Fish Sticks; There are lessons to be learned in loss to Stanley Cup champs

Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders were unsuccessful in defeating Trotz’s former team and Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. The Caps won 4-1, but it was a 2-1 game for most of the second and third period.

The loss to the Capitals serves a couple of valuable lessons for the Islanders. It was a huge learning experience for the young team, and if the Islanders are going to succeed, they need to take these lessons to heart and work off of them.

Need for discipline

The Islanders are one of the most penalized teams in the league. Their biggest issue is getting penalties in dire situations. Some of it is laziness, some of it is bad luck, but all of it needs to change.

The Islanders took two crucial penalties in the third period that cost them Monday’s game. They wound up on a 5 on 3 and although they killed the two man advantage, Tom Wilson was able to ice the game with a PP goal right in the slot.

The awful Power Play

The PP was dreadful on Monday night. They went 0 for 4 and for some reason just refused to shoot the puck. You can’t score without shooting pucks.

The Islanders haven’t scored on the PP in three games and are 0 for 10 in their last ten tries. It’s disheartening to see what was once a great unit barely be able to get the puck in the opposing zone.

The will to win

The biggest lesson the Islanders can learn from the Capitals is the sacrifice it takes to win games like that and win a Stanley Cup.

The Islanders have been good, but they haven’t had many grind it out type of wins. That’s what the Capitals feed on, and what the Islanders should take away from this loss.

The Islanders are still in the playoff hunt, and a loss like this can pay huge dividends in the long run. As Barry Trotz said after he was in the Caps’ locker room receiving his Stanley Cup ring, “you’re going to have to go through the f***ing island”, to get back to the Cup