GDT: 11/15/21 - 7:00PM EDT - New York Islanders vs Tampa Bay

[U55]

Where are those guys who said we were toast after 4 games. This team looks no different than they did in last year's bubble, they've kept up with the top teams in the league without being healthy or at the top of their game really


The Gourde line was never that big a deal in the RS, their production and impact were up quickly by Killorn, Cirelli and Joseph. The biggest difference between being 8-3-3 and the top of the league is not having Kucherov.

senators, coyotes, penguins b team(which we also lost to) , and red wings(lucky to win that one) are 4 of those 8 wins. Let's see how well we do when we play more good teams. A little early.

 

[These Are The Days]

The Islanders are just not that good right now. It's not too late to turn it around but the cold fact about them remains: teams coached by Barry Trotz have been the poster child of "working hard wins games, talent wins championships" for 20 years now. I'm not saying the Islanders can't win the Cup but when you're known for "The best 4th line in the league" it says all you need to know about the top talent of the club.

 

[CupsOverCash]

senators, coyotes, penguins b team(which we also lost to) , and red wings(lucky to win that one) are 4 of those 8 wins. Let's see how well we do when we play more good teams. A little early.

We've played some good teams and done well. We're right where we need to be imo. Yea we could use some more scoring but we do have Kucherov coming back at some point and we know the kind of offense he can help provide. The best thing about our team imo is I think our d and goaltending will be fine as long as they are healthy and they were a big reason why we won 2 cups. Oh and kucherov too.

Yea the 3rd line was a hard working line that helped a ton but I feel like if we have those 3 working well and as long as our guys who are contributing now can continue to do so when we need it, mixed with what I talked about above. We will be tough to beat again. This is without a fully matured roster yet as there is still some potential there. Also who knows if we are able to fit anyone else but I guess we can't rule that out.

Its looking good after that first few games where we didn't look so hot. We also played the most games of anyone recently so there's that too but I suppose that will be more interesting as we move into the dog days of the season because we could still see some bad hockey in how they manage those days. We will see.

 

[U55]

We've played some good teams and done well. We're right where we need to be imo. Yea we could use some more scoring but we do have Kucherov coming back at some point and we know the kind of offense he can help provide. The best thing about our team imo is I think our d and goaltending will be fine as long as they are healthy and they were a big reason why we won 2 cups. Oh and kucherov too.

Yea the 3rd line was a hard working line that helped a ton but I feel like if we have those 3 working well and as long as our guys who are contributing now can continue to do so when we need it, mixed with what I talked about above. We will be tough to beat again. This is without a fully matured roster yet as there is still some potential there. Also who knows if we are able to fit anyone else but I guess we can't rule that out.

Its looking good after that first few games where we didn't look so hot. We also played the most games of anyone recently so there's that too but I suppose that will be more interesting as we move into the dog days of the season because we could still see some bad hockey in how they manage those days. We will see.

Yes, I always want us to win, but I also like to keep things in a realistic perspective. We have not played well to start the season and we still have a good record. I just want to see how well we do when we play some of the better teams more consistently. Last season we played in a division where we didn't get to play the easy wins like coyotes. It's still early and a lot of things can happen. Hopefully kucherov can come back and stay healthy. We don't have that depth anymore so we are walking a fine line with injuries. Too early to tell what's going to happen. Other teams have also gotten worse with the kraken taking pieces, so it didn't just effect us. It's interesting.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Yes, I always want us to win, but I also like to keep things in a realistic perspective. We have not played well to start the season and we still have a good record. I just want to see how well we do when we play some of the better teams more consistently. Last season we played in a division where we didn't get to play the easy wins like coyotes. It's still early and a lot of things can happen. Hopefully kucherov can come back and stay healthy. We don't have that depth anymore so we are walking a fine line with injuries. Too early to tell what's going to happen. Other teams have also gotten worse with the kraken taking pieces, so it didn't just effect us. It's interesting.

Flat cap hurt the entire league. Here's the thing though, we still have our top players and like I said our d and goaltending is as good as any. Our 3rd line was good but we weren't a 3rd line better than the Isles or FL last year while the 3rd line did score the qualifying goal to put us in cup final ironically. It was our top end talent, d and goaltending. Depth absolutely was way better than any out there and it's not as good this year compared to last but it doesn't have to be imo. If we are healthy where we are best we will be tough to beat.

 

[U55]

Flat cap hurt the entire league. Here's the thing though, we still have our top players and like I said our d and goaltending is as good as any. Our 3rd line was good but we weren't a 3rd line better than the Isles or FL last year while the 3rd line did score the qualifying goal to put us in cup final ironically. It was our top end talent, d and goaltending. Depth absolutely was way better than any out there and it's not as good this year compared to last but it doesn't have to be imo. If we are healthy where we are best we will be tough to beat.

I was happy we kept our D together. That is the most important aspect of winning in the playoffs. We tried our run and gun high powered offense in the playoffs and got swept. I think we are a good team but we are always an injury away from being mediocre. Point and kucherov are the 2 most vital pieces to our offense and they are both unfortunately prone to injury. Hopefully they can stay healthy so we can have a shot at 3 in a row.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

The Islanders are just not that good right now. It's not too late to turn it around but the cold fact about them remains: teams coached by Barry Trotz have been the poster child of "working hard wins games, talent wins championships" for 20 years now. I'm not saying the Islanders can't win the Cup but when you're known for "The best 4th line in the league" it says all you need to know about the top talent of the club.

This was also the end of a season opening 13-game road trip for them. It was going to go one of two ways - either they put forth an inspired effort heading into their new building, or they were going to get ravaged. Obviously the latter happened. That they now get a disproportionate amount of home games the rest of the way, theoretically, should help them an awful lot.

That being said, there's a reason why I've never felt scared facing the Islanders the past two postseasons and a reason why, even after our subtractions this summer, there's no part of me that thinks they would be a better team than us either this season or in another playoff meeting. We have a level we can reach that they simply can't. That "sum of the parts > the whole" thing does play up a bit more in the playoffs, but they're going to have a difficult time getting there. I kinda retract what I said earlier today after thinking more about it - was working off a preconceived notion that I had been too lazy to update - and think it's likely we're going to see 4/4 from each division for the East playoffs. Are many of those Metro teams particularly great? Not really, but there's enough good teams there to give the Islanders real problems trying to get into the top-4.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I was happy we kept our D together. That is the most important aspect of winning in the playoffs. We tried our run and gun high powered offense in the playoffs and got swept. I think we are a good team but we are always an injury away from being mediocre. Point and kucherov are the 2 most vital pieces to our offense and they are both unfortunately prone to injury. Hopefully they can stay healthy so we can have a shot at 3 in a row.

Well the good thing is we are climbing the standings without kucherov! No doubt we gotta stay healthy when it matters though. We aren't doing it without Point and Kuch but you could say that about any team that loses it's top 2 players. These are elite players we are talking about as well. Like I said they are part of the reason we are so good.

 

[LightningStrikes]

The Islanders are just not that good right now. It's not too late to turn it around but the cold fact about them remains: teams coached by Barry Trotz have been the poster child of "working hard wins games, talent wins championships" for 20 years now. I'm not saying the Islanders can't win the Cup but when you're known for "The best 4th line in the league" it says all you need to know about the top talent of the club.

Dude, Barzal though!

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

The Islanders are just not that good right now. It's not too late to turn it around but the cold fact about them remains: teams coached by Barry Trotz have been the poster child of "working hard wins games, talent wins championships" for 20 years now. I'm not saying the Islanders can't win the Cup but when you're known for "The best 4th line in the league" it says all you need to know about the top talent of the club.

Pretty bold of you to make such a judgement while Barzal is still circling the O-zone

 

[These Are The Days]

Dude, Barzal though!

Pretty bold of you to make such a judgement while Barzal is still circling the O-zone

I'm still wiping myself up after that breakaway goal that was a lead for all of 40 seconds.

#GameBreaking

 

[These Are The Days]

Wings are starting to look like us around 2012 - 2014 though. This could be the year they challenge for a spot.

To me though, this is the game where we looked "fine."

Agreed. They're "getting there" and SFY and the crew would be wise to let the process play out for another year or two. We were lucky beyond words to already have had Stamkos and Hedman to build around when he took over. They've got a few pieces to go yet but with any lottery luck like we had, they can find guys they can keep their whole careers and win the Cup doing it.

 

[DFC]

Agreed. They're "getting there" and SFY and the crew would be wise to let the process play out for another year or two. We were lucky beyond words to already have had Stamkos and Hedman to build around when he took over. They've got a few pieces to go yet but with any lottery luck like we had, they can find guys they can keep their whole careers and win the Cup doing it.

If we learned anything about SFY, it's he doesn't get impatient. But they have a couple of kids who look like foundational pieces now. And Tyler Bertuzzi might be a late bloomer.

As for the Isles, I still think come playoff time they will be a threat to us, and probably the biggest. But I think barzal still needs to take another step if he's gonna be the guy.

 

[Sky04]

If we learned anything about SFY, it's he doesn't get impatient. But they have a couple of kids who look like foundational pieces now. And Tyler Bertuzzi might be a late bloomer.

As for the Isles, I still think come playoff time they will be a threat to us, and probably the biggest. But I think barzal still needs to take another step if he's gonna be the guy.

Yeah, I wouldn't downplay the Islanders either, they've stiffled offensive teams come playoff time, their issue is the LA Kings issue where they're built for the playoffs but you can't play that style for 82 games, they just need to make it in anyway they can.

Honestly, watching Point play without Kucherov the last 2 seasons I'm not sure he'd do better than Barzal on the Islanders either, at least in the regular season that is. A whole lot of going in circles and doing nothing, both of them need to feed off another skilled player but Barzal doesn't exactly have one.

 

[DFC]

Yeah, I wouldn't downplay the Islanders either, they've stiffled offensive teams come playoff time, their issue is the LA Kings issue where they're built for the playoffs but you can't play that style for 82 games, they just need to make it in anyway they can.

Honestly, watching Point play without Kucherov the last 2 seasons I'm not sure he'd do better than Barzal on the Islanders either, at least in the regular season that is. A whole lot of going in circles and doing nothing, both of them need to feed off another skilled player but Barzal doesn't exactly have one.

I think Point has an extra gear in the playoffs though. He steps into the slot a lot more often than in the regular season, where he's content to stay outside.