Remember all that talk about Rick DiPietro’s health?
With performances by the Islanders like last night, it doesn’t matter who’s between the pipes.
After a 5-3 loss to the Stars, the Isles have been outclassed in two of their three games at the Nassau Coliseum and DiPietro had little to no chance on virtually all of Dallas’ goals.
The more pressing problem for the Isles is on defense, where the Isles struggled last night, allowing too many easy opportunities – especially when they are down a man.
“We’re asking a lot of our penalty killers every night,” Bill Guerin said. “It’s not easy to do. It’s a problem we’re going to have to address.”
Despite the outcome, which was more lopsided than the final score would indicate – thanks in part to a goal with two seconds left by Jon Sim – coach Scott Gordon said he saw progress.
“We did a better job with the forecheck,” he said. “We looked a lot more comfortable, with less thinking about it and more reacting.”
That didn’t do the Isles much good, particularly after Brendan Witt joined the growing list of defensemen who are battling injuries. Witt left the game after a knee-on-knee collision in the first period Krystofer Barch. He didn’t return.
“It’s a tough situation,” Freddy Meyer said of the defense’s injury woes. Chris Campoli played his first game of the season last night after recovering from a preseason shoulder injury. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck on the back end. We have to go through this almost every game.”
They had to go through plenty last night against a team that looked significantly better than them coming off of a 5-0 pasting against the Devils. The Stars opened a 3-0 lead in the first period and then the Isles failed to convert a 5-on-3, even though they hit the post on one shot and the goal line on two others.
Even so, they had no answer for Mike Ribiero, who notched five points with one goal and four assists in what frequently looked like a Dallas clinic, leaving DiPietro in a lurch.
“I’d have to be picking to say that was really his fault,” Gordon said the goals. “I don’t think that’s justifiable.”
The Isles briefly got back in the game, closing the deficit to 3-1 midway through the second period when Guerin scored his second of the year, but Dallas answered with two more later in the period.
Stars: 5
Islanders: 3