Islanders Salute the Coliseum Crowd (Video)
PENGUINS 4, ISLANDERS 3 (OT) — Season Ends as Pens Win in Overtime
Preview — Box Score — TOI — Highlights
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – After the final buzzer the Islanders took one final spin around the ice at Nassau Coliseum, with the fans behind them chanting, “lets go Islanders” and chanting “M-V-P” at Hart Trophy finalist John Tavares.
It was all that was left to do after the Islanders fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime, in a game that ended their season.
“It’s just tough to put into words,” Colin McDonald said after the defeat. “Losing a game like that. Losing a series like that, it’s just tough.”
It was Brooks Orpik who scored 7:49 into the overtime period and ended the Islanders magical run that saw them shock pundits around the league who had given them no chance.
PLAYOFF GAME DAY – Penguins at Islanders, 7:00pm
Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders, 7:00pm ET
Nassau Coliseum — Uniondale, NY — MSG+, NBCSN, TSN
Update, 3:26pm – Check out Christian’s blog for notes and quotes from the morning skate.
Original Story, 1:51pm — Tonight at the Coliseum the Islanders face elimination against the Penguins, down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Both prior games at the Coliseum came down to the wire and were absolutely crazy in terms of the fans noise, and hopefully tonight won’t be any different. Despite Thursday’s clunker in Pittsburgh, the Islanders are very much alive in this series and have played well at home.
Link: The Nassau Coliseum Was Not A Dump Sam Page, Deadspin
WFAN to Simulcast Game Six
Saturday’s Game Six at the Coliseum will be simulcast on WFAN 660AM and 101.9FM. It will also be broadcast on the normal 88.7 WRHU. In some radio justice, the game will pre-empt WFAN’s Steve “Icelanders” Somers.
Nassau County is Excited About the $500k It Makes From Isles Playoff Games
Kevin Schultz, Islanders Point Blank:
“The buzz the Islanders have created by winning two games against the top seeded Pittsburgh Penguins is great for the sport but also great for our local economy,” Comptroller Maragos said. “Anytime the Coliseum can be filled to capacity, which is over 16,000 attendees for Islander games, the County receives a portion of the ticket tax, parking and concessions revenue.”
The comptroller, now apparently having jumped on the Islanders bandwagon, is in full support of the team. During the lockout, the comptroller had a little bit different tune.
The Islanders Have a Decision to Make in Net
Kevin Schultz, Islanders Point Blank:
Original Post – 12:20 p.m.: Islanders netminder Evgeni Nabokov has struggled in this series against the Penguins — and in all fairness the Pens have a lot of offensive firepower. He’s allowed 20 goals in five games and has an .845 save percentage. Seven of those goals have come from Pittsburgh’s power play unit. But now, the Islanders are in an interesting position with Nabokov. He hasn’t played so well that it’s a no-brainer to keep him in and the team could be playing back-to-back games this weekend, something Nabokov hasn’t done but once all season.
For better or worse, the Islanders have seemed to make their bed with Nabokov. He started 41 of the team’s 48 regular season games and has played all five playoff games thus far. The Islanders have made clear, by not allowing another goalie more than four starts this year, that Nabokov is their guy and they’re going to stick with him. But now they’re in a peculiar situation.
NEWS: John Tavares Nominated For Hart Trophy
The NHL has announced the finalists for the Hart Trophy.
They are Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and the Islanders John Tavares.
Tavares ranked third in the NHL with 28 goals and had 19 assists.
From the NHL Press Release:
Tavares ranked third in the League with 28 goals and led the Islanders with 47 points in 48 games to propel the team to its first postseason berth since 2006-07. He scored 15 of his goals on the road (third in the NHL), helping the Islanders record their best road winning percentage in franchise history (.667). Tavares also ranked in the top 10 in the League in even-strength goals (19), power-play goals (nine) and game-winning goals (five). He scored in five straight games Feb. 7-16, including his fourth career hat trick Feb. 16 vs. New Jersey, and posted 13 multi-point games. The 22-year-old Mississauga, Ont., native is a first-time finalist for the Hart Trophy.
The Hart Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and is awarded to “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”
THE MORNING SKATE — Questions Ahead of Game Six
Kevin Schultz, Islanders Point Blank:
Twenty years ago in 1993, with completely different players and all, the Pens/Isles playoff series went something like this one. The teams split the opening two games in Pittsburgh, split the next two in Nassau, then the Pens won Game Five in Pittsburgh to go up 3-2. The rest… Well, you know. Two completely different teams and times but a fun coincidence.
Saturday night the Islanders will be missing Andrew MacDonald, who was certainly missed last night. They could also be without Frans Nielsen who is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Those are two big blows to the team if they are both out of the lineup.
Penguins take 3-2 series lead as lineup and goaltending changes pay dividends
There probably isn’t much you can learn from a game like the Isles 4-0 loss to the Penguins tonight other than “don’t do that again”.
And they really can’t now.
They will need to win back to back games Saturday and Sunday in order to advance to the second round and they have a Fleury-esque goaltending problem themselves. The bigger part of that problem is they don’t have a Tomas Vokoun waiting in the wings.
After a bit of a tentative start by both teams, the Penguins goaltending adjustment paid off pretty well. Perhaps fueled by the lineup changes of both teams, play was a little sloppy through the first few minutes with both teams conceding little through the neutral zone. There were turnovers at the blue line and players being rubbed into the boards because they didn’t carry in with enough speed.
