Boxscore:
(G, A)
1st Period:
NYI: 1, DAL: 0 - Matt Moulson (PP - 10); John Tavares (11), Mark Streit (11)
NYI: 2, DAL: 0 - Matt Moulson (11); John Tavares (12), P. A. Parenteau (15)
2nd Period:
NYI: 3, DAL: 0 - Dylan Reese (1); Matt Martin (4), Marty Reasoner (3)
NYI: 3, DAL: 1 - Tomas Vincour (1); Stephane Robidas (7), Mike Ribeiro (15)
NYI: 3, DAL: 2 - Eric Nystrom (10); Vernon Fiddler (8), Nicklas Grossman (2)
NYI: 3, DAL: 3 - Jake Dowell (1); Tom Wandell (2), Toby Peterson (2)
NYI: 4, DAL: 3 - Matt Moulson (12); John Tavares (13), P.A. Parenteau (16)
NYI: 4, DAL: 4 - Tom Wandell (1); Jake Dowell (2), Radek Dvorak (10)
NYI: 5, DAL: 4 - Matt Moulson (13); P.A. Parenteau (17)
3rd Period:
None
Goaltending:
Rick DiPietro - 17 saves on 21 shots, .810 SV PCT
Al Montoya - 13 saves on 13 shots, 1.000 SV PCT
Andrew Raycroft - 22 saves on 27 shots, .815 SV PCT
Final Score: 5-4 NYI
Attendance: 14,423
Notables:
- Instead of jumping right to the obvious bad, I'll hit the very good. What a spectacular game by Matt Moulson. After one hell of a release on a shot against Chicago, I had a feeling we were back to seeing old Matt in action, and boy am I glad I was right. 2 quick goals in the first following great persistence, a perfect position for the 3rd, and potting in a beautiful pass from P.A. Parenteau from the game winning goal. The whole first line was absolutely magnificent tonight, especially John Tavares who assisted on 3 of Moulson's goals along with Parenteau. This was the perfect reason not to break up this line ever again unless someone of elite caliber comes along. And even then, it's debatable. Both PAP and Moulson have proven themselves to be truly capable of being 1st line players and should remain as so for the rest of the season barring some unforeseen drop in play. Moulson's sniping abilities and situational awareness were on full display tonight, as he got the first 4 goal game of the NHL season an first 4 goal game for an Islander since Viktor Kozlov did it exactly 5 years ago to the day against the Rangers. If all 3 of these players could get game pucks, they should most certainly get them.
- Now to the very bad. It's time for Rick DiPietro to retire. There is nothing you can possibly come up with to defend him as a player anymore. I had hoped that he could maybe return to a level slightly below pre-injury form based on some play earlier in the year, but all hope is gone. DiPietro had this one in the bag and while 1 of them there wasn't much he could do, 3/4 of them were all due to his poor situational awareness, terrible side to side movement and lack of flexibility. In fact, his lack of flexibility caused him to strain his groin, allowing Al Montoya to take his place. It's over. He is not an NHL caliber player anymore, and may not even be an AHL caliber player anymore. If Montoya was in net for this one, I think a 5-1 win could have easily been achieved. Instead, we spent half of the game saying to ourselves "here we go again". Enough is enough.
- And back to the good. Coming in cold for the third period, what a performance by Al Montoya. Saved all 13 shots he faced including a huge one with 10 seconds left against Michael Ryder. His GAA is now down to 2.17, and it makes you question Capuano's sanity by not declaring him the #1 goaltender immediately. Not much more to be said. Montoya's putting up Vezina-worthy stats right now and should be treated as such.
- Nino Niederreiter was flattened by a shoulder to head hit by Mark Fistric of the Stars and left the game with concussion like symptoms. He will most likely remain in Dallas until he is cleared by doctors to use air travel, as doing such can worsen symptoms. He was just beginning to look up after a big goal in Chicago, so hopefully he'll be okay.
- Michael Grabner also joined the injury train. He suffered a strained groin and will be re-evaluated on Long Island. He also got yet another breakaway and failed to bury it, which is becoming very frustrating to watch.
- Mike Mottau had a terrible game after a surprisingly good one against Chicago. Just the usual poor defense we usually see from him. The sooner Eaton is back, the better.
- Travis Hamonic should be on the top pairing for the remainder of the season. He and Mark Streit formed a pretty solid pairing tonight, and could only get better as the season goes on. Streit's defense is definitely a cause for concern, but an OFD like Streit and a DFD like Hamonic on the top pairing considering their skill levels in their respective areas is a great top pairing to have.
Thoughts:
AT: I hate to turn this recap into an anti-DiPietro rant, but he almost single-handedly blew what should have been a total blowout tonight. Absolutely terrible performance, and it's no longer an anomaly. It's time to part ways, or the Islanders will never go anywhere. It's pathetic when we have to be afraid as fans of Montoya sitting because his backup is completely unreliable. Is this how we're supposed to watch hockey?
Next game:
The Isles face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at home at 7:00 on Tuesday, December 6th. The season series is tied 1-1. The game will be shown on MSG+.
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