My first Ramble - Isles-Jets Postgame - 12-15-12

As an intro, welcome to my blog. It will be primarily be my opinions about the Islanders, Mets, and New York Red Bulls. Hopefully it'll be a fresh perspective and give another perspective on the games and what is going on in the NY Sports world, or at least the part of it that I follow.


Analysis of game
1. Nice Road win
-Winning in that barn isn't easy. Between the travel and the fans, their home record is justified. It was far from a dominating performance, but its 2 points, and more importantly, against a team directly above us and we didn't give up a 3rd point.


2. D gets it done, regardless of other teams offensive prowess.
-Winnipeg doesn't have a scary offense, and statistically it's a bottom third offense, but the D still has to get the job done, which they did. Those open shots that happened against Florida thankfully weren't there today, although Nabakov bailed out the D a few times.
-Ness's 18 minutes seemed solid, it's been fun watching another draft pick contribute and look like a player.
-I'm hoping to see Wishart soon, although I don't think St. Louis is the best game to throw him into.


3. Goaltending. It's been fun watching Nabakov play like this since he became healthy and got a sustain run of games. It wasn't pretty in the beginning, but that goalie shuffle that was going on in the first 15 games obviously didn't benefit any of the keepers, although it did show the DP just doesn't have "it" physically anymore. It's extremely frustrating to think where the team might be now, possibly 3 or 4 more wins, if management either ran with Montoya or Nabby to start the season.
As far as an extension with Nabakov, at the right price, say around 3mill, I don't think that it will hurt the team next year. Even if he regresses to somewhere around a 915% save percentage, that might be enough to form a solid backbone for this team to get a good start next season so we don't have to climb out of these bottomless pits that are created each November. It will also let Poulin and Nillson keep playing and getting reps in the AHL, I'd rather the prospects be "overcooked" to a point when they come up (also hoping for the same with Donovan and Cizikas).


4. 4th Line Cycling
 - The first line, when they're on, keeps possession better than the rest, but the 4th line does a great job cycling at times. I think that is when Nino really shows what he can do, as far as just making the play and not losing the puck. That, plus the flashes of skill don't make me think Nino is shot confidence wise. That line seems to work better for me with Wallace, but I think Reasoner needs another chance, and his help on faceoffs is important, especially because the other centers haven't been great at the dot in the last few games.

5 player notes (opinion) - in no particular order
1. PA - His confidence and "swagger" is fun to watch. When he tries to dangle in the right spots, it opens up the ice, he doesnt seem to be losing it as much either which is nice.
2. Nabakov - Gets it done again in a tough building. Another goal against could have turned that crowd up a notch, Nabby didn't let it happen.
3. Ness - The skating was all I read about Ness in 2008, and it really is an almost elite skill that he possesses. I'm sure that he'll skate himself into trouble on Thursday now that I said that, but he's been a refreshing addition to the blue line.
4. Bailey - Taking a step back and noticing that he's become a good PK guy at his age makes me think more of him. The scoring #s frustrate me, especially compared to a guy like Bozak who has put up good scoring numbers I still think his skills can translate to about 40-50 points a year, I wish that would materialize starting tomorrow though.
5. JT Dangles - that move he put on Bogosian was fun. The confidence is awesome to watch.



Hope you liked the post and any suggestions are graciously welcomed and encouraged. 





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