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Al Montoya is the guy helping the Islanders win again

Al Montoya

You may not have noticed, but after the Islanders’ 5-1 win over Tampa Bay last night they’ve got 4-0-1 in their last five games. With a point streak like that, the Isles have moved to within four points of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division and the guy they can thank most for it is Al Montoya.

The Islanders headed into this season with a three-headed monster in goal with Montoya, Rick DiPietro, and Evgeni Nabokov. With Nabokov banged up and DiPietro ineffective, Montoya has stepped up huge. His numbers in goal are stunningly great with a goals against just over 2.00 and a save percentage in Tim Thomas territory.

It looks like that three-headed monster is down to just one guy Isles fans have taken to calling the “Big Cubano.”

The Islanders are getting goals to help support Montoya as well and Matt Moulson and John Tavares have stepped up in that regard. Moulson in particular has been pouring in goals at a wild rate with goals in five straight games including a four-goal game against Dallas. While Moulson does the scoring, Tavares and P.A. Parenteau do the assisting.

All of a sudden, the Islanders are looking like the team that we thought we’d see from the get-go this season.