Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Islanders fell to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night 4-2. The Islanders came in winners of their last four, and their last seven on the road.
Tim Thomas was the star in this one. The former Islander — on technicality only — was on his game tonight, stopping 31 of 33 shots. The Islanders had a couple of good chances to score on him, but consistently seemed to be coming up short. Across the ice, Kevin Poulin was okay, but not as good as he has been the past few games. In defense of Poulin, the Islander defense continues to put him in tough situations to make saves.
The Islanders have made a habit out of falling behind early in games, it only took the Panthers 32 seconds to gain an advantage in this one. The team consistently comes out flat in games, but they have been finding ways to come back and pick up victories.
The comeback trait is good in a team; winning teams have to be able to climb out of deficits. However, just because a team is good at comebacks, doesn’t mean they should constantly fall behind. The Islanders must find a way to ramp up the intensity from the opening face-off on. Tuesday night, much like the past couple of nights, the Islanders played a solid second period, and a really good third. If they can find a way to bring that effort to the first period, they may be able to sustain their success from the past two weeks.