So I after watching the Islanders sweep the home and home series from the Presidents Trophy winning Buffalo Sabres recently, I noticed that all the scoring had been coming from the "Power Line" of Guerin-Fedotenko-Comrie. I've been telling people that if that line cannot be consistent, the Islanders aren't going to win.
Fast forward to tonight's match up against the Capitals and the Islanders have lost three straight. The top line has thus cooled off and no one is scoring outside of the "big 3" and the defense. So I ask you...."Does anyone else play on this team?" Trent Hunter, Mike Sillinger and Miro Satan have been counted on to provide offense and combined they have 1 goal.
Today at practice, Ted Nolan dropped Guerin to the second line, in an effort to get Sillinger and Satan the puck more often and moved Hunter up to the top line with Comrie and Tank. Will that spark the team?? I have no idea but like I said before, someone on this team better start taking the game a little more seriously or this team will end up right where Sports Illustrated picked them for; LAST PLACE.
The other move Nolan made was taking Andy Hilbert, who in my opinion shouldn't be playing on this team, and demoted him to the fourth line and moved up Sean Bergenheim. The result; more scoring opportunities for Vasicek and a bit more energy to the line as well. Bergenheim, has showed plenty of energy in limited ice time and provided a spark for his new line. They were clearly the best line on the ice the other night against Philadelphia and produced the teams lone goal.
Tonight the Islanders play Washington who beat them 2-1 last Monday. With Ovechkin neutralized, they were beat by an old friend by the name of Tom Poti, who left the Island in search of more money. Rick Dipietro must once again save the day as the defense starts to get to know each other. Now lets see if those "new line" combos produce anything. Remember, you cant win the game if you cant score.
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