Kings beat the Isles in the shootout

If you didn't know the youth movement was going on, you sure as heck did last night when Scott Gordon sent Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey out for the shootout.

Bummer neither scored, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. These kids simply play their hearts out.

We've been saying it for a long time around these parts that the Isles may lose a lot of games but that the effort is always there. That's a testament to the coaching staff and the veteran leadership on the team. Billy Guerin may never get as much credit as he deserves for the job he has done as the captain of the Islanders this year. It's hard to throw a lot of positive superlatives around when the team is playing for a pick and not for The Cup, but Guerin, Weight, Park, and Witt (amongst others) have been good keeping the spirits up around the room and passing down what they've learned to the Islanders future core.

The vets could be bitching and complaining about the kids and their lack of experience but outwardly, you see no signs of that. I don't know about you, but as a guy who loves this team, it is refreshing to see the older guys who man up and take on the responsibility to mentor the players who are ultimately going to move the game forward.

Yann Danis had another strong game in net in his attempt to prove he is an NHL goaltender. After watching him this season, I wonder if he is the kind of player who is sort of the heavily-padded version of Jeff Tambellini --someone who is really good at the American League level and at the lower-end of the NHL level as far as ability goes. If only there was a league in between the AHL and the NHL, then both guys would be stars.

Case in point: the first Kings goal last night. The sweeping shot by LA's Wayne Simmonds is just a save an NHL goalie has to make. But, the minor league guys are all battlers; as Don Cherry will tell you, and Danis kept the team in the game with a few nice saves in the second and third periods as the team raised their collective intensity.

After the quick score by Simmonds, the Isles tied the game on a goal from Doug Weight. Billy Guerin found himself all alone in front of Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick and made a cheeky back pass to a streaking Weight for the tying goal at 4:53.

Hard-charging Tim Jackman put the Isles ahead 2-1 in the second but the Kings Anze Kopitar counterpunched to tie it back up just over a minute later at 5:27.

The Isles regained the lead later in the period off the stick of Andy Hilbert. Alexander Frolov tied it for the Kings at 6:42 on a rebound as the Kings upped the pressure on the Islanders.

The boys are back at it tonight at The Rock against the Devils.