Oh how we love Ricky D. here in Islanders Country. Despite the fact that he is from Boston, we embrace him like he grew up in Huntington. After his first few starts, DP's won two games and lost three, while giving up 15 goals and a goals against average of 2.62. Not bad for a guy who hasn't played competitive professional hockey in over a year.
Ever since his return to the Islanders, there's been a shift in the way the Islanders play defense. As we all already know, DP is an extraordinary athlete, with great hand eye coordination and a good feel for playing the puck. But how much is too much??
I've noticed that when the opposing offense dumps the puck into the Isles zone, the defense simply interferes with the forwards rushing in for the puck, while DP comes out of the net and tries to make a play. In my mind, DP is over playing the puck, and causing the defense to take a lazy approach to chasing the puck into the corners and battling with the opposing offense.
Something I always like about Rolle, is that he is less active behind the net than DP. In last nights game vs. Carolina, DP nearly gave the puck away right in front of the net, which would have lead to another Hurricane goal. I hope that was a wake up goal to quiet it down back there. I'd like to see the defense get the nitty gritty going in those corners and not rely on DP to handle every puck that's dumped into our zone. Just a quick thought.
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