It wasn’t until 14:36 of the third that the LA Kings scored at the Coliseum. Voynov got lucky from a very bad angle at the left side of the net cutting the Islander lead in half. That was about 46 minutes that Kevin Poulin held the LA Kings scoreless while the Isles youngsters Cizikas and Ness got two by Scrivens.
It was Aaron Ness’s first NHL goal in his 14th NHL game. John Tavares had the lone assist on the goal. JT may not be playing at 100% after having crashed into the boards in his last outing. Of the 25 shots for the Isles, none were JT’s. His face-off percentage had suffered tonight as well.
And at 7:45 of the third, after I complained about Butch Goring throwing too many accolades towards Kevin Poulin, Pearson scores HIS first NHL goal tying the score at two. “The Isles will find a way to blow this game.” I heard from the other room. I ignored it. But the Kings had three unanswered goals in the third period.
We’ve just returned from vacation, and this was the first time I was sitting down in front of a game with the computer. With another Islanders writer on HB, I was able to relax as I could not watch any of the weekend or Tuesday’s game. After hearing of the Islanders win with Poulin in net on Tuesday, I was hopeful. Obviously it wouldn’t be the shut-out it looked like it would be after the second period. But I figured they’d at least win it.
The LA Kings had another idea. It was a completely different game for the final 20. Goring called it “miscommunication” and “poor defensive play.” I call it ’same-old, same-old.’ Tyler Tofoli had the game winner for LA.
Andrew MacDonald played 30:46 and led the Isles in ice-time. He played well but still as a -1.
Kyle Okposo should come up with another move. I think teams have his number and while the little spin thing he does works sometimes, a few times he loses an edge and ends up sprawled on the ice losing the puck.
Bouchard’s signature move is somewhat dangerous as he passes the puck behind him looking for someone else to shoot it.
Grabner did not score, but his mustache is a winner.
Capuano thought they were pretty good in the third… or so he told the reporters in his post game. He said Poulin played well enough to win. He chalked up the loss to the “timely power play goal for them.”
Stan Fischler asked what Jack would like to see work ‘better.’ Jack thought about it, and then seemed as if nothing needed to be better. “Last six periods were not bad. We just have to find a way. We knew they’d shoot the puck and crash. That’s how they got the goal.”
JT was asked by Stan, “What went wrong?” He answered in rapid fire. This is only a few of them. “We stopped moving our feet. We stopped doing the things that made us successful. We seemed to grip our sticks tight and we talked about going after them and getting that next goal. We just weren’t good enough. We gotta get the consistency and know what it takes every night.”
I do believe that is every single hockey response after a loss. They were just strung together.
This is hockey. You win some, you lose some, you forget and get ready for the next one.
Next one comes Saturday. Points matter even more now.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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