Zombie Nation: New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are in Washington tonight to take on the Capitals from the Verizon Center. However, in all seriousness, the Verizon Center should be re-named for tonight’s contest to the “Graveyard”. Without Alexander Ovechkin for Washington, the Capitals have been able to stay stable with a .500 record in his absence. Sure, two of those wins were against the Florida Panthers in a home and home battle over the weekend, but the Capitals are still an offensively gifted team with or without Ovechkin.
As for your New York Islanders, they have suddenly become the walking wounded. Doug Weight, Radek Martinek, Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau are all out for tonight’s game. They are all key players to the Islanders line up and this is going to cause a bit of a problem for the Islanders on the ice this evening. Of course, with that means new faces to the line up for tonight’s game: Robbie Schremp and Trent Hunter are in. Hunter is returning from an injury (shocking for this Islanders team, an injured player) and Robbie Schremp who was claimed off waivers in the beginning of the season will both be in the line up and will try to step up their game for the Islanders so that they can continue their winning ways. Putting up six goals in one game says something for a team that is as young as the Islanders. It shows their hunger and determination. Tonight, Scott Gordon will attempt to balance the line up and hope for chemistry to form with the new additions to the team.|
The Islanders were the worst team in the NHL last year. A big cause to that was because the Islanders had over 500 man games lost due to significant injuries to the players. That trend seems to be carrying over into this season and for a team that wasn’t expected to be “decent” has started to shut the “experts” up, until now. The Islanders are starting to become “zombie nation” again. Martinek’s year is over, team captain Doug Weight is out for over a month, and the Islanders still seriously need a #2 defenseman. All this combines together to sound the alarms for the Islanders. With minimal expectations prior to the season and then becaues of the teams play during the month of October, those expectations started to change.
Tonight’s full line up (subject to change) will look something like this:
| …LW……………….. | ………………..C……………….. | ………………..RW……………….. |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Moulson | John Tavares | Richard Park |
| Jeff Tambellini | Josh Bailey | Jon Sim |
| Sean Bergenheim | Frans Nielsen | Trent Hunter |
| Robbie Schremp | Nate Thompson | Tim Jackman |
| …………………….D……………………. | …………………….D……………………. |
|---|---|
| Mark Streit | Bruno Gervais |
| Brendan Witt | Jack Hillen |
| Andy Sutton | Freddy Meyer |
| …………………………G………………………… |
|---|
| Dwayne Roloson |
| Martin Biron |
The lines are a bit of a mix and match with all the injuries and issues going around for the Islanders. Of course, 2/3′s of both top lines are still in tact and with that, we will all hope that chemistry doesn’t change.
Quick Hits:
I wonder if Garth Snow has any moves up his sleeve ? In previous posts by yours truly, I stated that the Islanders were in need of a top pairing d-man. Yes, the play of Andy Sutton, Brendan Witt, and Jack Hillen have all improved but there is still a need for more offensive push from the blue line and well, another shut down guy would not hurt.
Robbie Schremp get’s a chance, yet again, to try and show that he is capable of playing on an NHL roster. I do hope he skates and plays the way he was drafted to at some point this season for the Islanders. If not, at least it was just a waiver acquisition.
Dwayne Roloson is 5-1-3 this season with a 2.74 goals against and a .914 save percentage. I wonder if DiPietro is going to enjoy playing back up for the rest of this season?
Isles fans, questions, comments, or anything in between: Anthony’s E-Mail
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