THE MORNING SKATE: Net Crashing and Dylan Reese
The NHL has been hard after illegal hits, especially of the noggin-slamming variety. There’s been a noticeable up-tick in concussions this year (in my mind the jury is still out on sample size vs. actual world-ending epidemic, fwiw) and the league has Shanabanned players, as necessary. If and when this gets under control, the next logical step in the game should be the protection of goaltenders.
Earlier in the year, Jordin Tootoo launched himself into Ryan Miller, earning a two-game suspension in the process. Tootoo’s play to the net — up until the point of launch — looked pretty similar to Evander Kane’s charge into Al Montoya last night. There are a lot of differences after that point, though. Milan Jurcina didn’t leave any room for Kane to skate in front of Montoya (not that he necessarily should have) and unlike Tootoo, Kane didn’t do a jumping Rough Ryder into Al’s face. Last night on Twitter, I opined that the play wouldn’t go to Shanahan’s office if Montoya didn’t receive a concussion in a round about way of saying it was suspension worthy. I’ll back off those statements now, as on review it really wasn’t quite that bad and all three players were essentially holding their groun. But if the NHL does eventually feel like protecting it’s goalies — the league should, shouldn’t it? — more than a two-minute penalty will have to be the result. Not necessarily a suspension, but I don’t have any doubts that Kane would change a thing if he knew the result of barreling into Montoya was only a two minute penalty.
As for Montoya, both he and David Ullstrom were cleared to fly back with the team after last night’s game (per Newsday). Ullstrom went oddly into the boards towards the end of last night’s overtime. I’d imagine the pair will be re-evaluated today and we can expect Nabby-time on Thursday at the Garden as a general precaution of sitting Montoya, regardless of the severity of Montoya’s injury.
DYLAN REESE; QUIETLY PLAYING QUALITY DEFENSE
Since being recalled from Bridgeport on December 1st, Dylan Reese has played nine games for the Isles and has a 1-1-2 line and is -3. Nothing special, right? Well, actually he has been. He’s been quietly special. Aside from the goal, he’s gone mostly unnoticed most nights while paired with Mike Mottau. But Reese has been quiet in a good way. His mistakes have been few and not particularly glaring, as hasn’t quite been the case with other defenders (ahem). He’s not lighting up his competition but for a third pairing d-man who started the year in the NHL, quietly good will do just fine thank you.
Reese has the best relative corsi out of the team’s defenders so far this season, although 9 games is a small sample and potentially skewed by the team’s 4-3-2 record during that stretch. Nonetheless, he clocks in at a 15 corsi, well ahead of Mark Streit’s 5 as the only two defenders with positive numbers (ignoring Calvin de Haan’s hilarious and insignificant 51.9 in his one game).
If you’re not sure what corsi is, it’s basically a much better version of the +/- stat. Arctic Ice Hockey explains:
In a nutshell, the Corsi Number is the shot differential while a player was on the ice. This includes not just goals and shots on goal, but also shots that miss the net, and in some formulations, blocked shots. In other words, it’s the differential in the total number of shots directed at the net.
So, Reese’s number can certainly be due to the team’s better play of late, with his teammate’s corsi numbers taking a beating during November — of this it’s hard to be sure without the corsi numbers for only December, something that’s way above my pay grade. All those caveats aside, it’s still refreshing to see Reese’s play backed up with actual stats. A 15 corsi is pretty solid, regardless of how his teammates numbers may be skewed. And remember, Reese has been paired with Mike Mottau, probably the team’s worst defender this season. Mottau finishes second to last in the corsi ratings with -4.1. One final caveat but this one is probably a given, as Reese and Mottau are the team’s third defensive pairing their relative corsis that show the quality of competition is pretty low. Not surprisingly, Travis Hamonic, Mark Streit and Steve Staios have the high numbers there. That means that they’re usually going against much better opposing lines.
Update: Keith, our resident advanced stats expert, has a bit more detail on what corsi is:
Corsi is a proxy for “puck possession” the more shots you’re taking (of any kind) the less the opposition has the puck.
About Kevin Schultz
Kevin was formerly an NHL blogger for the now defunct AOL Fanhouse and was the creator of the hockey comedy blog Barry Melrose Rocks. He now covers the Isles for Islanders Point Blank. You can follow him for instant updates on the team and talk hockey with him on Twitter @schultz88. View all posts by Kevin Schultz →29 Responses to THE MORNING SKATE: Net Crashing and Dylan Reese
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Chris says:
You are right about Mottau…..
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mark from massapequa says:
potvinrocks – i agree. Nobody stood up for Al? i would not have minded if someone took a retaliatory penalty there. in fact – they should have taken a retaliatory penalty there
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PotvinRocks says:
As an old defenseman, my blood boils when I see a goalie run. Then to see Montoya’s teammates stand there and not attacking Kane made me mental. I know Kane is tough but I would have dropped a cross check right across his face if he did that to my goalie. Kane knew that he was driving to the net and when he lost the puck he continued his drive. There no attempt to stop. Later on in the game Streit was driving to the net and stopped over Pavelic. Why? Because he wanted to, and the same could have been done by Kane. One day a goalie is going duck and a forward is going to loss all his teeth on the crossbar.
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danfromouteast says: Damn right
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Anthony says:
How much longer is management going to wait around and not have a physical presence on this team. We need to have Gillies or Haley on this team. I don’t care if they play 3 shifts. Teams are running are goalies constantly and are players at will. Its just a matter of time until its JT. WAKE UP!
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isleopine says:
Right. As far as Haley, the guy is not a dud, he has decent skills besides his fists. He should have made the big roster out of camp. This is again a clear example of management jeopardizing the health of key players, not to mention wins.
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Ct 74 says:
In the pre-wimp age of current league leadership if ANYONE ran the goalie, all on ice [and sometimes off ice] team members jumped the assaulter. THAT is how teammates protect their goalie. They don’t wait for refs to make a two minute penalty call, or Bettman or Shanahan to do something, sometime, maybe. They meted out harsh punishment and were a target for the season.
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Nick M says:
In all fairness, jurcina DID push Kane while kane was flying down the side. That combined with Kane have NOT breaking across the crease prior to the push created the contact. What I don’t like and thing Kane could get a game susp is he put both hands up (Montoya head high) right before impact. The brunt of the force was directly to the head. That is what the leave wants to get rid so they should not deviate from the current trend of suspensions. “Kane targeted the head”
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On a positive note, it is great and obviously to see WHY this team is playing better. The subtraction of the senior citizens (rolston, staios, eaton) -granted it wasn’t by choice but their is a hockey god who simple couldn’t stand it himself. I would never wish injure on NObody but this was a blessing in Desquise. Fresh young legs have given the islanders life. Not a sluggish, stagnant game. Reese and nino are playing great, , bailey Okposo have turned there game around. I said this earlier in the season when the isles were in a slump, offense will get it sooner or later. THe only problem is defense. Evident injuries have acted as if a trade was made (just to get an idea how bad our D was is that 1 AHL player put in instead of the senior carousel rotation and the defense is better. Not taking anything away from Reese but imagine how an NHL caliber Dman would effect this roster
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Matt Murdoch says:
Why did the Winnipeg fans boo every time Tavares had the puck? Am I the only one who noticed this? It’s not like he snubbed Winnipeg somehow. Someone please explain.
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Kevin Schultz says:
The fans there usually pick the other team’s star player to boo. Kind of an interesting tradition/meme.
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danfromouteast says:
Without any toughness the game vs the rags is going to be a long one. Is it going to have to be the extreme again and have a player seriously hurt until management gets off their ass and add some grit to the line up. I’ve seen tougher womens field hickey teams. Also whether jurcina helped kane get on Montoya it is still an unwritten rule that you do anything to protect your goalie. A fourth line if gillies cizikas and haley sounds great!
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Kerry Fraser says:
It makes you wonder what the so called brains who run this league are thinking. Ok they want a faster game with more scoring so that the skilled players in the league can do their thing. So now that means there’s a penalty called for anything remotely close to holding or obstruction. Heck just lay your stick in front of an attacking player and you will be sitting for 2 min.. For an example that penalty taken against PA or was it Neilsen I forget who, as he was driving to the net was pretty weak. I’ll take it. It gave us the pp but come on. What are defenders suppose to do let the guy skate right in and shoot? Which brings up the point that before they changed the game to the NO clutch and grab league we didn’t have all these concussion problems but there were still guys throughout the league scoring 30, 40 and 50 goals a season. The game was a little slower but so what? It was still pretty exciting. The league just needs to do a better job marketing the product. Thinking that high scoring games is what the fans want is wrong. I know I’ve watched plenty of one nothing and two one games that were pretty darn exciting and fun to watch. The league should realize they’re not going to attract fans to this so called new NHL if the star players can’t play because of “concussion like symptoms”. Just sayin
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danfromouteast says:
Awesome point made about pre new rules game. When you look at it now did the rules make that big a difference. I mean you took away the red line which is great so with that it speeds up the game they should open it up a little with the calls. When you watch a game now they can wind up getting really bogged down and it hurts any flow a team gets when every call is called even if its just a tap. So all the added calls winds up slowing the game. They should take away those restrictions for the goalie as well because he acts as the sixth man at times but now you have guys racing in the corners resulting in concussions. Also as don cherry brought up the new protective wear is insane just like football theses shoulder pads are hard shells! Back in the day you had enough padding to protect and throw a nice hit but you were aware of how hard and where because your shoulder would hurt, now you can tun a guy through the boards with hardly any effects to your body. So there are a lot if aspects to the game that while improving one area it is hurting the players; and at what cost of a players health is worth getting a fan. Has it really worked. Hickey, though one if ny favorite sports, in america cannot compete with baseball and football. Hockey has it main base of hardcore fans it will always be that way.
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islesrock73 says:
Great win, but this organization is filled with a bunch of
GUTLESS PLAYERS, OWNER and GM.How many other teams would put up watching their goalies get run over time after time? Their star players crosschecked repeatably while they or laying on the ice? Not many.
Since we are not going to the playoff this year, I could give a crap about the two points. I would rather see some Islander stick up for their goalie and take a penalty, then a win.
There were five wimps on the ice when Montoya was run over. The other bunch of wimps watched from the bench. Kane left his feet and hit Montoya in the head. But Islander wimps just stood there with their hands on their purses.
I just cannot watch a “team” that will not stick up for their own players. An owner who is clueless on running a pro sports team, and a GM who substituted Reasoner for Konopka.
Garth, you were a “bad boy” in nets. What gives with this gutless team? Can Haley be any worse then Reasoner?
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ed says:
Great win and awesome to see the team playing well. Good for Okposo to make an effort sticking up for his teammate. Just needs to get a few fights under his belt and he will realize how much more respect he gets from opponents imo. I do hate Garth though. Reasoner is only playing because Snow refuses to make a mistake. How did Snow pass on Stu Bickel when he was placed on waivers by the Rangers at the beginning of the season? A young stay at home dman or Eaton, Staois, Mottau etc. Islanders need some toughness for rangers game no doubt. Every player on that Rangers team is trying to get air time for that HBO special so hitting and fighting will be in play on Thursday. Let’s see if Capuano fields a tougher team. Wallace isn’t overly impressive either right now, but I will root for these players every game. Not their fault who their GM is.
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Just watched the replay of Rupp and Janssen from last night. We are in big time trouble if the rags want to play that game. We don’t have anyone who can deal with Rupp or any of the other tough guys on that team. The rags are built like an NHL team looking to go places. The Isles. Not so much. Good luck boys
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eric says:
Islanders better wake the hell up and bring up Haley and Gillies. The Rags are dressing a lot of tough guys these days and they are winning. Who is going to stand up for JT ?? Frans Neilson?? Moulson?? Grabs!!?? C’mon Isles give us a win for xmas if not some decent fights! We can’t take anymore pain as fans!
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Mark P says:
Why Laugh at DeHaans 51….
I have been Anti CDH since the day he was drafted……but admit he looked smooth and composed with the puck.
If we do fall out of the race(I know-who says we are in it?) I would hope that Calvin will take Mottou’s minutes down the stretch.
At some point the Isles will need to Gauge the value of the Captain.
Seems like the “good” GM’s are able to get a nice loot for established players.
Washington has Colorado’s First and a high end Russion Prospect….and a Need for a Puck Mover. -
someone send these post to GARTH!! OMG CAN IT BE ANY PLAINER ??!! WE NEED TOUGHNESS ON THIS TEAM ANYONE WHO HAS EVER PLAYED HOCKEY CAN SEE THIS!!!
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the isles have tough players, who bring fists and nothing more. the idea is talented toughness. guys who can actually play the game and score points( which is what forwards are supposed to do). Prust on the Rangers is a great example. the logs minutes, scores a few goals, and can drop the gloves.
or tough to play against, because they bang, and tax opposing forwards/defenders along the glass.
i think okposo will do a fine job as the season progresses on the second line. i think martin will do a fine job on the third line going forward. finding a guy on your first line is VERY DIFFICULT. he needs to be capable of playing a tough skilled game. they aint easy to find. i think with his size, NINO will be banger on the top line, but the fist work will have to come from the blue line.
i believe hamonic brings that edge on the blue line, and i continue to think the team needs a top pair banger to play with streit. finding one is most difficult, and even more expensive. our defense isnt physical enough, but that doesnt mean if somebody runs our goalie, we should go decap their goalie on the next rush. sometimes if you can prevent the pain, you just go serve up the same.
but the first time a ranger runs one of our forwards, gabriok should be sucking plexiglass his next shift. same with the net minder. touch our goalie, and hank gets hammered.
didnt see the evander kane hit, but hes been a clean player in his short career.. -
chad says:
reese has been good and would be even better if he didnt have a stiff like mottau as a partner dragging him down
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“the isles have tough players, who bring fists and nothing more”
really? like who? besides martin, and he brings alot more, there is noone. haley is called up but he hasnt been here most of the time
who are these tough islanders? this is the softest team i’ve ever seen
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RICH L says:
As for concussions, there are a lot of men who’s wives get a headache right at bed time, gee, I wonder if they have suffered a concussion also.
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MCG1 says:
I’ve said it before on islandermania, it frustrates the hell out of me to see how week and soft this team really is, and has been for so long. what’s even more mind blowing is knowing our esteemed GM was known to stick up for himself or teamates when he was in the net. Betwen mildew and this guy they both had bad ass reputations, maybe we need a total whimp GM who sick an tired of being ridiculed his whole life and will put together a team that will defend itself!
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Tony says:
If the NHL is going to let this happen, goalies and their teammates have to take matters into their own hands. If Kane tried that crap back in the day, he would have left the ice bloodied to say the least. Many players today have no fear or respect. If I were a goalie and any player did that to me, he’d have a goalie stick in him mouth.
With regard to hits to the head and protecting goalies, the NHL is a joke.
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IVO says:
PotvinRocks says: I agree with u!
True THAT! We need BIG Crease Clear-ers!
Kane should have lost his front teeth!
Jurcina is a big guy stop acting like Bi-otch!
Reese has come up from the A and has so far held his own with the big club. Few major mistakes which is exactly the standard young callups should be held to – notice it’s the vets on the club who are making the big unforced errors – Reasoner, Staios, Streit and Mottau the major culprits.
Montoya and Ullstrom both got their eggs scrambled but hopefully they’ll be OK by the New Year. Maybe this gives Nabokov 3-4 starts in a row for the scouts and we can ship him out of here at the deadline. Meanwhile I can live with Poulin as the backup.
Sucks to lose Ullstrom. I liked him forechecking last night and he has been pretty responsible with the puck, like Reese not trying to overcomplicate things and play good fundamental hockey.