Snap Shots: Edmonton Oilers @ New York Islanders – 10/17/13

Oct 17, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; Edmonton Oilers left wing Ryan Smyth (94) controls the puck against New York Islanders defenseman Matt Donovan (46) during the first period of a game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to ‘Snap Shots’, our condensed, quick-fix post-game follow up after every match.

Gives you, the reader, bulleted results/impressions/reactions of the game in a flash.

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Edmonton Oilers (1-5-1) at New York Islanders (2-2-2)

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, October 17th, 2013

Game 7

Oilers (2) – Islanders (3) FINAL

Pre-Game Quips & Questions (Stats courtesy of NYI Gameday Notes)

The Islanders continue their four-game homestand tonight vs. the Edmonton Oilers. This is the first of two meetings between the teams; they will also meet in early March in Edmonton. The Isles are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games against Edmonton and are 6-0-0 in that span at the Coliseum.

These two franchises are in no way strangers. They’ve faced off a couple in a couple of times in the Stanley Cup Finals and ended the Islanders dreams of winning a fifth Cup in a row. The two teams hit the ice earlier tonight for the 67th time, this time with a new group of young stars leading the way.

Tuesday’s disappointing 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres displayed a weakness in the Islanders defense. A few collapses lead to the Sabres capitalizing on the opportunist the lack of defense created, leading to overtime and eventually the shootout.

After a two game healthy scratch hiatus, Matt Donovan will dress for the Isles tonight, while Brock Nelson sits again. WFAN’s Daniel Friedman mentioned earlier today on Twitter that the team is leaning toward keeping Donovan on the team, while sending Nelson back down to Bridgeport for the remainder of the season. Regardless of what happens in the future, Donovan should bring a much needed boost to the Islanders defense.

After picking up +10 shots against Buffalo, the Islanders still hold a -22 shot differential. One of the more notable shooters in Tuesday’s game was Travis Hamonic, who recorded three shots (although attempted more). It was clear the team wanted to get more shots on net after only recording just 19 and 16 in Chicago and Nashville, respectively. Will the team continue their offensive pressure against the Oilers and be more aggressive on the attack?

Devan Dubnyk comes into the game without a win and off to a tough start. Dubnyk has allowed 19 goals on 111 shots, leaving him with a .829 SV% and an atrocious 5.43 GAA. Will Dubnyk finally settle in or will his woeful start to the season continue?

Cal Clutterbuck returned to his hitting form and has stated he’s almost at 100%. We saw this decade’s version of the Bash Brothers against the Sabres and what it can do to a team’s play. If the Islanders can continue winning the physical battles and create more space on the ice, shots will increase, and hopefully, goals scored.

Tonight’s scratches: Eric Boulton, Matt Carkner, Brock Nelson

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+/

Period One

• After a relatively slow start for the Islanders, they’re able to sustain control in the offensive zone and get some good looks.
• Taylor Hall gets an early breakaway but Kyle Okposo does a great job pestering him the entire way and Hall can’t control the puck/get a shot off.
• Travis Hamonic continues being aggressive with the puck. Hamonic handles the puck into the corner of the Oilers zone. He briefly losses the puck, controls it, and finds Josh Bailey in front of the net for the nights first goal (09:59). 1-0.
• Ales Hemsky is called for a hooking penatly on Matt Martin. Islanders go on their first power play of the game (10:37).
• Isles outshoot the Oilers 16-7 in the first period.

Period Two

• Fourth line playing with high energy to begin the second period.
• After not being able to clear the zone, Pierre-Marc Bouchard draws a tripping penalty from Luke Gazdic (03:51).
• Islanders do a great job keeping the puck in the offensive zone. John Tavares feeds Matt Moulson next to the net, who then feeds Kyle Okposo in front of the net for a one-timer goal (04:54). 2-2.
• Josh Bailey with a phenomenal move in the zone. He dangles between two players and fires off a shot which is blockerd away out of play.
• Isles kill off Okposo’s tripping penalty.
• Michael Grabner creates an opportunity on a near breakaway while shorthanded then causes the Oilers to go offside in transition on said play.
• Isles kill off Travis Hamonic’s holding penalty.
• Isles kill off Matt Moulson’s slashing penalty.
• After an 11-0 Oilers shot run, John Tavares strength on the boards allows the puck to get to Okposo down low and Okposo finds Tavares in front of the net who finishes off the play with a goal off a strong wrist shot (18:53). 3-2.
• Great effort by Okposo chasing the puck into the Oilers zone, leading to a tripping penalty committed by Nick Schlutz to close out the period (19:56).
• Evgeni Nabokov mcu sharper in the second period.

Period Three

• Casey Cizikas makes a nice move and gets to the net but drives his shot wide from a tough angle while being defended.
• Jeff Petry sails the puck over the glass in his own zone and is called for a delay of game. Isles to their fourth power play of the night (05:12).
• Islanders start the third period with a 10-1 shot run.
• Peter Regin gets a great look and fires a slap shot on net.
• Justin Schultz is called for hooking. Islanders on their fifth power play (18:14).

/-

Period One

• Oilers have a HUGE opportunity with a wrap around . Evgeni Nabokov is out of place and should have been a goal but the puck falls off the stick.
• Neutral zone play halfway through the period is fast but sloppy from both sides.
• Not much doing on the power play. Matt Martin had a solid opportunity with what looked like a pretty open net but couldn’t capitalize on it.
• Justin Schultz receives a feed from Luke Gazdic at the point and feeds Taylor Hall who scores on a wide open net (15.52). 1-1.
• Off the faceoff from the game-tying goal, eight seconds later Taylor Hall buries a rebound Kyle Okposo “attempted” to get his stick on (16:00). 2-1.

Period Two

• Kyle Okposo goes down and while there he is called for tripping Ryan Smyth. Oilers on the power play (07:08).
• Immediately after killing off the Okposo penalty, Travis Hamonic is called for holding on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (09:26).
•  The Oilers go on the man-advantage for the third time in the period after Matt Moulson is called for slashing against Justin Schultz (13:56).
• All three of the Oilers power play opportunities in the second period were very strong. Three shots recorded on each for a total of nine shots on goal.
• Oilers go on an 11-0 shot run.

Period Three

• Islanders power play to start the third is stagnant. Seemed as though there was no urgency. Oilers kill off the man-advantage.
• Oilers kill off the delay of game penalty.
• Michael Grabner steals the puck in the Oilers zone. He had a lot of room to shot, but looks for the pass instead which wasn’t there.
• Puck deflects off the end boards and slips through the crease where a tap in ties the game. Ryan Smyth can’t get his stick on the puck and the zone is cleared.
• Taylor Hall gets a great attempt on net during the penalty kill. Shot goes off the side of the net.

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Post-Game Responses & Reactions

Lineup:

O: Grabner-Tavares-Okposo; Bouchard-Nielsen-Bailey; Moulson-Regin-Clutterbuck; Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.

D: MacDonald-Hamonic; Hickey-Visnovsky; Strait-Donovan

G: Evgeni Nabokov

Just as many fans thought heading into this matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, it was a high energy, fast paced game with 5 total goals scored. Although many predicted a 6-5 finish, they weren’t far off as it went in the books 3-2.

After Taylor Hall scored two goals in an eight second period and eventually giving the Oilers a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission, the Islanders used that as fuel to come out with high energy to start the second. The fourth lines drove the level of energy on the ice up, and got both sides of the ice somehow skating faster. After Kyle Okposo’s gaffe on Hall’s second goal, he made sure to leave that mistake in the first and never look back. His play improved dramatically in the rest of the game, not only by scoring a goal and an assist, but playing smart and strong hockey for the remaining 40 minutes.

Devan Dubnyk played a much stronger game in net, stopping 35 of 38 shots, finishing the game with a .925 SV%. Although he performed much better in net tonight than his previous starts, the Islanders offense continued getting shots to the net. The Isles finished the night by outshooting the Oilers 40 to 29, with 3 of them finding the back of the net.

A few defensive slip-ups again tonight allowed the Oilers to score 2 goals, but overall, the team played a much tighter game than we saw on Tuesday and got the W they came in looking for. Tonight’s win gives the Islanders six of a possible eight points at the Coliseum, or, at least a point in each home game.