New York Islanders Vs Anaheim Ducks : Pre-Game Report

Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Eyes On Isles Pre-Game Report

Tonight, the New York Islanders (8-17-5, 21 points) take on the Anaheim Ducks (20-7-5, 45 points) in Game 31 of the 2013-14 NHL Regular Season. Here’s what you need to know before puck drop…

Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
When: Monday, December 9, 2013 :  10:00 p.m. EST
Watch: MSG+ (HD) – Howie Rose, Butch Goring
Listen: 88.7FM WRHU, 103.9FM WRCN – Chris King

Opposition Blog : Pucks Of A Feather

Tickets: NY Islanders tickets

The New York Islanders continue their five game Western conference road trip as they take on the Anaheim Ducks for the first time in almost two years.

Last season’s inter-conference lockout shortened schedule prevented that but based on the early season results this year from the switch back to a traditional 82 game schedule, fans might be wishing that lockout was still occurring.

The Islanders have lost nine straight games, 5 away from a franchise record. They have already matched a new historic low dropping a coincidental nine straight on the road.

There are no magic pills, no witches brew that can be concocted to get this team motivated enough to win a hockey game. It has to come from within the locker room and the players very heart and souls. They have to almost will themselves to it at this point. A closed door players only meeting after the latest defeat in Los Angeles took place and we have to wait and see what the results are this evening.

Even the re-insertion of Brock Nelson into the lineup did little to wake up a dormant offense, which produced only 16 shots on a third string goaltender and never looked to even threaten for a quality scoring chance, nonetheless a goal.

General manager Garth Snow and owner Charles Wang made the trip for the Kings game, a stop on their way to the Board of Governors meeting. It would be safe to assume at this point that a coaching change was the most discussed topic on the cross country flight out among the two men. Peter Laviolette, Guy Boucher and Ron Wilson are all available and have been rumored as potential successors to Jack Capuano.

Management did decide to shake things up a little today, placing Pierre-Marc Bouchard on waivers for the purpose of sending him down to Bridgeport. The anticipated call-up will be Ryan Strome, likely for tomorrow night’s game in San Jose.

For the Ducks, they come in riding the emotional high of back to back road wins against two of the league’s elite teams, the Chicago Blackhawks and St.Louis Blues. Undefeated at home this season with a 10-0-2 mark, they have not missed Bobby Ryan in the least since his off-season trade to the Ottawa Senators due to salary cap concerns.

New York has to be very weary of a top flight first line that consists of captain Ryan Getzlaf (16-20-36), Corey Perry (18-15-33) and Dustin Penner (9-14-23) which has been one of the most consistent and productive in the entire league.

Starting goaltender Jonas Hiller has started seven of the last nine Ducks games (2.60, .910) so we would expect to see backup Frederik Andersen (1.74, .938) in goal tonight for Anaheim.

What They’re Saying

• “We feel like we’re an elite team,” said Ryan Getzlaf, who had a goal and an assist in each win to extend his point streak to 13 games. “And now we’re starting to show it.” [link]
• “What we’ve proved at this stage of the year is that we can play with the big boys and compete with them,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We’re going to leave (here) feeling good about ourselves.”[link]
• “I know what our record is, but it’s not like we’re getting dominated in these games,” coach Jack Capuano said. “If we’re not going to score any goals, it’s going to be tough for us. We didn’t generate (anything) on our power play, and that’s probably the difference.”[link]
• “That top line that we have is a line that has to realize that they have to shoot a little bit more,” Capuano said. “They’ve got to get pucks to the net. They make those little plays to the net … they’ve got to find a way score goals. That’s the bottom line.”[link]

Quick Hitters

• Captain Ryan Getzlaf has points in the last 13 games in which he has appeared, collecting 10-10=20 points in
  that span.
• Corey Perry‘s 18 goals through 32 games this season are the most in his career (previously 17 in 2007-08)
• Andrew Cogliano ranks third on the NHL’s active Ironman list, having not missed a game since his NHL debut with
  Edmonton on Oct. 4, 2007
• Kyle Okposo (2g/2a) and Andrew MacDonald (1g/2a) each saw their three-game point streaks come to a close Saturday in
  Los Angeles.
• The Islanders begin their eighth of 16 back-to-back sets this season. They are 3-4-0 in the front-end and 1-4-2 on the
  back end of back-to-backs in 2013-14.
• Islanders defensemen Lubomir Visnovski and Brian Strait suffered injuries in consecutive games on Oct. 19 and 22. In
  21 games without the duo, the Islanders are 4-14-3.
• The Isles are 8-2-2 when they score at least three goals and are 0-15-3 when they do not.
• Bridgeport Sound Tigers center Ryan Strome was named the CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month for November. Strome
  tallied five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 12 games. The Islanders’ first round pick (fifth overall) in 2011 leads the AHL in scoring
  with 33 points (9g/24a) in 23 games

Projected Lineup

26 Vanek – 91 Tavares – 21 Okposo
29 Nelson – 51 Nielsen – 12 Bailey
40 Grabner – 16 Regin – 15 Clutterbuck
17 Martin – 53 Cizikas – 13 McDonald

44 deHaan – 3 Hamonic
14 Hickey – 47 MacDonald
55 Ness – 7 Carkner

45 Nilsson
60 Poulin

Scratches : 4 Martinek,  36 Boulton, 96 Bouchard (waivers)
Injured Reserve : 11 Visnovsky, 20 Nabokov, 37 Strait