Brooklyn - The New York Islanders and their fans made themselves at home Saturday night. Their new home. Well, almost. Nine days after they opened training camp by skating on the Barclays Center ice for the first time, the Islanders were back in the $1 billion arena, which they will call home two years from now. Their four Stanley Cup banners were hanging from the rafters, albeit temporarily. Their organ was here. Roger Luce, their public address announcer, was here. Their owner, Charles Wang, was here and dropped the ceremonial puck alongside Bruce Ratner, the visionary behind Barclays Center and the man responsible for bringing major-league sports back to Brooklyn (the NBA's Nets moved in one year ago). A crowd of 14,689 witnessed the first NHL game to be held in this borough and created a boisterous atmosphere. This wasn't your average preseason game. For Islanders fans, it was a chance to test out their new digs, if only for one night. Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the only place the Islanders have called home since the franchise's inception in 1972, will continue to host the team until the conclusion of the 2014-15 season. Unfortunately for those fans, they were forced to get back on the Long Island Rail Road and head east with a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Some stellar play from Devils goaltender Cory Schneider (26 saves) and some sloppy play from the "home" team, particular on the power play (New York went 0-for-5) was too much to overcome. The answer to the trivia question "Who was the first Islanders player to score at Barclays Center?" will have to wait a bit longer. Instead, it was New Jersey forward Jacob Josefson who scored the first goal in this building. Josefson was able to poke a loose puck past Evgeni Nabokov 10:14 into the game after the Islanders goaltender was unable to control Anton Volchenkov's shot from the point. Patrik Elias doubled New Jersey's lead at 4:49 of the second period. After a pretty feed from Josefson, Elias rocketed a wrist shot from the left circle past Nabokov to make it 2-0. Steve Bernier completed the scoring with a power-play goal 2:31 into the third period. What transpired Saturday was obviously just the beginning of Islanders hockey in Brooklyn. In some ways, though, it was the culmination of the trials and tribulations Wang experienced over the past decade. After years of trying to secure a new Coliseum in Nassau County and being unable to, Wang accepted Ratner's invitation to bring the team 25 miles west to Brooklyn. The New York Islanders will remain exactly that. If Saturday was any indication, Islanders fans from New York City and Long Island will trek to Brooklyn two years from now, when the team becomes a full-time tenant. The roar the Islanders received when they took the ice was proof of that. For now, Brooklyn will go back into waiting mode. The Islanders will play the next two seasons at the Coliseum, a building out-of-date by today's standards but one loaded the history. The Islanders, who won an NHL record 19 consecutive playoff series between 1980 and 1984, clinched three of their four straight Stanley Cup championships on Coliseum ice. With two years to go in Uniondale, they'd like to give it a going-away present. Led by Tavares, the Islanders boast a talented, young core that is primed to build off what they accomplished last season, when they ended a six-year playoff drought and gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a run for their money before falling in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in six games. New York is looking to build off that this season and beyond, perhaps adding a key free agent or two in the next two summers before moving to an arena that has every amenity one can imagine. Judging by the atmosphere Saturday night, Brooklyn is excited they're coming.
Shero said Vokoun is resting comfortably. The GM
also said he expects Fleury to face more pressure with Vokoun out.
"The most important thing right now is Tomas' health and
well-being. The clot was dissolved by the procedure, and the doctors
tell us that he will remain in the hospital for several days. We will
continue to monitor his progress after that. Tomas was undergoing the
procedure during the game. [Fleury's play] has been OK. It's been a
work in progress. If Tomas is out for a little while, it's going to
be a situation where Marc's going to have to step up."
Toronto - Defenseman Cody Franson remains without a contract from the Maple Leafs and said Friday he might have to consider playing in Europe. Franson, a restricted free agent, said he could return to Sweden, where he played 26 games for Brynas prior to the 2012-13 NHL season. The report said the Maple Leafs are offering a two-year contract worth about $5 million, but Franson, 26, is seeking a one-year deal so he can pursue a bigger raise next season when the NHL salary cap is expected to increase. General manager Dave Nonis told the network there is nothing new in the talks, and Randy Carlyle is coaching preseason games without Franson, who tied for sixth among NHL defensemen in scoring last season (29 points). Forward Nazem Kadri also was a restricted free agent before signing a two-year contract reportedly worth $5.8 million on the eve of training camp.
"I honestly didn't believe it would come
to this. It's definitely something I might have to consider,"
Franson said after another skate with the Ryerson Rams. "Hopefully
it doesn't come to that, but I was in Sweden last year, and it's not
like I haven't been over there before. If it comes down to that,
unfortunately, hopefully not, it's an option."
"As a coach, we're just prepared to go
with the players we have," Carlyle said. "I have no
control over his decisions and where he's at, his contract.
Obviously, we'd like the player here, but contractually he hasn't got
an agreement in place, so as a coach, he doesn't even become part of
your thought process. It's a cruel thing to say, but you move on
without people."
"I know he's a little frustrated; so is
everybody because we just want him to be here," Kadri said.
"We know we're a better team with him on it."
NHL teams will sometimes end a practice with every
player taking their turn as part of two teams in a shootout against
the two goaltenders. The Toronto
Maple Leafs and Buffalo
Sabres nearly needed every available player in a shootout during
a preseason contest Saturday night. James
Reimer and Jhonas
Enroth staged a goaltending duel, stopping the first 29 attempts
in the shootout before Jay
McClement scored in the 15th round for Toronto to give the Maple
Leafs a 3-2 victory. Reimer was 0-5 in shootouts during the 2012-13
season, but downplayed the significance of this particular
performance. Needing 15 rounds to decide a winner is a rare enough
occurrence, but this shootout also featured a unique maneuver by
Toronto defenseman Paul
Ranger. As Ranger approached the slot, he took one hand off his
stick and kicked the stick, propelling the puck forward. Ranger told
reporters he wasn't trying to show up Enroth, but the goaltender took
exception to the move. He let Ranger know of his displeasure by
hitting the Leafs defensemen in the back of the legs with his stick
after stopping the shot with his shoulder.
"You can't put too much emphasis on it,"
Reimer, who also made 38 saves to help his team reach the shootout,
said to the Toronto Star. "It's good to take and a huge
positive, but don't read too much into it."
"I skate in hard and post up and literally
just step into it," Ranger told The Star. "It's a
kick shot. I don't know how else to describe it. I learned it when I
was 10, 11 years old. I've been practicing it ever since."
"I didn't really like it," Enroth
told The Star. "I felt like he was trying to embarrass me
there. But it's good to see the guys trying to be creative, too. When
I think about it now, it's fine."
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