Many Islanders fans questioned head coach Jack Capuano’s decision to sit goaltender Evgeni Nabokov in favor of back-up Al Montoya during Saturday evening’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The 36-year-old net-minder made those die-hards look like geniuses on Tuesday evening as he singlehandedly delivered his hockey club two crucial points in a 1-0 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.

Nabokov, who stymied the Flyers from pillar to post through the game’s first 65 minutes of play, was finally given that much-needed lead during the shootout as Frans Nielsen’s patented backhand beat Ilya Bryzgalov glove side. John Tavares would snap a wrister stick-side for an insurance tally, as Nabokov would stop both Daniel Briere and Wayne Simmonds to secure the victory.

With the NHL trading deadline just 20 shopping days away, Nabokov not only made his case to rival organizations in need of a playoff-caliber goaltender, he also gave Islanders general manager Garth Snow much to think about with the team hoping to surge for one of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spots.

Stopping all 45 Flyers shots, Nabokov provided his brittle blue-line – who for a third consecutive game suffered an injury – that last line of defense. Dylan Reese, who has played sparingly, filling in for both Steve Staios and Milan Jurcina (currently out with a knee laceration), was lost late in the second period with an apparent knee injury.

Playing with five defensemen for the game’s final 28 minutes of regulation and overtime, the Islanders scrambled in their own territory and allowed a surging Flyer attack – losers of two straight games – to outshoot them 21-3 during that span, with many coming in the point-blank variety.

For a second straight game, the Islanders also lacked a forecheck, and allowed its opposition to dictate the play. Luckily, the Russian back-stop was ready for all incoming challenges, as he stone-walled the Flyers’ top line of Jaromir Jagr, Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell on countless chances.

Offensively, the Islanders were only able to muster 18 shots on Bryzgalov. Josh Bailey and P.A. Parenteau flubbed their chances on odd-man rushes, and Kyle Okposo rang a wrister off the near-side post off a beautiful feed by line-mate Matt Moulson. All those opportunities came in the opening period.

With the win, the Islanders improve to the .500 mark at 22-22-8 – the first time they have reached that feat since October 22. They are also 7-2-2 in their last 11 games and now sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 52 points, nine behind eighth-place Ottawa.

With its third consecutive loss – all to Metro Area hockey teams – the Flyers now stand at 30-16-7. At 67 points, they sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference Standings.

The Islanders return to action on Thursday night, as they begin a three-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens. Each team has secured a home victory this season.
On to some of the positives and negatives in the +/-

+ Evgeni Nabokov – Enough said!

- Lack of Defensive Depth – After losing Jurcina in Friday night’s overtime win in Ottawa, Travis Hamonic to a shattered nose in Saturday night’s setback to the Sabres and Reese in the shootout win in Philly, Garth Snow has to be scrambling the waiver wire. Is a phone call down to Bridgeport in order? Are either Ty Wishart or Matt Donovan ready for NHL minutes?

+ Frans Nielsen – According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Nielsen inked a 4-year, $11 million extension prior to the game. The signing creates an interesting organizational logjam at center. With Nielsen and Tavares signed through 2016 and 2018, respectively, and 2011 first round pick Ryan Strome on the horizon, where does that leave Josh Bailey and current Bridgeport Sound Tiger standout Casey Cizikas moving forward?

+ Aaron Ness – 14:25 of ice time (2 blocked shots) in his NHL debut. His greatest asset is his skating ability and precision passing. The 21-year-old, who didn’t look out of place, will be given more responsibility with the current state of the Islanders D.

- Wells Fargo Center ice surface – Just 24 hours after the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on the hardwood, the ice surface mirrored that of the Nassau Coliseum ice on Long Island. Giroux, Okposo and Mark Streit all spilled in the opening period, and countless others hit an edge in the game’s final 45 minutes.

+ Bridgeport Sound Tigers – Despite dropping a 3-2 decision at the hands of the Manchester Monarchs last Saturday night – its first regulation loss in 2012 – the Sound Tigers continue to be the hottest team in the American Hockey League. They are 11-1-1 in 2012, and are currently two points behind the Connecticut Whale in the Northeast Division with 51 points. They next play host to the Springfield Falcons this Saturday night at Webster Bank Arena.

+ Jaromir Jagr – Eight days before his 40th birthday, Jagr played silky smooth. There is a reason why Flyers management wants to bring the Czech legend back to the city of Brotherly Love for another season.

- Michael Grabner – Goal-less in his last seven games. Last goal was on January 19 at Philadelphia. He doesn’t have that same burst that Islanders fans fell in love with last season. Was he signed long term too soon?

+ & – Special Teams – While the Islanders have continued to master the art of the penalty kill, stopping all three Flyers opportunities, the power play, on the other hand, lacked consistency. The Islanders went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, generating only one shot.

Courtesy Renee K

Once upon a time I interviewed for a job with the Flyers at the CoreStates First Union Wachovia Wells Fargo Center. Nothing came of it but at the time the arena was still fairly new and certainly seemed like Madison Square Garden of Philadelphia. Owned by a large cable company, the Flyers built a huge monument in the city across the street from the Spectrum, which I am too young to really understand the significance of. The insides of the new palace were shiny and corporate, all paid for with cable money with the Flyers recently having moved across the parking lot from the Spectrum.

It was hard to tell where Comcast ended and the Philadelphia Flyers began. That’s no knock, as the Flyers have built themselves quite a brand in the local area and have been successful on their own. But there are the teams that are corporations — if not directly owned by them — in this league and they have a distinctive mark and look about them. There are many teams that market and spend in similar fashion but are not quite in the same echelon. When the Islanders find their way to Brooklyn in October, if only for a day, it’ll be a peek at what this team would look like in a brand new building that’s (not totally) funded by big corporate money and will look like it all the same. Sort of a possible look into the future at the Islanders circa 2017.

One other point that gets lost in the Islanders Arena saga, although I know you’re well aware, is that the Coliseum is virtually worthless without the Islanders. Sure, there are still concerts and family shows. Sure, some of those things will still come to town. But with two state of the art arenas in the local area, not including the brand new Prudential Center, the Coliseum will serve no realistic purpose. It will not bring in nearly enough events to sustain the cost of upkeep not to mention repair. This is the life cycle of old arenas. Once the seasonal tenants are gone, they rot and are eventually put down.

Opened in 1967, the Spectrum is now a parking lot. Opened in 1961, the Igloo was demolished last week. This is now the slow death that the Izod Center, opened 1981, is facing as it fades away. With its seasonal tenants gone and now forced to compete against the Prudential Center and to a lesser extent MSG and Barlcays, there isn’t room in the tri-state for a fifth arena in such close proximity to a brand new competitor. When the Barclays opens, the event bookers at the Coliseum are going to feel the same heat that Izod is feeling. That’s assuming they already haven’t. When or if the Islanders leave Nassau, they’ll put another area arena on life support. And it will only be a matter of time.

TONIGHT’S LINES
Moulson – Tavares – Okposo
Grabner – Nielsen – Parenteau
Rakhshani – Bailey – Martin
Niederreiter – Pandolfo – Wallace

Streit – Staios
Reese – MacDonald
Ness – Eaton

Nabokov
Montoya

RT @jimmywellington Think Nabakov ends up in Det?
CB: G not a priority in Det. Unless someone gets hurt long-term, won’t give up much for a Nabby type.

RT @ikcotol what can the Winnipeg Jets do to get on track?
CB: Need more beef and commitment on D. Lots of skill, but softish. C’mon, Chevy!

RT @Official_kjt Isles chances of playoffs this season?
CB: I’m in the minority, but I feel teams 10 back with 30 left should not feel outta it.

RT @scottymac228 why the hell arent you watching the beanpot?
CB: Cause Cronin’s in Toronto. (Actually, working on a Kreider story).

RT @Gus_Savage Hawks have scouts sniffing around Isles dmen?
Yes. But I don’t think they’ll trade Streit. Eaton could help as a 6.

RT @JdaxxTweets Will Snow try to pass off Strome as 2nd line C next yr, deHaan as top 4 dman?
CB: I’m sure he knows that would be a mistake.

RT @DomLongo22 Chance u do point blank again or something like it for fans who miss u?
CB: Very kind. Not anytime soon. Break is healthy for all.

RT @Islanders411 Do you know if Snow is working the phones?
CB: Of course he is. Every day until Feb. 27.

RT @rochambou will the Islanders pull a Baltimore Colts (middle of the night) or Cleveland Browns (lame duck year)?
CB: Neither

RT @daenmaster There are rumours #isles shopping PAP and nielsen. Do you see garth doing this?
CB: It’s his job to gauge value.

RT @domlongo Who is NYI #1 goalie next season?
CB: Should give @KevinPoulin60 a legit chance to run with it. Oh, you mean who WILL it be?…

RT @billwhitehead NYI’s untouchables as deadline approaches?
CB: No such thing, but Tavares, Moulson, KO, Poulin and Hamonic are sticking.

RT @theJ94 how far do you see Van going in the playoffs this year? Boston?
CB: Canucks – WCF. Bruins – SCF.

RT @LJ_Tsunis what do you make of new developments re hub?
CB: sorry, LJ, but I don’t think about it much. I will when @edmangano gets real

RT @kaner911 How will the Habs handle the Gomez situation?
CB: Cry a little more, and then consider a buyout

RT @Turnstone1969 simple question: Sabres – what’s going on?
CB: Learning $ doesn’t buy happiness or success. Will get fixed by next year

RT @t2ma Who were the most difficult Isles to work with?
CB: All gentlemen. On both sides of the biz, privilege for me to be part of it

RT @scholder99 #NYR going after goal scorers?
CB: For a forward, Sather aiming high. If he doesn’t like price, no problem standing pat

RT @justwalden How long before #Isles actually make the playoffs? This is getting embarrassing.
CB: Next season, if it doesn’t work out this season.

***CB: Again, my saying ANY team 10 pts back, Isles or otherwise, still alive is not being “optimistic.” It’s being fair. Up to teams if they want to quit or not.

With the trade deadline fast approaching, GM Garth Snow will have to determine if he’s going to be buying, selling or standing pat with his current roster. In years past, Snow has sent veterans packing for various reasons but all have garnered draft picks in return. Last year it was James Wisniewski and Dwyane Roloson. A few years earlier it was Bill Guerin.

So far this season, Snow has yet to make any moves. Part of that may be due to the potential lack of demand in the market and part of that may be due to the lack of any significant value in the Islanders’ assets, as a few of the veterans were training camp invitees turned signings.

However, there’s one particular asset that has value and has been the subject of trade talk all season. First he got fake traded to Columbus earlier in the year for Imaginary Fedor Tyutin. Later on, he was supposedly showcased in a nationally televised game against Boston, a game which ended in the Isles getting thumped. That player is, of course, Evgeni Nabokov.

He’s certainly an interesting topic. Of all the veterans on the team, he has by far the most trade value. He’s also been the team’s best — and dare I jinx it healthiest — goaltender for the last month plus. While Snow will certainly do his due diligence in finding Nabokov a new team, there are quite a few factors that will allow Snow to drive a hard bargain. Here are five of those factors:

#5 JUST WIN, BABY
Right now, Nabokov is by and large the Islanders’ best chance in net when it comes to winning games. Columbus is running away with the top lottery slot and while that’s no guarantee of anything, there’s something to be said for playing out the stretch run. Nearly half a decade into the rebuild, the team needs to continue to build on its past results. A hot stretch run won’t fool anyone this time around, but they’re already ahead of last year’s pace and isn’t improving the point of a rebuild?

#4 KEEPING THE KIDS IN BRIDGEPORT
The Islanders are not very deep in goal right now. With Mikko Koskinen playing in Europe and Rick DiPietro broken down again, there are four goaltenders between the NHL and AHL for the Islanders. When Al Montoya missed time, the Islanders were forced to call up one of their young goalies, Kevin Poulin or Anders Nilsson while signing Stephen Valiquette to a PTO in Bridgeport. Both young netminders should be spending their time getting the majority of their reps at the AHL level. Trading Nabokov would leave the organization with three goalies, a precarious position to say the least. Any trade would practically necessitate another move for a goalie.

#3 NABOKOV THE WORK HORSE
Despite a nagging groin injury early in the season, Nabokov is seemingly completely healthy at the moment. He started 15 of 16 games for the Islanders between December 22nd and January 23rd. And he played pretty well in those games, too. Nabokov now has a .920 save percentage and 2.31 GAA on the year. Those aren’t dazzling numbers but they’re right in line with his career marks of .913/2.39. There’s no doubt that if the groin injury is behind him, he can start a lot of games; he started more than 60 games in each of his last three seasons in San Jose (77,62,71). It didn’t happen overnight but over the last couple months it seems like we’ve seen the Nabokov of old return.

#2 INJURE ALL MY GOALIES ONCE, SHAME ON INJURIES. INJURE THEM ALL AGAIN, DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU
To go along with the fact that the Islanders only have four goalies in North America right now, Snow is likely weary of the goaltending injuries that befell the team last year. The team started six goalies last year, each earning a minimum of four starts due to a thousand different injuries. To go along with that, they’ve already used five different goalies this year. The goalie turned GM is likely acutely aware of all of these facts. Looking at it this way, using the ‘work horse’ Nabokov to finish out the year isn’t that bad an idea.

#1 GETTING GOOD VALUE IN RETURN
Herein lies the biggest question mark of this whole situation; the return value for Nabokov. While a third round pick isn’t out of the question for Nabokov, is it really worth risking all of the above? Unless a team makes an impressive offer, the risk/reward will likely not fall in favor of trading Nabokov.

The Islanders, still grasping at playoff straws, now face their already uphill battle without arguably their best and most reliable defender. Hamonic had played in 113 straight games, which ranks sixth among Islander defensemen all-time. That’s pretty incredible considering he’s only played 113 NHL games in total.

Now the Islanders have a few choices depending on how other injuries play out. Mike Mottau is still on IR and not likely to come off. Milan Jurcina is day-to-day following an arm laceration last week. It’s possible he could be ready to go for Tuesday. Alternatively, the team could place Jurcina on IR which would allow for an emergency call up from Bridgeport, which is dealing with defender shortages of its own. If Juice is placed on IR, it’s a seven day minimum stay which would make him ineligible to return until Saturday’s game, assuming the move is retroactive to February 4th.

KIRILL KABANOV SUFFERS CONCUSSION
Prospect Kirill Kabanov took a nasty hit from Saint John’s Jason Cameron on Saturday. Cameron was given five and a game for the hit.

This happened in the same game that Brandon Gormley (first round, Phoenix in 2010) took a skate to the neck (and is luckily alright).

YOUR OBLIGATORY JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS
Complete with a winning record in January!

The fate of the Islanders now rests in the hands of Long Island’s five biggest developers and how well they can cooperate. At this point, it certainly seems that any cooperation in a long shot.

Newsday reports that the group of four met with County Executive Ed Mangano last week to discuss their plans for development. Magano and Nassau County have yet to put out a request for proposal for the site, but the County Executive said he will announce his plans later this month. This group almost certainly has the inside track when a request for proposal goes out. Islanders owner Charles Wang does hold the right of first refusal on development at the site, which will expire along with the team’s lease in 2015.

Here’s the damning quote:

“The Hub with the Islanders and with the Coliseum is a needed thing on Long Island,” Blumenfeld said. “The Hub without the Islanders can be an economic engine also.”

The quartet’s effort is not contingent on the Islanders remaining in Nassau, Polimeni said.

The group does not have a plan yet — again, the County has yet to even put out a RFP — but it’s not hard to connect the dots on this one, with Newsday spoon-feeding us most of the dot connecting. A group that has opposed the Islanders from Day One of the Lighthouse Project is now meeting with the County Executive about developing the site, spewing quotes that they don’t necessarily have the Islanders as a part of that plan.

The three ring circus that is Nassau County plays another show and somewhere Barclays Center CEO Bruce Ratner is smiling.

Updated: 11:00pm

Brian Compton @BComptonNHL
Hamonic was taken to the hospital to be checked out, according to Capuano. He’s hoping to have an update later tonight. #Isles

The Islanders looked every bit the team on the tail end of back to backs tonight…which is really unfortunate because the Devils, Maple Leafs, Capitals and Lightning all won.  (In regulation at least so there weren’t any “extra points” doled out to others in the chase.)  In what can only be described as the favor of the hockey gods, the Isles found themselves with a 3-1 lead after a first period in which they were dominated by Buffalo and outshot 17-9.

Things would only get worse really as Travis Hamonic (of “best Islanders shutdown defenseman” fame) took a deflected slapshot to the face in the third and did not return.  No updates have been given at the time of this writing, but you can rest assured that if Hamonic misses any time, the Islanders will struggle significantly unless they catch lightning in a bottle via a Bridgeport call-up. The puck looked to have gone upward underneath his visor and hit him on the nose.  There was an awful lot of blood, but he was able to skate off with assistance.

The first goal was a misplay by the Sabres defense who reversed the puck behind the net to a waiting Michael Grabner who quickly found Frans Neilsen alone in front for a one timer past Ryan Miller.

The Sabres would answer just under four minutes later when Nathan Gerbe put a shot through (up and over) Al Montoya (similar to the goal he gave up in his last start).  There is plenty of fault to go around on that goal because the Isles failed repeatedly to clear the defensive zone and once they established possession with some room, they didn’t skate out quickly and Nielsen fired a blind pass to a changing Travis Hamonic who had to adjust quickly and stay on the ice.  He couldn’t recover, some fire-drill defense commenced and boom, Gerbe.

Later in the period, Josh Bailey scored his 6th as a penalty to Nino Niederreiter expired. This one was a very lazy backcheck by the Sabres as Frans Nielsen was able to gain the zone easily, pull up and patiently wait for Bailey to get open.  Bailey banged home his own rebound off a wrist shot.

Frans Nielsen would add to the Isles lead just over a minute later when Mark Streit found him for a second one timer and his 3rd point of the frame.

The second period saw both teams clamp down defensively and the shots were tied at nine with Buffalo chipping away at a very fragile lead.  Not only were the Sabres dominating the shots on goal, they were dominating possession. On the night, the Islanders blocked an additional 24 shots, some quite painfully (both Matts will have a few bruises and dings to be sure)…and that’s not mentioning the missed shots.

The period opened with Sabres’ uber-suspendable, slightly over the edge Patrick Kaleta challenging Matt Martin to a “momentum-changing” fight (*not verified).  As Martin declined (as he should with a 3-1 lead), Kaleta followed him around the ice hacking at him and eventually getting him to drop the gloves nine seconds later.  You were almost convinced that Kaleta would’ve gotten an instigator since he clearly made it so Martin could do nothing else.  I guess the referees also expect certain guys to have to answer this imaginary bell, but if Kaleta had followed just about anyone else around the ice like that, I’m almost certain there would have been a penalty called.  In the end, it was a spirited bout that Martin probably came out on the short end of (he was cut a little) and matching fighting majors.  I guess if Martin didn’t want to fight Kaleta, he could’ve gone down and run Miller first…probably didn’t think of it.

Derek Roy would get the Sabres second goal off an easy Buffalo zone entry and drop pass from Ville Leino back to Roy (where no Islander picked him up as the trailer) and he fired a screened slap shot through the Montoya five-hole.

Paul Gaustad knotted the game at three at 11:46 of the third on a full defensive breakdown by all five Islanders skaters.  John Tavares lost the faceoff, three Isles went to Boyes and successfully managed to knock it away from him, however, it went right to Tyler Myers and after they did that, there was no urgency by anybody to find a man.  Myers fed it to Gaustad who walked the entirety of the area between the circles and fired a wrist shot past Montoya.

In overtime the Islanders were the fortunate recipients of a “too many men” bench minor by Buffalo and absolutely controlled the entirety of the power play.  They did everything but score and ended up outshooting the Sabres 9-1 in the extra frame.

Unfortunately the great Dane and PA Parenteau couldn’t continue their recent shootout mastery and Al Montoya looked overmatched there tonight, barely moving on either of the two Sabres shots allowing goals on both.

In the end, Montoya made 34 saves and was third star of the game, but he looked a bit shaky and was giving up some pretty tremendous rebounds.  This is to be expected since he’s only had one start since the beginning of December, but The Big Cubano will need to get his timing back quickly if he hopes to unseat Evgeni Nabokov who has been stellar as of late.

There was far too little skating tonight, a lot of reaching for pucks and that is not a formula for success for this incarnation of the Islanders.  Generally, they’ve been good on the tail end of back to back games.  This one may have been different because of the travel from Ottawa the night before, but unfortunately, that is part of every team’s schedule.  You can’t be too upset at a run of 5-1-2 over their last eight, but they need to get right back at it.

On a bright note, the Islanders scored three even strength goals tonight from outside of the first line.  That’s five straight non first line goals…which is good.   Maybe it is the start of getting the team firing on all cylinders.

Next up, @Philadelphia on Tuesday 7pm.

Playing 4-on-4 in overtime, John Tavares fell over Ottawa’s Mike Folingo on a hard backcheck. The other Islanders on the ice rushed the other way and it would be PA Parenteau with a sweet pass to Milan Jurcina who would feed Mark Eaton for the backhand winner. With the Sens’ Craig Anderson well out of position, the defender tossed it into the back of the net for his first goal of the season and the overtime winner.

Courtesy Adam Prince

TONIGHT’S LINES
Moulson – Tavares – Okposo
Grabner – Nielsen – Parenteau
Rakhshani – Bailey – Martin
Niederreiter – Pandolfo – Wallace

Streit – Staios
Hamonic – MacDonald
Jurcina – Eaton

Nabokov
Montoya

Of course, each of these players will probably tell you they appreciate the awards but are focused on the team. And that’s where they should be focused but it’s certainly nice to see a few players in the organization getting big honors.

For Cizikas and Poulin, it’s been a heck of a month in Bridgeport. Cizikas was an alternate for the All-Star Game when Calvin de Haan got hurt but that doesn’t mean he was any slouch. The center had 18 points and was +14 in 11 January games while Poulin was undefeated (6-0-1) with a stunning .949 save percentage. Thanks to their efforts and others, the Sound Tigers are on a ridiculous 10-0-1 run to go undefeated in January playing without de Haan, Dylan Reese and Tim Wallace.

Here are some other ridiculous January numbers from the Bridge.
Matt Donovan (2-10-12, +13)
Rhett Rahkshani (6-9-15, +14)
Aaron Ness (0-6-6, +12)

And there’s one surprising cold streak: David Ullstrom. He’s 1-2-3 and even in 7 games. Of course, given that he missed a month with a concussion, it shouldn’t be too much of a concern. He’s obviously got to get back to game speed after the injury.

So, as much as I’ve been campaigning for the team to call up players from Bridgeport this seemingly out of the blue hot streak may necessitate just the opposite. The Sound Tigers are leading their division, albeit by a tight margin with five points separating all five teams and it may require a serious playoff push to make the AHL playoffs. The AHL season ends a bit after the NHL season does, on April 15. So now it’s a debate of whether NHL experience or AHL playoff experience is better for player development. Without arguably their two best defenders (de Haan and Reese) the Sound Tigers can’t spare anyone on the blue line for the big club. Should they spare any more forwards? How long will Rakhshani stay up if he plays well? Tough questions for the stretch run.

THE GM SHOW HITS THE ROAD
Garth Snow was on Gary Bettman’s ‘NHL Hour’ show yesterday: