That’s hockey. John Tavares had the same teeth he had replaced a few months ago knocked out again last night in Chicago. He went to the bench, pulled them out and handed them to the trainer. He put his mouth guard back in and took his next shift.
HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN??? How? Simple. That’s Hockey.
The Islanders faced the Stanley Cup champions for the first time this season and Kevin Poulin made his season debut in net.
It was Nordstrom who scored the first Blackhawks goal at 9:32 of the first off a cross-ice feed through the crease. It was the sixth shot that had gotten through to Kevin Poulin. He would save three more before Toews would give Chicago the two-goal lead at 16:05.
On the other side of the ice, veteran goalie Khabibulin had little work. He had to make only three saves before Josh Bailey put the Isles on the board at 19:06 of the first. Less than a minute later, Kyle Okposo tied the game at two and the two teams would head to the locker rooms even.
You couldn’t be disappointed with that outcome after twenty minutes. But then the breakdowns began to occur. Toews won 70% of his face-offs and Handzus won all five of his. The Isles spent a lot of time in their own zone. But Kevin Poulin only gave up one more goal to Handzus at 6:45 of the second period. It would be the game winner.
Losing to the Blackhawks by one goal isn’t embarrassing. It’s not like they lost 6 - 0. (ahem, ahem) But Jack Capuano was not that forgiving. He once again mentioned “passengers” and “battle level.” He wasn’t naming names, but they knew who they were.
Newsday’s Art Staple had the best post game quotes on Twitter that told the story.
Capuano: "We mismanaged the puck tonight... We had some passengers." Said that Donovan "struggled, no question." May change lineup for Sat. (Maybe Brock Nelson will be back in the line-up? Or will it be Donovan that sits out?)
Tavares: "At times, we weren't hard enough on them."
"We sacrificed," A. MacDonald said, "but we seemed to back off at times."
"Basically, they were on a penalty kill for almost the entire period for two periods." My daughter -- the hockey critic. "It seemed like just an attempt to keep up to the Blackhawks. Donovan had a terrible game but so did Regin. Our fourth line was no competition for their fourth line." She hates when I quote her, but if she is going to yap at me when I'm writing, that's what she's going to get.
Capuano on MSG+ with Peter Rutgaizer.
Cal Clutterbuck, making his Isles regular season debut, played a team low 8:35. He had to be looked at by trainers after his hit on Bickell eight minutes into the first. He told Art Staple he was “winded.” Fiona Quick of QuickFacts Hockey told me that Clutterbuck has a dark cloud that follows him and can be injury prone. We’ll have to watch for that.
The Isles blocked 27 shots and it took a toll. I’m sure Hamonic, Visnovsky and Martin all woke up this morning black and blue. But tonight, they’ll do it all over again.
Isles face the Predators in Nashville tonight at 8 pm.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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