November 27, 2014
steve laidlaw
2014-11-27
The Islanders are elite, Patrick Kane is shooting up the ranks, Iginla’s woes are for real and more…
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Happy Thanksgiving to our friends south of the border! I hope everyone, regardless of where you reside spends some time with their loved ones today because there won’t be any hockey worth watching. Sure the Oilers play the Predators but well I did say “worth watching” didn’t I? No offense, Predators! May you be thankful for this pumpkin pie of an opponent.
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This Islanders team is something else, folks. Not only are they a tremendous possession team but they are one of those rare teams that will kick your tail physically even while owning more of the puck than you. Take last night for example, when the Islanders outshot the Capitals 35-27 and outhit them 55-28. Only two Islanders went hitless, Lubomir Visnovsky and Kyle Okposo while hit fiends Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck had 13 and eight respectively. Is that dynamic duo ranked 1-2 in hits this season? Glad you asked because, yes, yes they are.
Last night isn't a perfect example because from what I saw the game was pretty even until overtime where the Islanders took over. And you might accuse the Islanders' scorers of homerism, giving their team credit for more hits than they are due. You can't rule it out but the reality is that the Islanders have been credited with more than 100 less hits at home than on the road. Part of that is because they have skated more road games than home games but that doesn't make up the full difference. If anything, the Islanders scorers aren't giving their team enough credit, which is scary considering they rank fifth in the league in total hits.
They are simply a load to deal with. When you aren't contending with their big hitters on the fourth line, they are coming at you with three dangerous scoring lines, chief among them the Tavares line. Is there any doubt remaining that Tavares is a superstar? Check out the moves and patience on the overtime winner:
Al Montoya came on in relief and completed the shutout making 22 saves against the punchless Hurricanes. The good news for Luongo owners, he still got credit for the win. The bad news, he's got what appears to be a shoulder injury and we don't know how long he'll be out.
This gets ugly in a hurry for the Panthers if Luongo misses a significant stretch. Montoya is a serviceable backup and did put up stellar numbers for the Jets last season but I wouldn't trust him with any extended time as a starter.
The options behind Montoya are where it truly gets ugly. The first call up would surely be Dan Ellis who has been great in the AHL this season but has a long enough track record of poor NHL play to warrant fear and the other guy at the AHL level is Michael Houser who has been dreadful as a pro.
I think if Luongo misses extended time that this will be one of those situations where we just lose a quality goaltender without anyone establishing themselves in replacement. It would be similar to how neither Carter Hutton nor Marek Mazanec truly distinguished themselves when Pekka Rinne went down last season.
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Blake Comeau's run of fantasy relevance has reached a crescendo with last night's natural hat-trick, including the overtime winner. This run will end eventually, when the Penguins trade for a winger or two so Comeau won't finish with more than 45 points but he can be a great stopgap solution for now. The top-six opportunity is there for him and he is taking advantage. Why not embrace it?
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Check out the Leafs' most frequent line combinations last night with both David Booth and Joffrey Lupul back in the lineup:
|
Frequency |
Strength |
Line Combination |
|
24.3% |
EV |
43 KADRI,NAZEM – 47 KOMAROV,LEO – 25 SANTORELLI,MICHAEL |
|
18.66% |
EV |
42 BOZAK,TYLER – 81 KESSEL,PHIL – 21 VAN RIEMSDYK,JAMES |
|
13.38% |
EV |
71 CLARKSON,DAVID – 24 HOLLAND,PETER – 26 WINNIK,DANIEL |
|
11.27% |
EV |
20 BOOTH,DAVID – 19 LUPUL,JOFFREY – 23 SMITH,TREVOR |
That's right, Booth and Lupul started on the fourth line. They did get a couple of shifts with Nazem Kadri, which is where they could easily wind up once they get back up to speed but for now Leo Komarov and Michael Santorelli will continue to hang on to their top-six spots. It was a productive night for Komarov and Santorelli with two points each. Certainly making a case for continued time with Kadri.
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| Frequency |
 MIN Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 22.9 | KIRILL KAPRIZOV JOEL ERIKSSON EK MATT BOLDY | |
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