Down the Frozen River

Tag: Josh Bailey

  • Prince Nets 2, Bishop Chased, Islanders Win 5-3 in Game 1

    By: Nick Lanciani

    New York Islanders LogoThe New York Islanders defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 at Amalie Arena in Game 1 of the Second Round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night.

    Thomas Greiss made 33 saves on 36 shots against for a .917 SV% in the win, while Ben Bishop made 9 saves on 13 shots faced and was replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy with a .692 SV% on the night. Vasilevskiy made 8 saves on 8 shots faced in 29:40 TOI in the loss.

    Josh Bailey was out of the lineup for the Islanders on Wednesday night after leaving Game 6 versus the Florida Panthers with an upper body injury. With Bailey out, Ryan Strome was inserted into the lineup for New York.

    Ondrej Palat opened up the scoring in the first period for Tampa a little over three minutes into the opening frame. Palat’s goal was his 2nd of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and was assisted by Jonathan Drouin (5) and Vladislav Namestnikov (1) and gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead.

    Travis Hamonic answered back in a hurry at 5:44 of the first period with a goal of his own for New York. Hamonic’s first goal of the postseason was assisted by Alan Quine (3) and John Tavares (5) and tied the game at 1 for the Islanders.

    Both teams settled into a little rhythm after swapping goals early in the first. Lightning forward, Tyler Johnson received a minor penalty for hooking New York forward, Cal Clutterbuck, at 9:06 of the first period. The Islanders were unable to convert on their first power play opportunity of the night. They subsequently failed on their next power play opportunity when Alex Killorn went to the box for kneeing Calvin de Haan. Actually, Killorn’s penalty was served by Jonathan Drouin, but anyway…

    At 17:28 of the first period, Shane Prince potted one at the back of the net. Ryan Strome (2) and Brock Nelson (3) assisted on Prince’s 2nd goal of the postseaon. A little more than two minutes later, Prince, Strome and Nelson connected for another Islanders goal to give New York a 3-1 lead. The goal was Prince’s second goal of the game and his 3rd of the postseason. Strome picked up his 3rd assist of the playoffs and Nelson picked up his 4th assist of the postseason.

    After twenty minutes of play, the Islanders were leading 3-1 and led in shots on goal (12-8), faceoff wins (10-9) and takeaways (3-2). The Lightning led in hits (18-12), giveaways (5-3) and blocked shots (6-3). New York went 0/2 on the power play, while Tampa had yet to see time on the power play entering the first intermission.

    Marek Zidlicky served a minor penalty for interference 2:21 into the 2nd period, which gave Tampa their first power play of the night. The Lightning were unsuccessful on the man advantage.

    Unknown-1Jonathan Marchessault hooked John Tavares at 8:12 of the 2nd period, resulting in an Islanders power play.

    47 seconds into the man advantage Tavares made the Lightning pay with his 6th goal of the 2016 playoffs on the power play at 8:59 of the 2nd. Kyle Okposo (6) and Frans Nielsen (2) picked up the primary and secondary assists on the goal that made it 4-1, Islanders.

    Tampa Bay head coach, Jon Cooper, replaced his starting goaltender, Ben Bishop, with Andrei Vasilevskiy after the Tavares power play goal.

    Ryan Callahan took a holding penalty with under three minutes left in the second period. New York was unable to convert on the ensuing power play. After forty minutes of play, the Islanders had a commanding 4-1 lead over the Lightning, despite trailing in shots on goal (19-17), hits (22-19) and blocked shots (8-6).

    Nikita Kucherov kicked things off in the third period for the Lightning with his 6th goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at 7:41 of the period. Kucherov’s goal was assisted by Mathieu Carle (2) and Victor Hedman (2) and cut the Islanders lead to two.

    The final penalty of the night was called at 15:20 of the 3rd period, when Casey Cizikas sent the puck over the glass for a delay of game minor. Eight seconds after the conclusion of the power play, Tampa scored to trail by one. The goal was Valtteri Filppula’s first of the playoffs and was assisted by Killorn (3) and Jason Garrison (3) at 17:28 of the period.

    With 1:39 to go in regulation, Vasilevskiy deserted the net for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as Cal Clutterbuck notched one in the empty net at 19:05 of the third. Cizikas (1) and de Haan (2) picked up the assists on Clutterbuck’s first goal of the postseason and ensured that the Islanders would pick up the 5-3 victory in Game 1.

    Tampa led in shots on goal (36-22), hits (33-29) and giveaways (13-7) at the end of the game, while New York led in faceoff wins (32-21), takeaways (4-2) and blocked shots (15-10). The Islanders were 1/4 on the power play on the night while the Lightning were 0/2.

    The Isles won two out of the three regular season games against the Bolts and took Game 1 convincingly, despite being outworked in the final twenty minutes. More rest proved to be sloppy for the Lightning out of the gate, however more work caught up to New York by the end of sixty minutes of play.

    For the first time since 1983 two playoffs occurred on the same day, with the Tampa Bay vs. New York game opening the Second Round on Wednesday night, while the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators closed out their First Round series in Game 7 at the Honda Center.

    The Lightning play host to the Islanders once again for Game 2 on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM EST on home ice at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The game can be seen on NBC in the United States and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada. The Islanders lead the series 1-0 with their 5-3 victory on Wednesday night.

  • Roberto Luongo, Bjugstad, and Smith Overpower New York to Even Up the Series.

    The Florida Panthers defeated the New York Islanders by the score of 2-1 on Friday night in front of a rocking 18,373 at the BB&T Center. The Panthers were led by their All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo who made 41 saves in their winning effort.

    Both teams started off the game by sending their 4th line to the opening faceoff to try to gain momentum. This worked in favor of both sides being that just 42 seconds into the game there already was a scrum. The scrum involved the two team’s enforcers Shawn Thornton and Matt Martin but didn’t amount to anything. Just three minutes later on the Panthers sixth shot, Rielly Smith (his 3rd goal in just two games) scored the game’s first goal off a juicy rebound from Thomas Greiss, assisted by Nick Bjugstad and Johnathan Huberdeau.

    Rocco Grimaldi took the game’s first penalty just two minutes later after he took down Islanders center, Alan Quine. This would send the Islanders to the power power where they looked to even up to score. They were able to sustain a good amount of pressure, but with just one weak shot from the point, it never amounted to anything great. Then 12 minutes later Panthers left winger Garret Wilson tripped Islanders left winger Shane Prince resulting in their second power play of the period. Unfortunately, this PP was worse than the first one resulting in no shots. So, the first period ended 1-0 in favor of the Panthers.

    The second period started just like the first, with both coaches sending out their 4th line to set the tone, but this time nothing happened. The first prime scoring chance and momentum went to the Panthers at 17:04 of the second period from veteran defenseman Dmitry Kulikov after Greiss shut down his first shot from the slot with a great toe/blocker save. Then just 3 minutes and 21 seconds later Dmitry Kulikov found Reilly Smith behind the net who then found a cutting Nick Bjugstad (who slipped poor coverage from Islanders right-winger Josh Bailey) with a spinning backhand pass and Bjugstad roofed his first of the playoffs to open the Panthers scoring tab in the second period.

    With 1:27 remaining in the second period we had our games first major altercation. Of course, you might have even guessed it, it involved both teams 4th line again! The Islanders enforcers went at it trying to gain energy for their team who were down 2-0 at the time. It seemed that everyone on the ice had a man tied up and were going back and forth. Before it all started, the pesky Casey Cizikas gave Panthers D-man Aaron Ekblad a shot below the belt and his teammates didn’t like that and a brawl commenced. After everything settled down, a total of 6 penalties were handed out, with both teams sending 3 players to the box. Believe it or not, each player on the 4th line for both teams got two minutes for roughing with Cizikas getting an extra penalty for the low blow. So, the Panthers went on their first power play, but it resulting in nothing special.

    The start of the third period was a slow one, with no team truly gaining momentum. One of the first actions of the period was at the 15:47 mark of the third period when Cal Clutterbuck made two beautiful toe drags to gain the zone and gave Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic no choice but to drag Clutterbuck down and go to the box for holding. The Islanders would then get their third PP of the game. They grabbed three high-quality shots during the 2-minute span, but Roberto Luongo was up to the task and kept the shots out of his net.

    Then with 3:33 seconds remaining in the game, the Islanders were able to ultimately get one past the stellar Luongo with their 40th shot of the game. With their superstar, John Tavares corralling Nick Leddy’s point shot off the boards and slamming the puck past Luongo’s right pad for his second of the playoffs. Also, Kyle Okposo grabbed the secondary apple (assist) on the goal. They then pulled goaltender Thomas Greiss for the extra attacker pushing for that tying goal. They only managed two shots, but “Lu” wasn’t having any of it and shut the door. The Panthers would then ice the game on an empty net goal scored by Dmitry Kulikov assisted by Aleksander Barkov at 19:51 of the third period.

    New York outshot Florida 42-31 and outhit the Panthers 32-22. While Florida won in the faceoff category 36-27, lead in giveaways 13-9, and blocked shots 12-8. Florida was 0/1 on the power play while New York was 0/3.

    First Start Roberto Luongo would earn his first playoff win since 2011 when he was with the Vancouver Canucks after saving 41 out of 42 shots (.976%). While Thomas Greiss, who played a great game, gets stuck with the loss after saving 28 out of 30 shots (.933%).

    The series is now tied at one game apiece (1-1).  Both teams will now grab a flight up north to Brooklyn, New York for Game 3 on Sunday with puck drop scheduled for 8 PM. You can catch this matchup on NBCSN, SN, MSG+, or FS-F.

  • December 13 – Day 67 – No Sleep Till Brooklyn!

    In yesterday’s Game of the Day, the Boston Bruins defended home ice by beating the Florida Panthers 3-1.

    First Star of the Game Ryan Spooner accounted for the first tally of the game at the 11:35 mark of the opening period.  He was assisted by Torey Krug, his 14th helper of the season.

    Spooner was also responsible for the eventual game-winning goal, which came on a power play at the 8:00 mark of the second.  Third Star Patrice Bergeron notched his first of two assists on the afternoon, as well as David Krejci.

    Florida began to mount a comeback with a goal at the 13:56 mark of the final period, compliments of ex-Bruin Reilly Smith, assisted by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Pirri.  As they could not earn another opportunity, the Panthers pulled their goalie in the final minutes, which led to the final Bruin tally via Brad Marchand, assisted by Bergeron.

    Second Star Tuukka Rask (11-7-3) saved 27 of 28 (96.4%) to earn his 11th victory of the season, while Roberto Luongo (10-11-3) saved 22 of 24 (91.7%) in the loss.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 22-9-5, favoring the home side by 19 points.

    Per usual, this Sunday’s load is one of the lightest of the week.  A total of three games are being played today, with the action getting started at 5 p.m. eastern when New Jersey visits the New York Islanders.  An hour later, the puck drops in the Scottrade Center when Colorado visits St. Louis.  The evening’s nightcap gets an early start, as Vancouver and Chicago (NHLN/TVAS/SN) get started at 7 p.m. eastern in the United Center.

    Two of today’s games are divisional rivalries (New Jersey at New York and Colorado at St. Louis) and two are between current playoff qualifiers (New Jersey at New York and Vancouver at Chicago).  The one that qualifies for both is today’s Game of the Day:

    New Jersey Devils LogoNew York Islanders Logo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This is New Jersey‘s second appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day series.  Their only other appearance was a 2-1 overtime victory over the Blueshirts on Oct. 18.  Due to the hiatus I was forced into, this is New York‘s first appearance in the Game of the Day series.

    15-10-4 Jersey enters today’s game after beating Detroit 3-2 in overtime Friday night.  They are a defensive-minded team, a strategy that is currently earning them the second wild card position in the eastern conference.

    So far this season, 13-7-4 Cory Schneider and the Devils have only allowed 68 goals, a total that is well below the league average of 77.  Although Schneider and co. have played well this season, their strength has been found by only allowing 824 shots to reach him, thanks to Adam Larsson’s team-leading 56 blocks.  Even when a man-down, the Devils have still done well in preventing the opposition from scoring.  Jersey has only allowed 18 goals on 100 attempts this season, giving them a 82% kill rate that exceeds the league average by 1.15%.

    Offensively, things have gone a little slower for the Devils so far this season, as they’ve only notched 72 tallies before today, led by 13-a-piece from Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri.  This is only a symptom of their real problem, though, which is shots.  They have only 748 attempts to their credit (led by Mike Cammalleri’s 84), well below the league average of 853.

    The component of their offense that has kept Jersey relevant this season has been their power play.  22 of their 72 goals have come with a man-advantage (led by Palmieri’s five), even if it did take 103 attempts (10 more than the league average).

    17-8-5 New York is currently riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent being a 3-2 victory in Columbus yesterday.  Although the Isles have been strong on both ends of the ice, their strong suit has been their defensive efforts, which is currently earning them the third division spot in the Metropolitan Division.

    So far this season, 15-8-4 Jaroslav Halak and New York has given up only 68 goals.  Especially significant about this effort compared to New Jersey‘s comparable 68 is that Halak and co. have faced 852 shots – 28 more than Schneider and the Devils.  Pair strong goalkeeping with a team-leading 78 blocks from Calvin de Haan, and you find a strong defensive side.  New York‘s penalty kill has also been very strong, as they’ve killed 85.39% of all man-advantages, allowing only 13 goals.

    Offensively, the Isles have scored 79 goals so far this season (led by John Tavares’ 12 tallies).  Just as Jersey‘s low goal total is an indicator of not many shots, the Isles‘ higher goal total is a symptom of more shots on goal – 854, to be exact (led by Frans Nielsen’s 80).

    An intriguing facet of New York‘s game is their power play.  They have found great success so far this season, scoring 16 times (led by three-a-piece from Josh Bailey and Tavares), but on only 76 opportunities.  I must admit, I have not watched much of New York this season, so I do not know if teams are purposefully avoiding the box as much as possible when playing the Isles, or if the Islanders aren’t doing enough to draw penalties.  Regardless, New York needs to find a way to get on the man-advantage more often since it is such a strength of theirs.

    Some players to watch in this afternoon’s game include New Jersey‘s Cammalleri (30 points [tied for eighth in the league] and +12 [tenth in the league]) and Schneider (13 wins [tied for fifth in the league], 2.09 GAA [eighth in the league] and .926 save percentage [10th in the league]), and New York‘s Thomas Greiss (.928 save percentage [seventh in the league]).

    I believe the Isles will defend home ice for the victory this afternoon, mostly because I think New York‘s defense can handle New Jersey‘s offense, but the Devils will not have an answer for the Isles‘ offensive efforts.