The Islanders did a little bit of everything tonight, a little rough stuff, good penalty kill, some powerplay chances and a come from behind victory. Not bad for their final preseason game.
Here is a breakdown of tonight’s scoring:
David Krejci (5:09 1st) 1-0
Miroslav Satan (17:53 1st) 1-1
Glen Murray (1:14 2nd) 2-1
Mike Comrie (6:51 2nd) 2-2
Miroslav Satan (14:49 3rd) 3-2
Jon Sim (18:38 3rd) 4-2
Game Breakdown:
Not having seen Guerin play much since his time with New Jersey, I really like what I see from him. One of the biggest things tonight was the fact that he dropped the gloves – I don't remember the last time the Isles had a captain who wasn't afraid to get his nose dirty. I also like how Guerin dumps the puck in when they gain the zone. He shoots it into the corner nice and soft, instead of slapping into the zone – which enables the forechecker a better chance at getting possession. It seems that this is a set play and something completely different then what we saw last year. The Isles also cycle the puck 100% better – which enables them to maintain possession in the zone longer.
I also noticed that our first pass out of our zone was crisp and on target. We had forwards moving through the neutral zone – which gives the defenseman numerous targets – again completely different than last year. I though our break out was absolutely horrible last season, and caused them to ice the puck a handful of times every game. The number of odd man rushes we had tonight was impressive; they generated some great scoring chances.
A few negatives, penalties continue to set us back – even though it did not show on the scoreboard tonight. I would also like to see the instances of odd man rushes against us be addressed. Our defense tonight was 99% of what we are going to see during the season, so this is a bit of a concern.
Overall, I am impressed with the effort tonight, and because we played almost the entire lineup – I feel we will be able to compete on a nightly basis. This is one of the things Snow and Nolan have said from the beginning.
