So, that guy who said he would never wear a Malik Jersey…Yeah, hes got it right. 2 goals against, both directly or indirectly attributable to Mr. Malik. It’s a shame because, besides those 2 plays, he was pretty decent. I don’t know if its just bad luck, or incredibly stupidity, but the guys mistakes almost always seem to end up in the back of the net.

Look at Marc Staal on the opposite side of things, he had quite a few poor plays in this game, but none of them ended up in his own net. Why? I’m not sure, but its worth looking at.

Overall it was a good game, which definitely had some improvements in system play, defensive zone coverage, and most importantly , we saw a trio that I absolutely loved. Gomez, with Shanahan and Dawes absolutely dominated out there. Sure, again, this was the Islanders B team, (mind you, I picked the Islanders to be the worst team in the NHL) but still, you had to be happy with what you saw out there.

Over on the ECSF boards a question was posed, who should make the team, Dawes, or Dubinsky, my response was as follows:

I picked option B (Dawes). And I really had to think about it.

Its not about Dubinsky not being ready, or Dawes being super impressive tonight. To me its about which player could actually play in the minors, and still improve their overall play.

Dawes isn’t getting better than he is now by playing in hartford. He is what he is, you’re not getting more from him by sending him down, you’re giving up on him.

However Dubinsky could definitely improve his play by playing top line minutes with the Rangers 2 best wingers in the minors.

Dubinsky still, at times, looks like a midget in a giants body. Its not about him being a pansy, its about him not understanding how to use his body to create time and space for his line mates. Its also a problem I see in Anisimov as well. Those things can get fixed with regular play, and good coaching.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either option to be honest, but at least if you go with Dawes, you can trade him, or Prucha, or whatever, later in the season once they’ve built some value. If you don’t promote Dawes, you’re giving up on a player who has scored 221 goals in 391 games for Hartford and Kootenay. I know I’ve been hard on the kid, and been totally pro Dubinsky this preseason, but I would just HATE to give up on the kid, I have a real tough time giving up on “numbers” like that.

So what do you guys think, could you go to war with this setup…

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AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH, I hope you got to see it. Al Trautwick interviewed some kid in the stands because apparently he has a lot of jerseys or something, and the kid says, on the New York Rangers television station mind you, that he doesn’t like Marek Malik, and would never wear his jersey. I know its kinda lame in a way, but i just fell off my chair laughing at him.

With regards to the period, don’t get too happy, sure, the Rangers absolutely dominated the period, but lets face the facts, the Rangers had most of their “A” players, and the Islanders have almost none of their A players. We SHOULD be kicking their butts, based on their goaltending alone. MacDonald and Morrison are terrible, I was amazed that he actually went a full period against us without giving up a goal, but that would put to bed in short order to start the period.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, FINALLY my boy Dawes, who is playing longer than I would have allowed, is playing a great game. Gomez and Shanahan have some unreal chemistry going. I wouldn’t break those two up anytime soon. I also was a little surprised at how good a playmaker Drury is. I always knew he had a very good overall game, but he has excellent recognition on where the puck needs to go, in all 3 zones. Hes going to be VERY good for this team.

I was a little disappointed with the play of Petr Prucha, I thought he should have been more active in this game, especially with who we are playing, and who is on the ice for that team.

Henrik hasn’t been challenged much, and has looked shaky when he has been challenged. I hope its just rust.

-Inferno

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You could tell what they were doing, couldn’t you? It seemed like the Rangers, who were embarrassed by giving up something like 20 goals in their first 4 games, wanted to make a defensive statement. That their solid goals against average last year was not just a fluke. And honestly, I think they did that. They played a pretty good period. Really it was a soft goal by yet another misplay by one Marek Malik (does he ever make a mistake that doesn’t end up in the back of our net?).

Henrik looked pretty good in the period, but he still gave up a softie, not sure what he was doing on the play, or if he was just baffled at Malik for flubbing the puck or what not, but either way, Henrik has to stop those.

-Inferno

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