Isles beat Canes behind Tavares' two goals

After three consecutive games against strong opponents in the Predators, Capitals and Flyers tonight’s game against a “beatable” opponent became a must win to prove that the Islanders are focused and heading in the right direction and not an anomaly.

And win they did.

Not that it was a statement game by any means.  The Isles came out sluggish, not moving their feet, reaching for pucks and making terrible “up the middle” type passes for the entirety of a first period in which they were outshot 15-9 against an opponent on the tail end of a back to back.  The Hurricanes drew first blood when Bryan Allen drove a slapshot on Evgeny Nabokov from outside the blue line.  Nabokov kicked out a gigantic rebound toward Mark Streit who had his stick lifted by Zac Dalpe who kick-passed over to  Jeff Skinner for his first goal since returning from a concussion (13th of the year).

Matt Martin hit the crossbar with a wrist shot on a shorthanded breakaway after he outraced the Canes’ defense and protected the puck well.  It was the Isles best scoring chance of the period.

The second period was the polar opposite of the first as the Islanders carried and dominated a lot of the play…at least shots wise (23-8).  The unfortunate part was that many of the shots were from the perimeter and the Isles had difficulty getting rebounds or getting to available rebounds as the Hurricanes rather large defense was able to create a nice perimeter around Cam Ward for much of the night.  But there was one man, perhaps you’ve heard of him, that was able to break through.

John Tavares was again the story.  He fed Mark Streit at the point for a slap shot, but as soon as he did, he headed exactly to the spot where Streit’s shot would eventually rebound to, gathered the puck and fired a wrister past Ward for his 18th of the year.  His knack for being in the right place at the right time is uncanny at this point.  While the Hurricanes had few chances in this period, the chances they did have were of the breakaway variety but Evgeny Nabokov was equal to the task.

The third stanza was like a completely different game.  One that both teams played not to lose. After shot totals of 24 and 31 between the teams in the first two periods the 3rd period had a total of 14.  Both teams tightened up the defense and took few risks netting each at least a point at the end of regulation.

But overtime takes away a skater and opens up some ice and John Tavares shines in space.  Travis Hamonic drove a shot from the point that was blocked out front.  Tavares grabbed the puck and backhanded it down behind the net to PA Parenteau.  Parenteau backhanded a beautiful pass onto Tavares’ tape in the middle of the circle to Cam Ward’s left.  He fired a wrist shot that Cam Ward got a piece of that knuckled up in the air.  Tavares beat the D following the puck and batted it in (off of Ward) before it hit the ground to give the Isles their 4th win in their last 5 games.  More of that please.

They are now two games below NHL .500 and getting hot, possibly in time to make a run.  But as Billy Jaffe noted on Hockey Night Live, it will take a long run…with no two or three game losing streaks in between.

Noticings:

• How about that speed and body positioning on Matt Martin’s breakaway?  How about that shot.  He’s becoming a very good hockey player.
• The officiating tonight was something out of the clutch and grab era…on both sides.  Their were many missed calls throughout…which probably plays to the Islanders disadvantage given how hot the power play has been.  (Note to Canes, in most games, even if you let go of your stick, you still tripped the guy.)
• Goodness Howie Rose’s rant on the Top 25 Under 25 snub of John Tavares was epic.  Link if you missed it.
• Nino is starting to be a nice physical agitating and puck possession presence.  Some nice facewashes and net crashes by the rookie tonight.
• There were some strange defensive combinations toward the end of the game.  Notably, Hamonic was paired with Eaton, and MacDonald with Reese.  Keep an eye on that.
• The Isles are 11th in the conference and 8 points out of a playoff spot.
• Matt Moulson had his six game point streak snapped…slacker.
• John  Tavares extended his point streak to 12 games (21 points)…an NHL best this season.
• Evgeny Nabokov had another tremendous outing.  Is the Isles goaltending (gasp) stabilized?  He has been a rock back there lately and has limited his stickhandling gaffes over the last bunch of games.  If the Isles can get a regular rotation going with him and Montoya getting good starts and good rest, a run may not be out of the question.

Next up, a home and home with the slumping Maple Leafs (9th seed 51 pts.) in very critical games that the Isles need to win in regulation.  They can’t afford to give away points to teams ahead of them in the standings any more.