The Islanders put on another home horror show for their Thursday night (10/23) fans. We would imagine the Isles will be seeing Dallas' Mike Ribeiro in their sleep tonight, who torched them for 5 points (1 G, 4 A). The scoreboard showed a 5-3 final in favor of the Stars, but the game never really felt competitive for the Isles.
Plenty of blame could be assessed after this latest misfire, and even Kyle cannot be excused. Just two minutes into the affair Okposo took a needless roughing penalty on Public Enemy #1, Sean Avery. Not only did this lead to a Dallas power play goal, but it seemed to suck the positive energy right out of the Isles. Kyle later had a chance to make amends, but sent a blast over Marty Turco's glove that missed. Dallas corralled the puck and started their own rush which led to a goal, all while the Islander defense spectated.
Before the first period was over, Dallas led 3-0 and were well on their way to Victoryland.
Though they tried with several shots that hit posts, the Isles squandered a long 5-on-3 power play in the 2nd period that was their only real opportunity to get back in the game. With that chance bypassed, things became bleaker for the slim (10,163) crowd. A Bill Guerin goal was answered by two from Dallas, and the 3rd period was reduced to a formality.
Compounding the misery was a "lower-body injury" to defenseman Brendan Witt when he went knee-to-knee with Krys Barch early on. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow. We would suggest the same for the Islanders' game plan before Saturday night's tilt against Carolina.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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3 comments:
Very disappointing to see Okposo without any goals and only 2 assists 5 games in. I thought he wsa supposed to be the leader of the offense this year.
Without Hunter's hot start, how much worse would they be?
Anyone thinking that a kid who had a few months of AHL experience and 9 games of NHL experience was going to be the "leader of the offense" is not really thinking at all. Kyle is a KID- he is still learning. That was the kind of game you expect from a kid. People need to have patience and not expect him to already be some poised NHL vet.
Thanks for your comments.
It is also important to remember a few things: He's still only 20. He doesn't have a lot of big time talent around him. Lastly, his style of play trends more toward him being a playmaker rather than a big time goal scorer. I foresee him more as a big assists guy with some goals rather than the other way around.
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