Boxscore:
(G, A)
1st Period:
FLA 1: NYI 0 - Stephen Weiss (1), Brian Campbell (1), Tomas Fleischmann (1)
FLA 2: NYI 0 - Jason Garrison (1 - PP), Brian Campbell (2), Kris Versteeg (1)
2nd Period:
No Scoring
3rd Period:
No Scoring
Goaltending:
Jose Theodore - 27 saves on 27 shots, 1.000 SV PCT
Al Montoya - 27 saves on 29 shots, .931 SV PCT
Final Score: 2-0
Attendance: 16,270
Recap:
1st Period - After a riveting introduction and pre-game ceremonies that had the entire Coliseum on its feet waving rally towels, the Islanders got off to an extremely slow start. The Islanders could not seem to keep much puck possession and were generally being outplayed by the Panthers, only being held up by the goaltending of Al Montoya. Late in the first at 16:37, Montoya stopped a shot that stopped in the crease right behind him which was tapped in by Stephen Weiss to give Florida a 1-0 lead. After Al Montoya was rolled over by a 3rd Panthers player in as many minutes and on a penalty kill, Travis Hamonic fought Scottie Upshall in a decisive victory. This proved to be a poor decision however as while Upshall was given a game misconduct for having a jersey that was not properly tied down, Hamonic received an instigator penalty in addition to his fighting major, giving the Panthers a 5 on 3 for a short amount of time. The Panthers took advantage and Jason Garrison buried one in from the point with a heavy screen in front of Montoya.
2nd Period - The Islanders started off sluggish once again, being unable to create any real chemistry with any of their lines. Frans Nielsen was a major factor in the decreased capabilities of the 2nd line specifically, playing a very poor game all throughout. The Islanders continued to get dominated until they began to break out towards the 2nd half, and finally began to pepper Theodore with shots. While nothing went in, the Isles clearly had some momentum going into the third.
3rd Period - All of the momentum that had been gained in the 2nd washed away in the 3rd, as the Islanders went back to being completely offensively inept. They were unable to capitalize on a Sean Bergenheim penalty and were a man down in two crucial spots after bad penalties by PA Parenteau and Matt Martin. As the time rolled on the Isles became increasingly lethargic in their play and ended up losing with a final score of 2-0. Jose Theodore earned his 6th career shutout against the Islanders and the Islanders were forced to begin their season with a loss.
Notables:
The one player who truly stood out was Al Montoya, who received a surprise nod as the starting goalie for the Islanders. This was clearly the correct choice, as his standing on his head most of the game with his quickness and reaction time was the only reason the Islanders did not lose by a greater margin. Montoya performed like a true #1 goalie should have and if he were provided with any offense, would have easily gotten the win tonight. Montoya should be the starter for Monday's game against the Wild, but with this team anything is possible.
Even after not playing since April of 2010, Mark Streit continued to not show any signs of rust and had a very solid all around game. He was physical, kept players to the outside and was blocking passing lanes the whole night. He was also another reason why the Panthers were held to only 2 goals. His play wasn't perfect, but for someone returning from a major injury, his progress has been outstanding.
The defense as a whole performed acceptably tonight. The top 2 lines were really solid throughout the night, showing both offensive power and defensive strength through all 60 minutes. Mark Eaton also had a very efficient night. Andrew MacDonald did look rusty/not at 100% however, which is a cause for concern.
Mike Mottau had an absolutely terrible night, taking bad penalties all over and being generally incapable of providing defensive help to this team. He will be scratched as soon as Jurcina returns, but at this point the sooner that is the better for this team. Mottau was wholly inefficient and should not play more than 15 games this season.
John Tavares was a one man show tonight. Driving to the net with no fear, creating plays, and looking for any angle he possibly could to hammer one home against Theodore. Though he wasn't able to come up with anything, he's showing once again why he IS this franchise. His skating has also improved by leaps and bounds, as he had one play in the first where he accelerated on an almost Grabner-like level.
Matt Moulson, Frans Nielsen, and P.A. Parenteau were completely off of their games tonight. All around poor games from all 3 and generally performed at a low level of play.
Thoughts:
AT: What an awful way to send home a crowd that was hyped up and ready to go tonight. I haven't seen the Coliseum that electric in a long time. With a tough schedule ahead, losing to the Panthers is not the way the season should begin. Perhaps it was due to not having any full-roster pre-season games, but in general the lack of offense tonight was inexcusable. For a team that supposedly had no offensive problems and mostly defensive/goaltending problems, it certainly seemed to be quite the opposite of that tonight.
Next game: The Islanders will face off against the Minnesota Wild at 1 PM on Monday, October 10th at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for a Columbus Day afternoon game. The game will be in HD on MSG+.
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