Sport-scan daily brief

DeBoer began the game with his two Czech stars, center Patrik Elias and right wing Jaromir Jagr, on the same line, but by the end of the game Jagr has been dropped to the fourth line.

"We kind of juggled the lines again and we’re going to keep doing that until we get some type of chemistry that we like," DeBoer said.

Bergen Record LOADED: 10.06.2013

719777 New York Islanders

Islanders fall to Blue Jackets on Cam Atkinson’s shootout goal

By Stephen Lorenzo / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Sunday, October 6, 2013, 2:42 AM

BLUE JACKETS 3, ISLANDERS 2 (SO)

The Islanders looked to have their second win of the young season in hand in their home opener Saturday night at the Coliseum. But the hosts faltered in the third period, surrendering two unanswered goals to the Blue Jackets to tie a game the Isles would eventually lose, 3-2, on a decisive shootout goal by winger Cam Atkinson.

“I’m a little disappointed in the third,” said Isles coach Jack Capuano, whose team has had its first two games of the season decided in a shootout. The Isles beat the Devils in Newark on Friday. “I think we played well and obviously they ramped it up and we didn’t respond. … The third period we were too much on the perimeter. I thought their goaltender had it pretty easy in the third.”

Down 2-0 after two periods, Columbus pulled within one 7:45 into the third on a power-play goal by center Mark Letestu. The Isles (1-0-1) blocked two shots but failed to clear the puck, allowing Letestu to take advantage during a scrum in front of the net. Less than five minutes later, Ryan Johansen tied it by tapping in a rebound through Isles goaltender Evgeni Nabokov (27 saves). After being outshot 19-12 through the first two periods, the Blue Jackets (1-1-0) responded by outshooting the Isles 17-11 over the third period and overtime.

“I think we came out pretty hard tonight,” said John Tavares, who finished with two assists, one of them on a highlight-reel no-look pass that resulted in a Matt Moulson goal to make it 2-0 at 14:01 of the second. “I thought for most of the game we really didn’t give them a whole lot, we did a good job in front of Nabby, he made some great saves when he had to, but we cleared a lot of guys out. … We hit the post a couple of times late, had a couple chances on that power play and overtime. We just didn’t capitalize especially late there when we needed to.”

With 2:42 to play in regulation, the Jackets went on the power play again on a phantom holding call by Lubomir Visnovsky. This time the Isles’ penalty kill came through, and they drew a penalty on Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson to go on the man advantage for the final 40 seconds of regulation and into overtime. They got two great chances from Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen, but neither could convert.

As the Isles saw on Saturday, two-goal leads can be fleeting in the NHL, but Capuano hopes this loss can serve as a teachable moment for his young club when it comes to holding a lead.

“You can always learn from anything,” he said. “To me it was more offensively we didn’t do what we had to do … We’ve got to get to those hard areas. We have to learn, no matter what the score is, that you can’t be out on the perimeter.”

New York Daily News LOADED: 10.06.2013

719778 New York Islanders

Islanders blow 2-0 lead, fall to Blue Jackets

By Brett Cyrgalis

October 5, 2013 | 10:28pm

This point, this one doesn’t exactly feel good.

The Islanders spent the majority of Saturday night delighting their 16,170 fans at the sold-out Coliseum, using the home opener as a showcase for the possibilities of what could come with outstanding goaltending from Evgeni Nabokov and transcendent play from star center John Tavares.

Yet reality cracked the hopeful veneer, and a 2-0 third-period lead for the Islanders quickly morphed into 3-2 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets, leaving the mournful refrain of moral victory to resonate into the humid Long Island evening.

“It’s a real piss off, to be honest,” said defenseman Travis Hamonic, who close-call high-sticking penalty with 6:03 gone by in the third allowed Mark Letestu cut the Isles lead to 2-1 with his power play wrist shot, giving the Blue Jackets life.

“I thought we played a really good game, and we’re not going to let the things that haunted us the last couple years creep up on us. We’re going to learn right now how to play these games and how to put a team away.”

The storyline of this season inevitably will be about the Islanders chance to back up their postseason breakthrough last season with another. In the first game of the season, Friday night in Newark, they managed to claw back against the Devils and win in a shootout. This one went exactly the opposite way, and shows the ground they stand on is far from being solid, shaken by Cam Atikinson’s winning tally in the fourth round of the skills competition.

“This league is so evenly matched up, you’re never going to dominate anyone for 60 minutes,” said Nabokov, who was outstanding for the second straight night in making 27 saves, the majority of them sterling. “You have to play well for 60 minutes. I thought we played really well for most of the game, and I think they got a little bit lucky on the second goal, and now we’re talking about a loss. It’s those little things that can cost you a game.”

That second goal was off the stick of Ryan Johansen, who drove hard to the net and managed just to get a stick on it as Islanders forward Peter Regin slid into Nabokov and the puck bounded over the goal line. The Blue Jackets celebrated enthusiastically behind the goal, and the crowd began to murmur as it had in years past, years when all the things that could go wrong always seemed to happen.

“We didn’t do enough in the third,” said coach Jack Capuano, whose team was staked to it’s 2-0 lead by second-period goals from Lubomir Visnovsky (a rifle shot on the power play) and Matt Moulson, who netted an all-world, no-look pass from John Tavares.

“Can we learn from the 2-0 lead? Yeah, I’m sure we’ll learn,” Capuano said. “We have to learn that no matter what the score is, you can’t be on the perimeter.”

Both teams had chances in the overtime, with the Islanders actually playing the first 1:19 over the extra frame with a 4-on-3 advantage. But Blue Jackets goalie and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky stood tall, and the game was determined by the skills competition.

“Three out of four points,” Capuano said about his team’s opening two games. “Something that we have to learn from and get better at.”

***

Capuano inferred rugged forward Cal Clutterbuck (leg laceration) could be ready for the team’s next game, Tuesday at the Coliseum against the Coyotes. If not then, they likely either Friday in Chicago or Saturday in Nashville.

719779 New York Islanders

Islanders give up 2-goal lead and lose in shootout

Originally published: October 5, 2013 10:28 PM

Updated: October 5, 2013 11:59 PM

By ARTHUR STAPLE arthur.staple@newsday.com

As John Tavares noted after an off-kilter opening weekend came to an end for the Islanders, "It's funny how it works sometimes."

After opening night Friday, when the Islanders were a bit sloppy but still emerged with a shootout win over the Devils, they carried the play for the better part of 45 minutes in their home opener against the Blue Jackets Saturday night.

But being the better team for longer guarantees nothing. And the Isles came out on the short end of a shootout, a 3-2 defeat that stung after the Isles coughed up a 2-0 lead with less than 13 minutes to play.

"I don't think we were bad," said Frans Nielsen, who was denied twice by Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in the final 30 seconds of regulation with the score tied 2-2. "We were maybe a little too open, trading chances, when we should have been tighter with the lead."

There was little to dislike in those opening two-plus periods. Evgeni Nabokov had to make only four first-period saves, but they were all Grade-A chances. Playing on consecutive nights, Nabokov was especially sharp, stopping 27 of 29 shots in the game.

After keeping things scoreless through a period, Nabokov got some help in the second. Lubomir Visnovsky blasted home a one-timed shot off a feed from Nielsen to open the scoring on the power play at 8:17 of the second.

At 14:01, Tavares whipped a no-look backhand pass off the side boards right to Matt Moulson, who deked Bobrovsky and scored on the backhand from in close for a two-goal lead.

"It was a pretty good game for us to start the year off at home," said Tavares, who also received an assist on Visnovsky's goal.

But in the third, the Blue Jackets started to push the pace and drive the net harder, and the Isles did not play with the "heavy sticks" that Jack Capuano preaches in the defensive zone. Travis Hamonic was whistled for a high stick on Marian Gaborik and, after shot blocks by Casey Cizikas and Matt Donovan but no successful clears of the zone, Marc Letestu pounced on a loose puck to cut the Isles' lead to one at 7:45.

"We were doing the right things, blocking some shots and all," Nielsen said, "but we have to get the puck out when we can."

Nick Foligno dribbled the tying goal behind Nabokov after a strong drive to the net by R.J. Umberger -- Donovan failed to tie up Foligno's stick in close -- and the sellout Nassau Coliseum crowd of 16,170 sagged back with 8:06 to go.

They were enraged, as Visnovsky was, when the Isles defenseman was whistled for holding Brandon Dubinsky with 2:42 left in the third, a ticky-tack call in Visnovsky's view. The Isles killed that off and got a power play with 40.6 seconds left. Nielsen's two golden chances wouldn't go in, and they got three more good shots in overtime, but failed to convert.

Cam Atkinson's goal in the fourth round of the shootout left the Isles with three points on their opening weekend. That was perhaps what they deserved after a spotty opener in Newark and a more forceful, complete game at home, but the way they earned those points is a reminder that the full three periods is what's needed to be a top-tier team.

"This league is so evenly matched up," Nabokov said. "It's not much difference between winning and losing."

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 10.06.2013

719780 New York Islanders

There finally is continuity in the Islanders' universe

October 5, 2013 11:42 PM By MARK HERRMANN

The one conspicuous difference in the Islanders Saturday night was the "C" on John Tavares' jersey.

He made his home debut as captain at Nassau Coliseum, with mostly the same teammates who finished a nice try against the Penguins May 11.

As far as the franchise and its best player are concerned, the "C" does not stand for change. They take that as a compliment.

"I really don't feel a difference," Tavares said about his new responsibility. "Everyone is so familiar with everyone else in our locker room. Not much changed. Obviously there are a few new guys, but they're guys [we] knew from past experiences and teams.''

In fact, the beauty in the boisterous sold-out home opener against the Blue Jackets was the comfortable sameness, the déjà vu. The vibrant, tailgating atmosphere for the Islanders' 3-2 shootout loss was a reminder of the playoffs.

In the Islanders' universe, "C" stands for continuity. They want to pick up where they left off when they were a goal away from taking the star-driven Penguins back to Pittsburgh for Game 7.

They want to just keep going, knowing that "nice try" doesn't cut it anymore. It is high time for the Islanders to win a playoff series for the first time in 21 years. Players expect it, fans deserve it. The question is whether there is enough improvement to do it with a roster that did not add much.

Mark Streit, the previous captain, was allowed to leave through free agency -- a pool into which the Islanders did not dip deeply. Their plan is to allow their own prospects to flourish and not mess with the chemistry -- another "C" word -- that is their second-greatest strength (after Tavares).

Coach Jack Capuano described the blueprint this way: "Every guy needs to give a little bit more, every coach needs to give a little bit more, everybody in our organization needs to give a little bit more. The one thing that guys should know here is that we've got some eager guys who would like to play for the New York Islanders."

Who knows if this season is the next phase in a canny youth movement, letting rookies Brock Nelson and Matt Donovan make their way? Or is this a case of frugal management having held back until the team moves to Brooklyn the year after next?

For now, the Islanders are generating more excitement than they have in a decade. Thanks to the run that ended with overtime in Game 6 nearly five months ago, the Islanders matter again. The buzz Saturday night was palpable.

Having one of the top players in the world doesn't hurt. Tavares is renowned for building on his successes, coming into a season better than he was when he finished the previous one.

During pregame introductions Saturday night, he was announced last as the new captain and received the loudest roar. Then he assisted on Lubomir Visnovsky's power-play goal at 8:17 of the second and made a strong pass to set up Matt Moulson's goal less than six minutes later.

Capuano said that other than making him a touch more vocal, the "C" has not changed Tavares at all. He still has the same humble personality. This captain's overwhelming importance to his team is reminiscent of a former Coliseum performer, Julius Erving, whose two ABA title banners reappeared in the building's rafters.

"We still have a lot to prove. We've only been to the first round," Tavares said. "For sure, we take a lot of pride in playing for the Islanders and representing the community here. A lot of people are believing in us. We believe in ourselves. But there's a long way to go."

A little change might not hurt. They squandered a two-goal lead Saturday night, as they did occasionally in the previous two seasons. "A few guys played it safe," Capuano said.

He wants the whole team to be more consistent, to compete more on every shift. Those are baby steps toward the ultimate "C," the Cup.

First things first. Can these Islanders continue to late spring? We'll see.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 10.06.2013

719781 New York Islanders

Jack Capuano shows confidence in rookie Brock Nelson

Originally published: October 5, 2013 9:40 PM

Updated: October 5, 2013 9:54 PM

By ARTHUR STAPLE arthur.staple@newsday.com

Jack Capuano was perhaps most pleased with the opening-night play of his two rookies, Brock Nelson and Matt Donovan.

He publicly and privately had told both players not to play it safe in the game, and both took that advice to heart Friday night in Newark.

"It definitely helps," said Nelson, who played a smart game and made a terrific cross-ice feed to Pierre-Marc Bouchard that required a big save from Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. "You hear that from your coach and you can play with confidence. He's been saying it to me since camp began, and I feel like the last few games I've been able to do more of that."

Donovan felt good about his game, which included his first NHL point after his feed to Michael Grabner led to Frans Nielsen's go-ahead goal early in the third.

"[Capuano] put that into my head that we needed to play fast and jump up when we could, and I think I did that," Donovan said.

The 23-year-old defenseman played the final three games during the 2011-12 season after the Isles had been eliminated from playoff contention. Earning a spot out of training camp this season was a much different experience.

"There's more of a feeling that I know I can play with these guys," he said. "I'm still not comfortable and I have to keep earning my spot, but I felt a lot more confident."

Nabokov gets call againCapuano kept his lineup the same from Friday's opening shootout victory, giving Evgeni Nabokov starts on consecutive nights.

"Talking with [goaltending coach Mike Dunham], Nabby feels good, he feels strong," Capuano said. "We'll monitor the situation as we go."

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 10.06.2013

719782 New York Islanders

It wasn't Seventh Avenue, but Al Arbour put Islanders on hockey map

Originally published: October 4, 2013 6:20 PM

Updated: October 5, 2013 4:10 PM

By GERALD ESKENAZI. Special to Newsday

Forty years ago this week, the Islanders were girding for greatness.

Oh, they didn't know it, of course. They were winding up their first training camp under Al Arbour, a guy with glasses known variously as "Radar," for "M*A*S*H" character Radar O'Reilly, and "Barney Google," a banjo-eyed comic strip character. And they were practicing in Peterborough -- you know, in Ontario.

Arbour brought in 91 -- count 'em, 91 -- players. He didn't know who the heck they were. In fact, he pinned their names on pieces of paper on the backs of their jerseys so he'd have a smidgen of an idea who they were.

But then again, when your team, a second-year expansion club, is coming off the worst season in National Hockey League history, winning 12 of 78 games, it's out with the old and in with the new.

Arbour spoke funny. He actually used the word "playoffs," saying he had never missed one in 19 years as a player and coach and that he expected to make it with this team.

Well, they didn't quite. But Arbour, who was hired to replace Earl Ingarfield, who had replaced Phil Goyette, set a tone, demanding accountability and effort and, above all, results.

"I don't want to hear about yesterday," he told the players. "I want to hear about today, tomorrow and the future."

The rest is history. In a way, it's also somewhat sad as the Islanders' nostalgia ship takes off on its next-to-last season before moving to Brooklyn.

Still, I had no idea back then. How could anyone? Why, when the Rangers played at the Coliseum, the cheers for the Rangers drowned out the suburbanite fans.

Arbour was not your usual hockey strategist. Hockey still was a sport from another era. The coach oversaw everything and everyone -- from the trainer's room to the goalie to the defensemen to the forwards.

One day during that first summer, Arbour invited me to a meeting he was having with Jets coach Weeb Ewbank. The Jets trained nearby in Hempstead. Arbour also brought with him a rookie named Denis Potvin, a husky guy who smoked a Sherlock Holmes meerschaum pipe and was all of 19 years old -- and the most acclaimed young player in the hockey world since Bobby Orr.

"I want to know how football teams use films and their conditioning methods," Arbour explained. "I want to know how they coach the different positions."

This was a radical thought back then. He was going to look at new and innovative ways to produce a winner.

Ewbank, for his part, said he was surprised at how small hockey players looked in person. And he virtually admonished Arbour and Potvin at the size of Potvin's contract -- $300,000 for three years. "Hockey will suffer if they don't stop those big contracts," said the parsimonious Ewbank, who also was the Jets' general manager.

After the meeting, Potvin asked me, "Excuse my ignorance, but who was that man Weeb we were talking to?"

When Isles general manager Bill Torrey heard about Potvin's question, he told the rookie, "Lookit, Denis, if you want to be a New Yorker, you better know who the Super Bowl coach of the Jets was."

It's funny how naive, in a way, it all seems now. Arbour told me that when he was first contacted by Torrey, he turned him down. Why?

"I thought I'd be living on Seventh Avenue," Arbour said. He didn't realize the Islanders were not playing in midtown Manhattan but in the suburbs.

This time Torrey actually showed him Long Island. They went for a ride on the North Shore. Arbour liked what he saw.

Meanwhile, a lot of his players had in fact been living in Manhattan and commuting to the Island. Others left their families back in Ontario or Alberta, where their young kids were in school. Now, in their second season, they were looking to rent on the Island and become part of the community.

"We seem to know where we're going now," said the Islanders' insightful defenseman, Gerry Hart.

Well, they didn't win much in Arbour's first season, but they made the playoffs the next year (1974-75) and every year after until 1988.

That first playoff series victory changed the mind-set of the players and the fans. For it came against, of all teams, the Rangers. It meant that these suburban rubes actually were better than the Manhattanites. And to me, that is the essence of what makes a great rivalry: an underdog against an establishment type. It was the essence of the Dodgers against the Yankees, the Jets against the Giants and the Islanders against the Rangers.

Before we know it, these Islanders, the legacy of that collection of mostly unknowns in Peterborough, Ontario, will be playing in downtown Brooklyn -- at least near an LIRR station. And I wonder whether they will remember those years on Long Island, the only major-league team the place had for so long, and a coach and a player who brought it greatness, finally learning where Uniondale was.

Gerald Eskenazi covered the Islanders and Rangers among his 8,000 bylines in The New York Times. He was present at the creation of the Islanders and the Coliseum. In addition, he has written 16 books and lectures on sports and the news media. He lived in Roslyn for 35 years before moving to New York City.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 10.06.2013

719783 New York Rangers

NY Rangers captain Ryan Callahan expected back in Blueshirts lineup vs. LA Kings

By Pat Leonard / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, October 5, 2013, 9:42 AM

LOS ANGELES – The Rangers need to steer their early-season road trip onto the right track in a hurry. What better way to do that than to welcome back the Captain?

Ryan Callahan, whose offseason shoulder surgery once threatened to keep him out until the end of October, will return to the Blueshirts’ lineup for their second game of the season, Monday night in Los Angeles, barring any setback in the next few days while the team practices at the Kings’ facility in El Segundo, Calif.

“If it would have been up to him, he would have played (in Thursday’s 4-1 loss in Phoenix),” coach Alain Vigneault said after Friday afternoon’s one-hour practice at the Toyota Center. “But this gives him almost four days, two days of contact in practices. He’s ready to go. He’s cleared to play.”

Callahan was reluctant to guarantee he’d play but acknowledged that dressing against the Kings is “my target.” The Rangers have off on Saturday, so Callahan said he will monitor how his left shoulder takes contact in Sunday’s final practice to make sure nothing unexpected nags him. Once he returns, the Rangers will be closer to full strength for the rest of this five-game road trip: Monday in L.A, Tuesday in San Jose, Thursday in Anaheim and Saturday in St. Louis.

On Friday, Callahan went full steam, replacing rookie Jesper Fast on the third-line right wing alongside left wing Taylor Pyatt and center Brian Boyle. He may not be on top of his game immediately, given that the May surgery on his left shoulder required significant rest to heal. But Callahan can augment the Rangers’ efforts in areas they struggled against Phoenix, including his ability to, as Boyle said, “attack the net.”

“He brings, first of all, that physical element. He brings the lead-by-example element,” Boyle told the Daily News. “Then he gets those shots, he brings them to the net, and he gets you those second, third, fourth opportunities just because that’s how he plays – with his tenacity and everything he does. He can make things happen when it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot there. He’s going to be a huge lift for us.”