Isles on the Board... Champs Still Searching
October 11, 2006
By
James Meyerriecks
If you would have told me that after four games, the New York Islanders had yet to win their first game, I would have shrugged. They're a relatively young team with just a couple of legit scorers, a mediocre defense, and a goalie whose contract reads like a mortgage. Toss in crazy Charlie Wang, who has gone through three GMs since April (and ended up with his backup goalie as his final option), and a four-game west coast trip to start the year, and it would have almost been expected that they begin the year 0-4. However, they were the winless team that did finally sneak out a win in Anaheim Wednesday, while the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes dropped their fourth straight to begin the year. What was the difference tonight for the Islanders, you ask? Their goaltending.
While the Isles did allow four goals in a 5-4 shootout win in Anaheim, the strong backstopping they saw out of Mike Dunham (not Rick DiPietro) kept them in what would probably have been a blowout otherwise. The Isles were outshot 50-24 through the overtime period, but Dunham looked unfazed by the volume of pucks the Ducks were spitting out at him. He stopped 46 of the shots in regulation, and continued to look red hot during the shootout, blanking the Quack Attack on their final seven attempts after allowing a goal to begin the shootout to rookie Ryan Shannon. Though the Isles seemingly took forever to close the deal, Mike York eventually won it in the eighth round of penalty shots.
Though there were four multi-point players in the Islanders-Ducks game, the only two really worth having on a fantasy roster are Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. Sammy Pahlsson's two-goal night was a career night.... he's coming off of a career high eleven goal season in 2005-06, and has been in the league for five years. In short, don't expect too many more two-goal outbursts from him. Chris Simon, who finished with a goal and two assists, is a career agitator who's capable of putting 30-40 points on the board, but has to hit 150 PIMS or so to really be worth your time.
Across the continent in Florida, the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes turned to backup goalie John Grahame to see if he could make a difference. He did, all right, hosting an open house in the Hurricanes' net. Florida beat Grahame 6 times on just 31 shots, continuing Carolina's early-season struggles by downing them 6-3.
Olli Jokinen led the way, scoring twice (once shorthanded) and pitching in with two more assists. Ageless wonder Gary Roberts netted two more in the victory, while 23-year-old center Stephen Weiss had a three point night as well. Alex Auld had his second straight terrific start, this time getting the positive result (a W) to go along with it. Auld stood tall against 32 of Carolina's 35 shots as he improved to 2-0-1 on the year.
Carolina got the work they wanted out of their role players (Eric Belanger and Scott Walker each had a goal and an assist), but got nothing out of the first line for the third straight game. Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, and Erik Cole have combined for just four points in four games this season. If you're an owner of Whitney, Staal, Cole, or Justin Williams do not panic! We're talking about elite forwards that have just gotten off to a slow start. Maybe they don't quite hit their point totals from last season, but they're still guys that are going to turn it around in the coming weeks. When they get hot (particularly if they get hot at the same time), look out!
In other action
- Mathieu Schneider became the first defenseman to score a hat trick this season as the Red Wings rolled over the Phoenix Coyotes 9-2. Schneider scored late in the first and added two more (including the game-winner) during a five-goal second period that chased Phoenix goalie Curtis Joseph. In what could only be described as a smoregasbord around Schneider (who is American, despite the Swedish name), Swedes Henrik Zetterberg (1 G-1 A), Tomas Holmstrom (1-1), Nicklas Lidstrom (0-3), Nicklas Kronwall (0-2), and Mikael Samuelsson (2-0) all recorded multi-point nights for the Red Wings. Pavel Datsyuk added a goal and two assists as the Red Wings improved to 2-1 on the year. Ed Jovanovski scored his second goal in the past two games for the 'Yotes.
- Kari Lehtonen failed in his bid for his third straight shutout, but carried the streak more than five minutes into the second period. He still played well, allowing just the one Power Play goal on 23 shots in Atlanta's 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins. Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist, while Slava Kozlov added two assists for the Thrashers in the victory.
- Michael Ryder beat Antero Niittymaki just 38 seconds in and David Aebischer looked strong for the second time in as many starts as the Habs beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1. Aebischer was sensational tonight, stopping 27 of 28 shots, including 13 of 14 in an action-packed third period. Alexei Kovalev scored his first of the year for Montreal, while soph sensation Christopher Higgins added a shorthanded empty-netter in the waning seconds to slam the door. Philadelphia's woes on the Power Play continued, as they were 0-for-8 in the game and are now just 3-for-32 on the year.
For the time being, this is a temporary preview of something we may be running on the front page at FIC three or four days a week throughout the NHL season. If you want your daily hockey fix now, I'll also be running this as an off-site blog for the time being. The following is just a taste of what you can find at Neutral Zone Trap! If you would like to see NZT on the front-page at FIC all year, please vote here!
James Meyerriecks has been actively involved at FIC since its inception in 2001, and has been writing The Hook throughout the MLB season since 2002. This season, he'll be tackling a weekly hockey column, The Blue Line, as well as a semi-weekly blog called Neutral Zone Trap. He's also represented FIC in a handful of Experts Leagues over the past three seasons and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.
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