With Joey MacDonald set to make his ninth straight start when the Islanders face the Devils Friday night in Newark, it was decided to return backup goaltender Yann Danis to Bridgeport so he can get some work. Coming up to take his place as MacDonald's backup is Peter Mannino, who excelled for the Sound Tigers after Danis came up and made one appearance against Montreal, when the Isles allowed four unanswered third-period goals in a 5-4 loss.
Mannino is a University of Denver product in the tradition of a previous Islanders backup, Wade Dubielewicz. He has a 6-1-2 record with the Sound Tigers with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
Earlier in the day, the Islanders decided to bring up enforcer Mitch Fritz on an emergency basis as the replacement for injured Kyle Okposo, who is out one week with an undisclosed hand injury. My impression is that the decision came down to Fritz and leading Sound Tigers goal scorer Mike Iggulden (11-9-20), but the Isles like the idea of having a strong physical component with Fritz and Tim Jackman for the back-to-back against the Atlantic Division rival Devils and Buffalo, which manhandled the Isles in a 7-1 blowout five weeks ago.
COMING ATTRACTION: The latest edition of Islanders Insider coming Friday morning around 10:30 will be a one-subject opus featuring general manager Garth Snow on the state of the Islanders approaching the quarter pole of the NHL season. Please check it out because the GM covers a lot of ground.
Comments (10)
SIR WILLIAM asked about anyone playing Defense in the previous post.
I recently switched from forward to Defense because I'm 42 playing in a league with a bunch of 22 year olds who are pissed they didn't make the bigs! My mind is still fast enough, but my body is not so fast anymore...
Anyway, I think Campoli is a keeper. His style reminds me of Sillinger and I think he'll be in the league for a long time. As far as Gervais, I barely notice him. Maybe he doesn't jump up in the play as much or something. On the specific play of passing behind the net, I think it must be an adventure on the poor ice. So I don't blame them for looking paranoid.
Generally a good Defenseman can be spotted on the break-out. The Defense position is like a Football quaterback when you are breaking out of your own end. If there are no blockers (positional interferance) and/or nobody is open for a pass, you have to scramble. As soon as the other team can get the Defense to turn back to their own goalie, the Defense are vulnerable. Good defenseman, like Streit, know how to escape pressure and never look panicked.
Coach Gordon's whole game is based on pressuring and wearing down the Defense of the other team. Same idea as Football. When it works, it is the Islanders that should be able to take over the game in the 3rd, not the other way around.
Kevin T.
we are a putrid bunch
SW will not be pleased the Islanders will have a physical line up for the weekend. Sorry Willy, maybe you can go to your boyfriends house for din din those nights.
For those about to rock....
Not mad they brought up Fritz with understanding they have some physical games ahead but lets be serious. Last games Fritz was up the team got gassed at the end of the 2nd period. Will we see a repeat this weekend with playing three games in four days???
Anybody going to the game tomorrow?
Without much time to post I must say my thought process was why bring up Comeau for three games and send him back down right after that. That would shatter his confidence. If Okposo was expected to miss an extended length of time it would make more sense to call him up. But for three games and then send him back down would do NO good. The Fritz call up makes a bit more sense due to the fact he has played here before and is familiar with the team. However I agree with another post that 3 games in 4 nights may wear down the team if Fritz only plays a couple of minutes.
KEVIN T.........I'm not passing judgement on Campoli or Gervias. Both appear to me to be ligit NHL D men. But I do notice how both of them are lax on the pass up the boards or when pressued how they don't throw the puck as hard around as the other D men do.
Watch the next three games with particular attention to Campoli when he is just slapping the puck away from an oncomming forward behind the net. I think you will pick up on what I am talking about.......Sir William
It's funny that Steady loves to rip everyone with an anonymous post. You're not fooling anyone Steady, you gutless puke. We know the above Anonymous post was you.
One day I will find the one called "Steady", and when I do, I will crush the back of her skull with a brick!
Lights Out, Wee One.
Gutless puke... i havent heard anyone called that since milbury called out travis green