The top line took the game into their own hands last night in frigid Calgary and walked out of there with two points. A fast paced, low shot, low scoring game wasn’t enough to keep me from nodding off now and then, but the outcome was what was needed. “The harder you work the luckier you get.” And no one can say anything about JT’s work ethic.
Confident in their game, they know they can win at home or on the road. Especially with Jarod Halal in net.
I did see a few scary seconds as Boychuk hit the boards skates first and took his time getting to his feet and looked as if he were in considerable pain. I held my breath for a moment, but he was out on the power play within minutes and I exhaled. He’s a trooper.
It was a battle between “Johnny Hockey” and “Johnny Rocket” and it was audibly disturbing. John Gaudreau did get the Flames only goal at 16:35 of the third and I worried we were going to see the Isles third period collapse once again. Certainly, they didn’t have the DTGL (dreaded three goal lead), but cutting the Isles lead in half with only a little more than three minutes left had me on the edge of the couch hoping the game wasn’t heading into overtime so I could head to bed.
I am still a little concerned about Matt Martin as his hit count was once again lower than Cal Clutterbuck’s and he was whacked with a stick and there was no call. Kyle Okposo had two assist points and deHaan and Strome each had one as well. Anders Lee had three shots on net and three that were blocked, but no addition to his personal stat sheet. Oh well. He can work on that Sunday in Edmonton.
Sideboard: As I sit here writing this at 9:22 am, Channel 2 News sports reporter mentions that they haven't covered the Isles as much as they should have and they will change that in 2015. "They have a legitimate star in John Tavares.".
Nice that they should notice after all these years, but as I have been told for decades "Winning cures everything." Obviously it does.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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