Islanders Lose by a Touchdown, Flattened by Flyers

(If there any more errors in spelling and grammar than usual, I apologize wholeheartedly. I don’t want to relive this terrible game anymore than I have to. Thanks for reading.)

UNIONDALE, N.Y.–  Terrible. Awful. Embarrassing. Unprofessional. Laughable. Amateurish. Sickening. Detestable. Familiar. Historic. These are just some of the words to describe one of the New York Islanders’s worst (if not THE worst) home loss at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Philadelphia Flyers destroyed the Isles 7-0 in front of a packed house, and undoubtedly such a turnout won’t be recorded for some time after this nonsense. Who can blame us, right? I’d rather have the ability to change channels then having to leave a game early and feel as if I just wasted hard-earned cash on rubbish.

And if you think I’m harsh now,wait and see what happens  if the Isles lose to the Ottawa Senators tomorrow. There will be some of the most heinous (censored) critique in the short history of this website.

The scoreboard has very little to do with the rage at hand, but rather inspired directly by Jack Capuano and Mark Streit‘s handling of the situation, today and throughout the entire losing streak that was this homestand. More on this subject in a minute. For now here’s the recap.

Game Recap

The Philadelphia Flyers scored at the 26th second (you read correctly: 26 seconds, people) mark of the first (and just as quickly in the second, 15th second mark. Yes, 15 seconds) to set an indelible mark of domination that weighed heavily upon the conscious of every Islander player for the entire game, sans Matt Martin.

Captain Claude Giroux ‘put his money where his mouth is’ taking the opening faceoff and waltzing into New York territory then burying a wrist shot passed a dazed and confused Isles’s defense. Perhaps Evgeni Nabokov hadn’t even looked up before he realized the entire Flyers squad came ‘a knocking.

Giroux had lambasted his teammates for lack of heart and concentration their past few games, and called for all 20 men to act like professionals and play some NHL-level hockey. They answered his call, not before Giroux set the example and set it early.

What’s worse, after having earned his well-deserved NHL First Star of the week, John Tavares (and equally so, Matt Moulson) had his worst game of the year, taking ridiculous penalties and failing to cover properly on the backcheck. Tavares would be called for Tripping in the first (although, upon closer inspection, may have been a bad call) and another later for Unsporstmanlike, nay UnTavareslike Conduct. If that isn’t an indication of how bad things were going at his juncture, I don’t know what is.

The only two Islanders worth mentioning here are Nabokov and Matt Martin: one who had the grave misfortune of being left on the ice unnecessarily after allowing  three by the middle of the second period, while the other tried to awaken his team from their catatonia with his fists, taking on Wayne Simmonds and later Braydon Coburn. Too bad he didn’t punch some of his teammates instead.

The Flyers contained the Tavares line in every conceivable manner, and practiced a dump-and-crash style of play that caught the flat Islander defense completely and undeniably by surprise. Flat doesn’t begin describe the lack of energy, poise, and will exuded from this so-called NHL hockey club.

The opportunistic Flyers tacked on three goals in the second courtesy of Matt Read, Brayden Schenn, and a second by Giroux. By the close of the period, it was like watching Slap Shot pre-Hanson brothers.

The Islanders’s Power Play wasted a full 5-on-3 opportunity, with terrible offensive zone passing, even icing the puck at one point, ending the contest 0-for-5. Dreadful. Moreover, the Penalty Killing unit went 2-for-4 and was the only, minuscule sliver of good news to report (if you consider everything else, yes, it was ‘good’.)

In the spirit of irony and just plain good laughs, the Islanders are 2nd in the NHL on the PP and 4th on the PK. How that’s possible I have no idea.

The 7th goal hurt the most, as Nabokov was either fed up or simply exhausted. Whatever the case, he was out of position. And I’m sure he didn’t appreciate the gesture made by both Capuano and the Flyers. See for yourself:

Burn the tape of this game, you say? Absolutely. Burn the tape and those dreadful, cursed alternate Jerseys.

–RD

Follow Rich Diaz @eyesonisles

Commentary

• I AM ABSOLUTELY LIVID at Jack Capuano for leaving Nabby out on the ice to be disgraced. Such a move speaks to his inadequacies and inabilities to coach at this level. How dare he leave a veteran, proven goaltender out to be mauled. Rick DiPietro should’ve been in after the third goal was scored. To Hell with gameplans. You DO NOT treat your star player like a scrub. Was he trying to teach him a lesson?! JACK CAPUANO must go. I mean it now. He must go. Terrible.
• Also, why is Doug Weight ripping into players? He’s the damn AC, for crying out loud. Never heard of Al Arbour asking his ACs to lean into his players for him. Enough with this guy. (Yeah, he’s a nice guy, etc. I’ll buy him a beer when I’m back in RI.) You’re fired, brother.
• Captain Claude Giroux called out his players the night before for simply not playing Flyers hockey. They got the message. I say this once again: Mark Streit is not Captain material. In fact, if it wasn’t for the C on his jersey I would’ve forgotten he was one. Rip it off his shirt and give it to Tavares already. Only JT has the cojones and the stats to back up tough locker talk. And the guys will follow suit. For damn sure. Another bad move by Capuano. JT as Captain, and Hell, give Matty Martin an A if he keeps grinding it out.
• Brian Strait was injured: ankle it appears. Nothing of his status until tomorrow. Insult to injury for sure. Thomas Hickey will join the roadshow (circus show, more like it; Keystone Cops, really) it appears. Matt Carkner is still unavailable, as well. Defense not looking good at all.
• 7-0?! Are you friggin kidding me?! Good day to you. GOOD DAY, INDEED! ajsdhfadjsaskdjlfhasglkjashdflkjashdflkjashd arghh! <choke choke hack hack!>