MARTY GETS ONE MORE AT THE OLD BARN
Momentum swings, the welcoming back of an old heroe and the sight of a familiar enemy were all featured at Nassau Coliseum for a Saturday afternoon matinee.
Before the game the Islanders honored former fan favorite, Bobby Nystrom as they continue to say goodbye to Nassau Coliseum. The Blues came into Long Island with their new goaltender, Martin Brodeur. Not slated to start after making his first appearance of the season in Nashville but found his way into this game.
The Islanders started fast and quickly chased highly touted prospect Jake Allen to the locker room. The Islanders piled on the goals in the first period by tallying three.
With the Islanders leading 3-0 heading into the second period the Blues knew they had to change their game.
“We played a little too east west in the first period, “Alex Pietrangelo said following the teams 6-4 comeback win. “Second period we knew we ha to raise our work ethic and play north south. We made them play in their own zone and had success.”
Martin Brodeur led the team out of the locker room and replaced Jake Allen starting the second period. After a rough, undisciplined first period the Blues looked like a different team.
Within the first five minutes the Blues cut the lead to one as Paul Statsny and Patrik Berglund lit the lamp. Later in the second period Kevin Shattenkirk blasted a slap shot from the point tallying the Blues second power play goal of the period to tie the game.
“Special teams can turn the game around and that is exactly what happened tonight,” Jack Capuano said following the loss. “It gave them a lot of momentum and a lot of life on their bench.”
“We took some undisciplined penalties,” Capuano continued. “They did in the second period exactly how we want to play. They shot everything to the net, converged on rebounds, had extended zone time and grinded it out… That’s the way we normally play and we didn’t tonight.”
For the former Devils goaltender, this was career win No. 689, but his first in a completely different uniform.
“It’s nice, first win out of the way,” Marty said following his first win as a member of the St. Louis Blues. “Definitely excited about that.”
This was the first game of four consecutive contests against the Western Conference for the Islanders. On the road for the next two games the Islanders will have to focus getting back to playing their style.
“I don’t even look at (our) record to be honest with you.” Capuano concluded. “We got a tough road trip coming up against two pretty good teams… Other guys will have to pick it up now with a lot of guys out of our lineup.”
By: Scott Charles
WLIE 540 AM SPORTSTALKNY Staff Writer
Islanders Insight Senior Editor
Follow us on Twitter @sportstalkny and @Scottmcharles
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