Al Montoya

Montoya Minutes: Al Needs To Play

November 10, 2011

Al Montoya was the surprise starter for the Islanders home opening loss to the Florida Panthers back on October 8th when both Rick DiPietro and Evgeni Nabokov were healthy and capable of starting the game. DiPietro, who had been battling injuries for what had seemed like forever, probably expected to dress for the season opener preparing to embark on another attempt to return to glory. But that wasn't the case.

Head coach Jack Capuano chose to go with El Cubano, a goaltender that the Islanders acquired in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes after injuries seem to strike every single net-minder in the 2011 season. Montoya seemingly won the starting position between himself and Kevin...

Islanders Look to Ground the Jets

November 3, 2011

Brian Bock

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The bad news: The Islanders head into Thursday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets having lost 5 straight games. The good news: The Islanders recorded a point in each of their last two games, falling in a shootout to the Penguins, and in overtime (amid a controversial call) to the Sharks on Saturday.

Head Coach Jack Capuano has had since Saturday night’s game to focus on getting his team back to playing 60 minutes of winning hockey. The Islanders controlled much of the play in their past two games, but fell to a red-hot Marc Andre Fleury and were victims of a referee’s error which resulted in the Sharks’ game-winning goal in overtime.&nbs...

Islanders vs (Some of the) Penguins

October 25, 2011

Brian Bock

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Preview: The New York Islanders are returning home after a Florida road trip where the team experienced more sun than fun. It was a trip which saw two games, two losses, and a continued futility to achieve secondary scoring. Not the recipe for success this season drawn up by coach Jack Capuano and GM Garth Snow, and not what the team envisioned after jetting off to a 3 – 1 start.

The Pittsburgh Penguins head into Long Island for the first half of a home-and-home series against the Islanders playing some of the best hockey in the league. Despite missing all-world talents in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins just keep winning. ...

Are The Isles Better Than .500?

October 23, 2011

Rob McGowan

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Once again the New York Islanders fell to the Florida Panthers last night in a 4-2 loss to end their Florida road trip. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines were held scoreless as John Tavares and Mark Streit did all they could with the support of strong goaltending coming from Evgeni Nabokov in net. For a full recap, read Evan Pivnick's post-game report here at TCL.

The Isles currently sit with a 3-3-0 record, placing them at 10th place in the East and fourth in their division. The New Jersey Devils sit in third with seven points, trailing the second placed Philadelphia Flyers with nine points. The Pittsburgh Penguins sit in first with 14 and the Rangers sit in fifth with six. All indica...

Get Rid of the Game Tapes: Islanders Lose 4-2 to Panthers

October 23, 2011

Evan Pivnick

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The Islanders lost another tough one on Saturday night, falling 4-2 to the Florida Panthers.

Prior to the game, Coach Jack Capuano named Evgeni Nabokov the starter, giving Al Montoya a day off before the Islanders return home on Tuesday. It was his second start of the season, the first coming against the Rangers a week ago.

Once again the Islanders' scoring was divided pretty evenly between Mark Streit and John Tavares, throwing a Parenteau assist in the mix. In order for this team to be able to be a playoff contender this season, more than just Streit and Tavares have to be relied on to win games.

For the Panthers, it seemed as if they just had the Islanders n...

Isles Can't Strike Lightning Twice

October 21, 2011

Brian Bock

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In their first road game of the season, the New York Islanders dropped a 4-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders fall to 3-2 on the season.

Much speculation was made leading up to the game as the team announced Rick DiPietro would be making the road trip to Florida with the team. Evgeni Nabokov was coming off an excellent game against the rival Rangers, and Al Montoya sported one of the top GAA’s and Save Percentages in the NHL.

Coach Jack Capuano gave Montoya the nod, and Montoya looked sharp at times when he was tested. While Montoya did not play poorly in this game, perhaps only the fourth and final goal would be one that he woul...

IT'S GAMEDAY! Islanders @ Tampa: Isles Look to Grab 4th Straight Win

October 20, 2011

Evan Pivnick

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The Islanders travel to Tampa to take on the Lightning tonight after a stretch of five days without a game. In their last bout, the Isles defeated the Bolts by the score of 5-1. A game which triggered John Tavares’ recent scoring outburst, putting up two goals and two assists in that victory.

Coach Jack Capuano announced yesterday that he would be bringing all three goaltenders on the road trip. Considering Rick DiPietro is recovering from a concussion, this is a good sign that he will be returning soon. As for the other two goaltenders, Coach Capuano has yet to announce who will be in goal tonight.

He could start Al Montoya and his glistening goals against average of 1....

Thank You, Rick DiPietro

October 18, 2011

Brian Bock

3 Comments

A letter of thanks to our "Goalie for Life"

Dear Rick DiPietro,

It has been an emotional rollercoaster since that fateful day in June, 2000 when we made you our first overall draft pick.

Our relationship has gone through phases: anxious excitement to see you establish yourself as our number one goalie, the satisfaction of seeing you rise to being an All Star (and telling Rangers fans how much better you were than Henrik Lundqvist), the despair of watching you be injured, the frustration of watching you have setback after setback on your way back to the net, to where we are today.

Today Rick, we write you to tell you that we are si...

Can the Islanders Catch the Lightning in a Bottle?

October 13, 2011

Brian Bock

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Preview: Islanders (1-1-0, 2 pts, 4th in Atlantic, 11th in East)

The Islanders are coming off of a pair of games in which they have failed to put together 60 good minutes of hockey. A disappointing performance against the Panthers on Saturday was followed up by one good period and two "hang on for dear life" periods in Monday's matinee against the Wild. As discussed in Rob McGowan's post here at The Checking Line on Tuesday, New York's young forward unit is having difficulty getting pucks to the net. Rob also keys in on the Isles' difficulty staying out of the box through 120 minutes of competition. Against the highly skilled a...

Isles Fall In Home Opener Vs. Panthers

October 9, 2011

Rob McGowan

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"When you have, whatever we had, 8 shots going into the third, 9 shots, something like that, we obviously didn't create enough offense," said Kyle Okposo after the game.

And that was basically the story in the Islanders 2-0 home opening loss to the Florida Panthers. A sold out crowd of 16,234 fans left in mystery of what the new goal song would be for the year as the Isles failed to generate enough offense to get them on the board. The Islanders were out shot 10-5 after the first period and only had 8 shots through the first 30 minutes of the game.

Al Montoya got the nod in goal over Rick DiPietro and Evgeni Nabokov, a somewhat surprising choice but one that was ...