March 2013
The coach's decision to break up the Grabner - Couture - Strome line backfired drastically! The first three games of the month saw that new 2nd line (Couture - Nielsen - Strome) combine to finish at -8, -7 and then they went -9 in a brutal 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Injuries to Erik Johnson, Josh Bailey and Matt Martin forced the coaching staff to tweak the lineup. Logan Couture was re-united with Michael Grabner and Ryan Strome, and Anders Nilsson would replace Braden Holtby as the #1 goalie.
With the lineup re-shuffled, the Islanders would end the month with 8 wins in 9 games. Gaborik (with 11g and 3a) fit in well with Tavares and Okposo. Couture, Strome and Grabner didn't produce at the same pace as they did in January but they continued to work hard and play well - most importantly, they played a much better game in the defensive zone. The third line of Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey and Frans Nielsen started scoring with more consistency as well - until Bailey was sidelined with a triceps injury. Rookie Kirill Kabanov was recalled and placed on the third line. He's gone pointless in his first four games, while being a -4.
With 7 games remaining, the Islanders find themselves in 6th position in the Eastern Conference - 3 points ahead of 9th place and 4 points out of 2nd place.
