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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It was easier to stay awake during those West Coast games last week.
That was not an enjoyable viewing experience.
Things were set up perfectly for the Islanders to carry momentum from their three-game win streak. The start of their seven-game homestand had all the makings of a game that should have had an energized team and building. Instead, they were bottled up by boring Ottawa Senators road hockey, the type of performance we lauded during the Barry Trotz years.
“We had the chance to go four in a row; we should have been more hungry,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “We should have more urgency than what we did. Sometimes you have to dig those ones, and for some reason, we did not.”
The play that exemplified the lack of hunger came in the final minutes, with the Isles trailing 1-0 and having pulled Marcus Hogberg. Sens captain Brady Tkachuk pinned the puck along the boards and won the battle against Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson as Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee watched.
The puck came free, and one pass later, a slapshot was fired into the empty net to end the game. “That can’t happen. That CANNOT happen,” said Butch Goring on the broadcast. “You gotta be stronger to fish the puck out…that’s a shame.”
