Top Shelf – Islanders Daily 11/11/13

Nov 10, 2013; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; New York Islanders defenseman

(3) with a trainer during the third period at the Bell Centre. Hamonic left the game. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Last Monday, we were talking about the New York Islanders taking the next step forward after they defeated the Boston Bruins 3-1. One week later, the Islanders took a big step back.

Long Island’s hockey team returns home from a four-game road trip with zero points. Last night’s 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens only capped off the terrible trip, which the Isles would probably hope to forget sooner than later. And they will have to.

The Islanders have been notoriously bad during the month of November in recent seasons – usually, their play has been poor enough to push the team out of the playoff race early into the season. In the midst of a four-game losing streak, Jack Capano’s Isles are going to have to turn it around if they want to avoid the same fate as previous years that held them out of the postseason; however, this will not be an easy task.

Already without Thomas Vanek and several defensemen, the Islanders might also be without Travis Hamonic, who suffered an injury due to a cheap blow from Max Pacioretty.

The road to “right the ship” begins on Tuesday, at home, against the Nashville Predators.

In case you missed it:

Our own Joe Powers discusses the Islanders controversial goaltending situation. (EOI)

Looking back at last night’s 4-2 loss in Montreal. (EOI)

The Isles are having another November swoon. (Newsday)

Eric Hornick gives us “The Skinny” after the Isles loss on Sunday.

Two Minutes for Tweeting:

• People forget quickly. Snow assembled a solid team before the season began. Simply put, the team isn’t playing up to its ability. Right now, the slump is on the players. Not Snow. Not Wang. Perhaps partially Capuano, but the players have a lot to do with the current slump.

• Nelson played on the team’s 1st line and Poulin got the start last night for the Isles, and, in my opinion, I thought both players played well in bigger roles, which is a positive.

• If the Islanders can get a solid starter out of Poulin, who has a .920 SV % at even strength this season, things will start turning around. Fact: the Isles are 0-8-1 in games where they score fewer than 2 goals. They need someone who can steal a game or two for them – someone who can keep the puck out of their own net. In a small sample size, Poulin’s done a nice job.

Around the NHL

• New York Rangers 4, Florida Panthers 3: NYR Goals (Miller, Dorsett, Richards, Zucarello), FLA Goals (Barkov, Campbell [2] – The Rangers scored two third period goals to take, and keep, their first lead of the hockey game.
• New Jersey Devils 5, Nashville Predators 0: NJD (Jagr, Janssen, Zidlicky, Zajac, Tedenby) – Jaromir Jagr’s became the 8^th player, and 1^st European, to record 1,700 NHL points. Martin Brodeur earned his second consecutive shutout – 123^rd of his career.
• Chicago Blackhawks 5, Edmonton Oilers 4: CHI (Saad, Shaw, Bickell, Kruger, Keith), EDM (Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov, Perron, Eberle) – Marcus Kruger put the Hawks up with just over 8 minutes to go in the third, and Duncan Keith increased the lead less than two minutes later.
• Colorado Avalanche 4, Washington Capitals 1: COL (Borderleau, Holden, Parenteau, Landeskog), WSH (Ward) – Nick Holden scored his 1^st NHL goal for the Avalanche just 28 seconds after Joel Ward tied the game at 1. The goal stood as the game-winner.
• Anaheim Ducks 3, Vancouver Canucks 1: ANA (Perry, Bonino, Cogliano), VAN (Sestito) – Without captain Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks received three goals to win their 5^th game in a row. Frederik Andersen improved to 6-0-0 on his NHL career.
• Winnipeg Jets 5, San Jose Sharks 4 (SO): WPG (Frolik, Byfuglin, Clitsome, Ladd, Ladd [SO]), SJS (Boyle [2], Hertl, Wingels) – Andrew Ladd tied the game at 4 with 1:43 remaining in regulation, and then scored the only goal in the shootout to push the Jets past the Sharks.

Across the Sound

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers were in action on Sunday afternoon, earning a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Adirondack Phantoms. Anders Lee scored two goals for the Sound Tigers, including the game-winning goal 6:34 into the third period, and Kenny Reiter earned his 1^st career AHL victory. Bridgeport went 9-9 on the penalty kill.

-CT