Ryan Strome meeting the team in Phoenix tomorrow night, due to inclement weather, the Islanders will have to deal without their new savior for one more night.

This team is a disaster. They again played a decent hockey game last night, for a stretch, but were undone by just a horrific 33 seconds of hockey. In that span, at the end of the second, the Isles went from tied with the Ducks after 2, to down 2 goals. Once they went down 4-2, you knew it was over. And it was. The Isles lost 5-2.

Before this horrific losing streak started, the Isles were mediocre.  A middle of the pack kind of team. We worried about goaltending and defense. Now? Now everything is a disaster. Goaltending, defense and now scoring too. The Isles have not scored more than 2 goals in 8 straight games.

Basically, if your name is not John Tavares or Thomas Vanek, you have done almost nothing as of late.

Remember how everyone was calling for Kevin Poulin to be named starter over Evgeni Nabokov? Take a look at this:

Anders Nilsson isn’t shown because he has been worse than both. There are so many issues here, it’s hard to focus on just one. Everyone HAS to be better than this if the Isles have any shot at salvaging this season. Believe it or not, it is NOT over. The Isles are 10 points behind the Rangers for 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. Wishful thinking? Perhaps…

What They’re Saying

“When we make our mistakes, they’re costing us.  We can’t seem to figure out some of our breakdowns. Even times when you hope that things can kind of go  your way, they’re just not. We did some good things, but like I said in the last few weeks, good things aren’t what we want. We want wins, points and to move up in the standings. That’s what matters. It’s disappointing once again.”

-Captain John Tavares on the play of the Islanders

“We continue to work through it.  We needed a couple of bounces, and we didn’t get them.”

-Islanders Forward Brock Nelson after Monday night’s loss to Anaheim.”

“The power play was awful.  I don’t know if, in six years that I’ve been as disappointed with the power play as I am right now, and it’s not even about me. I’m sure they’re disappointed their power play. They are an elite group that has come out and been a threat for a long time. I’d like to see two or three guys take charge of it and let’s get going, because right now they go out and it’s killing the momentum that we gain.”

-San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan

Quick Hitters

• The Sharks have lost 3 in a row.
• The Islanders have not beaten San Jose since 2/18/2008 (0-2-2).
• John Tavares has a point on 5 of the Isles last 7 goals.
• The Islanders are 0-16-3 when they do not score 3 goals or more.
• The Isles have scored 11 goals in the last 8 games
• Scott Gordon‘s Islanders had lost 10 straight games  (0-9-1) when he was fired in November 2010
• Jack Capuano‘s Islanders have lost 10 straight games (0-8-2).

Projected Lineup

26 Thomas Vanek– 91 John Tavares – 21 Kyle Okposo
29 Brock Nelson– 12 Josh Bailey – 13 Colin McDonald
15 Cal Clutterbuck–  51 Frans Nielsen– 40 Michael Grabner
17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 36 Eric Boulton

47 Andrew MacDonald – 14 Thomas Hickey
3 Travis Hamonic – 44 Calvin de Haan
55 Aaron Ness – 7 Matt Carkner

60 Kevin Poulin

45 Anders Nilsson

Scratches: 4 Radek Martinek, 16 Peter Regin,

Injured Reserve: 11 Visnovsky, 20 Nabokov, 37 Strait