12:45 pm & those of you on Twitter, Don't forget to answer Rob Carlin's Twitter question of the game. You may see it up on the pre-game broadcast. Tonight's question is as follows:
Twitter question of the day - What is your biggest concern with Rick DiPietro? See your responses on Subway #Islanders GameNight.. #Isles
15 minutes ago via TweetDeck
This was supposed to be a “Welcome back” party for Rob Schremp who made his season debut. It didn’t turn out that way. Michael Grabner was happy to be back on the ice again and Bruno Gervais and Jack Hillen were back playing defense with the injuries the Islanders are currently enduring. But it was a party for Carolina and not “Bob The Builder.”
Face-off man, Zenon Konopka dropped the gloves early, but this time the fight didn't last that long as his others so far this season. The Hurricane's first home-ice goal for the season was scored at 10:12 of the 1st by Corvo from the blue line. It was actually beautiful. Rick was down and out of position. It was downhill from there.
Samsonov set up Matsumoto for his 1st NHL goal in only his second NHL game as he managed to go hard to the net and get the puck behind DiPietro while Rob Schremp watched at close range. He was so frustrated he almost smashed his stick against the net, but that would have done nothing as the Isles were down by two.
With only 1:09 left of the first, Eric Staal made it 3 - 0 with a one timer that Rick had no chance of stopping. Staal had all the room in the world. It looked like a practice instead of a game that need to be won.
To add insult to injury, James Wisniewski took a boarding penalty with only 2.9 seconds left leaving the Isles vulnerable to start the second period. The Hurricanes out shot the Isles 15 - 9 in the first 20 minutes.
The second period was no better than the first as the Hurricanes added two goals within 43 seconds to their 3 - 0 lead. DiPietro struggled to cover a puck and it bounced like a pinball around the crease until it was banged into the net at close range by a Sutter boy. Seconds later, with Sutter in the crease after a push by Martinek, Rick was pushing him off and Martinek took a high stick to the face and laid on the ice. Tlusty took advantage of the situation and gave the Canes a 5 - 0 lead and I almost had heart failure.
With Martinek face down on the ice, I started to wonder “Okay, who had Radek going down with an injury in game 12? Anyone?” Good thing, he was back out on the ice soon after and the injury watch continues.
There were so many odd man rushes and poor decisions that I was afraid they’d put the camera on the bench and see Scott Gordon’s head explode. On multiple fan chat outlets, the debate began to rage as to whether or not this losing streak is Scott Gordon’s fault or a by-product of a thin, low-wage roster. When the game gets as ugly as this one, so do the fan sites.
With 5:08 left of the second, the Canes took their first penalty as Motsumoto went to the box. Another Islander down on the ice bleeding was John Tavares who was hit in the mouth with a high stick. La Rose was given a four minute penalty for not controlling his stick on the follow through. The Isles had a two man advantage for 1:21 and I thought things might turn around. PA shot into Ward’s chest, Moulson was down, Bailey’s shots bounced off defenders sticks and every shot Ward saw was from the left side into his chest. It looked like target practice and every shot hit Ward‘s jersey.
Even short handed, the Canes looked as if they were on the power play. But at 2:42 of the third, with Rick DiPietro still in the net, Michael Grabner tallied his third goal of the season and made it 5 - 1 off an effort by Captain Doug Weight.
At 9:12, Rob Schremp was taken down by Cole but managed to keep moving. Perhaps he should have fallen down and stayed down because the incident didn’t draw a penalty on Cole. Since he managed to recover quickly and continue to skate, he crashed into McBain at the boards and was immediately whistled for a boarding call. He was surprised and annoyed since nothing was called on Cole. He had two minutes to think about it in the box while the Isles PK went back to work. It was the Canes fourth power play opportunity.
Rick managed to stop a shot on the power play but could not control the puck. Jeff Skinner did what Scott Gordon always yells about and didn’t give up on the play until a whistle sounds. He poked the puck between Rick’s pads as he was down in the crease. Rick wasn’t even sure if it ended up behind his skates, but there it was and the Canes were now 6 - 1 on Skinner’s fourth goal of the season.
Konopka had a good chance and released a shot -- at Ward’s chest -- after being hooked by Babchuck. Babchuck went to the box, the Isles went to the power play but the Isles still could not score another goal on Ward even with JT in his crease screening him as best he could.
Comeau shot wide, and with just seven seconds left to the power play, PA Parenteau got one passed Ward as it rang off the post from (finally) a different angle.
With under a minute left in the third, Masumoto scored his second goal of the game to make it 7 - 2 while three Islanders were behind the net. He was all alone in front with nothing between him and the back of the net. The Isles were beaten in every category, but they beat themselves by letting the game get away from them early in the first.
Scott Gordon spoke with Rob Carlin in the post game in a quiet tone. He didn’t walk away in anger. He was clearly frustrated and expressed himself eloquently.
“Obviously, it was pretty ugly. Our play away from the puck is horrendous. We have to get better at it quickly.”
Scott felt it’s good thing a game today which leaves them no time to brood. But they are leaving too many things to chance. Too many three on twos and four on twos. This game was a big disappointment for him. “We should have had a good learning experience after Montreal. We can’t allow ourselves to lose games for the wrong reasons.”
When Mark Eaton spoke with Newsday’s Katie Strang he told her it was frustrating.
“Things are snowballing. We can’t pout. We have to learn from our mistakes and learn quickly. You get down 3 - 0 in the first and it’s deflating. It can’t be an excuse. You can come back and win games.” He said attitude is the key and knowing they can be better.
With a five game slide, they really can’t be much worse.
Isles vs. Ottawa tonight and a chance to redeem themselves -- or not.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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