The New York Islanders have lost two in a row and three of their last four, but Saturday’s 4-0 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers was especially worrisome.
Just ask Jack Capuano.
The Islanders only fired 20 shots on Steve Mason this afternoon, and they’ve now been held to a single goal during this two-game skid. It has Capuano wondering if there are some changes needed, as NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman reports.
“I think the top guys that are here are playing pretty good hockey to be honest with you, the experienced guys,” Capuano said. “It is some of the other guys that need to find their game. That is a decision that Garth [Snow] will have to make as far as personnel. But we are going to have to sit down and talk about it going into Columbus as far as what we are going to do. Obviously it is not working with some of the guys we have now.”
Well, then.
That next game comes at home against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, so there is indeed time to do some soul-searching, and maybe roster-pruning.
There aren’t obvious scapegoats merely looking at the box score, as ice time was (relatively) even and ... honestly, just about everyone ended up winning minus ratings (“top guys” like John Tavares included). So who are the players Capuano might be singling out?
While that’s unclear, the general malaise is pretty obvious:
One cannot help but wonder if Capuano might be wise not to scream too loudly about changes, unless he feels blameless himself ...
What sort of changes would you make if you were in Garth Snow’s shoes?