Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice to have a player like Thomas Vanek on Long Island. But if you look at how the New York Islanders 12 games thus far, an upgrade for Matt Mouson just doesn’t seem necessary right now. Garth Snow announced the other day he does not approve of the performance of the team and a change had to be made, but the change was made at the wrong position.
In the past five games, the Islanders have lost three games by one goal. Rather than find a player that has a knack for finding the score sheet, Garth Snow should have went after a player who will help the team prevent the goals from being scored. Two key positions here are obviously the defense and goaltending. The Islanders are averaging about three goals a game, so the goal scoring is not the problem.
Over the past couple of games, especially the recent game against the Rangers, a major problem in the Islanders defensive zone has been to clear the puck. They are spending too much time in their own zone and allowing the other teams way too many scoring chances. Then once the puck hits an Islander stick, it seems to get turned over without clearing the zone. Through the last five games, including the win against the Penguins, most of the defensive players have been a minus. Through the 12 games played this season, the Islanders have had 39 goals against and 37 goals for. Point being here, a trade for an elite defenseman rather than an elite goal scorer would have been ideal, as the Islanders were racking up the goals without Vanek.
The goaltending is a situation that is also not ideal for a team who claims to be so hungry for the playoffs. Evgeni Nabokov is a great goaltender, but he cannot do it all on his own. Kevin Poulin is not, and very well could never be at the level of an NHL goaltender. Yet, he is backing up Evgeni Nabokov and not doing a very good job at it. In two games played this season, Poulin is 0-2. His goals against average is a 3.53 with a save percentage of .881. These are numbers that no goaltender in the NHL should have. In Poulins last start, he seemed to not be able to tell which way was up. Poulin was flopping all over the goal crease and just looked lost.
There’s another man in Buffalo that is up for grabs though, and that man is Ryan Miller. With it being known around the league that Ryan Miller is available, it is probably puzzling to most Islanders fans on why he was not the one who was acquired. It’s clear that the Islanders problem is not scoring goals, the problem is preventing them. If the Islanders are serious about making the playoffs this season, Islanders fans can only hope that Garth Snow inquires about a goaltender or a defenseman.
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