Two players who started off the year colder than ice are now a large part of the reason for the Islanders recent success.
Kyle Okposo and Michael Grabner accounted for 3/4 of the Isles' goals on Saturday night as the Islanders (16-20-6) took down Jhonas Enroth and the Buffalo Sabres. Matt Moulson got the scoring started in the first period on a nice tip in from a Tavares rebound. Late in the 2nd, Patrick Kaleta was there at the opportune moment to redirect a shot from Mike Weber that tied the game. The Islanders came back shortly after after an absolutely beautiful pass from Matt Moulson to a perfectly position Kyle Okposo, who netted his 5th goal in the last 6 games. However, on a poorly played puck by Evgeni Nabokov who was in search of his 300th win, Nathan Gerbe and Derek Roy took advantage as Gerbe's rebound went right to an open Roy who fired it upon the open net.
The 3rd period opened up and the Sabres were practically begging for the Islanders to score. Relentless scoring chances only stopped by the sheer brilliance of Enroth in goal, but Michael Grabner finally got himself a rebound with under 4 minutes remaining and wristed a nice snipe into the empty net for the win. It's been a nice rebound for Grabner who started off the year generally slow and is slowly but surely getting the same chances he was able to last year. Great to see him net the game winner.
The first line is absolutely unstoppable right now. With Moulson in his prime netting almost every chance he has, Okposo returning to form and Tavares turning into an absolute all star, the first line has turned into a scary proposition for opposing teams to offend. Plus, with the resurgence of Grabner, secondary scoring could take even further pressure off of the first line, highlighting more golden chances for the three to cash in on. It's a shame that this line took this long to reunite, but better late than never.
Of course, we can't go 10 games without some sort of ridiculous call by a referee. Late in the game, Mark Streit lost his footing and slightly bumped into the net which hit it off it's moorings. The referees decided not to just award a penalty, but a penalty shot to the Sabres' best goal scorer, Thomas Vanek. Luckily, Vanek hit the post and the Isles were able to hold on, but this is the sort of ridiculous call that the NHL needs to hold that referee accountable for. Total lack of judgment.
Finally, it was great to see the embrace that Evgeni Nabokov received after putting up a solid game and winning his 300th career game. After what happened last season, he's truly turned a new leaf in his life and looks to have embraced the position he's been placed in, and has been playing his heart out game in and game out. His teammates love him and the fans have taken a real like for him as well. We're glad you could make it, Evgeni.
Bloggers note: I will be moving up to Albany tomorrow and will be searching for a method of viewing games since our dorms carry Time Warner Cable. As most of you know, TWC and MSG Networks have reached an impasse in negotiations and TWC no longer carries MSG or MSG+. I hope to return to watching the team ASAP and blogging for everyone.
The Islanders next face off against the Nashville Predators on Monday, January 16th (MLK day) at the Nassau Coliseum for a matinee game. Game time is 1PM and will be on MSG+.
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