Islanders Lose to Nashville, Losing Streak at 2

October 12, 2103

On a night where the Islanders were out played and out skated most of the night, they only lost 3-2 and at one point in the second, even led the game 2-1. Tonights loss is solely on the hand of goal-tender Evgeni Nabokov, where all the goals against him were shots that should have been stopped. The goal scorers for the Islanders tonight were John Tavares and Frans Nielsen. Kyle Okposo picked up assists on both goals.

The Important Things:

After a lack-luster first period, and going down by 1, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano made a bold change to his line-up. He swapped his top two centers Tavares and Nielsen and it had immediate impact. After the switch the two lines seemed energized and were skating hard, which led to the two quick goals. It will be interesting to see if Coach Capuano will stick to these changes going into the their next game on Tuesday. This is one of the few times Tavares and Moulson have been split up since both joined the team 5 seasons ago.

W2W4: Pittsburgh Steelers vs New York Jets

behindthesteelcurtain

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

October 13^th, 2013

W2W4: Pittsburgh Steelers vs New York Jets

The New York Jets will be back home on Sunday afternoon after a great win on Monday Night Football against the Atlanta Falcons to host the (0-4) Pittsburgh Steelers, who are coming off a bye week from their loss in London England against the Minnesota Vikings.

- Barnes to IR

In the win against the Falcons the Jets did suffer a pretty big loss in the fourth quarter, as Linebacker Antwan Barnes had his knee buckle while rushing Matt Ryan, and will be out for the rest of the season. Barnes has played in 41% of the Jets snaps this year, as they have been using him as a pass rush specialist, and he was producing quite well in the role, with two sacks, and a team-leading 12 hits on the Quarterback. To replace Barnes the Jets resigned Linebacker Ricky Sapp, who was waived by the team on Saturday.

Teape and Ziggy Pick'em Week 5 Recap and Week 6 Preview

Everyone's favorite radio hosts Kenny (@teapester725) and Nick (@ziggy26x) were again unable to get a show time for this week but that does not mean the picks have to stop rolling. Last week on the "Pick 6" segment we saw a first for the season as both co-hosts hit their underdog picks, the Raiders for Kenny and Colts for Nick. They were not as successful in their regular picks as both participants went under .500 in the first five random picks. With no radio show being recorded again this week the results from Week 5 and picks for Week 6 will both be present in this post. Follow the jump to see the picks for this upcoming week. There has been a new wrinkle added as well for the sixth game. If you do not choose an underdog and instead choose a favorite, the favorite picked needs to win or else the person losses a point off their total for the week. This will make the already touch underdog decision even tougher as there is more incentive to get perceived easier picks.

Islanders Drop Close Game to Blackhawks

October 11, 2103

Even though it is early in the season, many were viewing this game as a barometer as to how good the Islanders are. They played the Blackhawks very close all game but fell just short losing 3-2 and are now 2-1-1 on the season. Both Islanders goals came in the final minute of the first period, the first by Josh Bailey, the second by Kyle Okposo.

The Important Things:

Backup goaltender Kevin Poulin got his first start the season, and actually played pretty well. He seemed to be a little nervous in the first period, which is where 2 of the goals against him were scored. He settled down and made 3 very nice saves in the final period. He wound up stopping 25 of 28 shots against him.

Cal Clutterbuck made his season debut tonight as the rookie Brock Nelson was a healthy scratch. Clutterbuck was the only Islander not to see double digit minutes tonight. His minutes should go up as the season goes along. It will be interesting to see if Nelson will be in the line-up tomorrow night.

The first and second lines were once again buzzing creating the majority of the scoring chances tonight. John Tavares and Michael Grabner picked up assists tonight. After only 5 assists in 45 games last year, Grabner now has 5 in the first 4 games for the Islanders.

New York Jets Team Grades Week 5

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

October 7^th, 2013

Week 5 New York Jets vs Atlanta Falcons Team Grades

The New York Jets headed into Atlanta to play the Falcons as 10 point underdogs, but surprised the country on Monday Night Football with a season changing 30-28 win. The victory improves the Jets to (3-2) on the season.

Passing Offense Grade (A)

Rookie Geno Smith was able to bounce back from a bad game in Tennessee with a great game in Atlanta, as he was able to protect the ball and make some big plays for the Jets passing offense. Smith was in a bit of a game manager mode in the win, but really excelled when throwing the ball. Smith threw for 199 yards on 16 for 20 passing, with three touchdowns. Without Santonio Holmes, Smith was able to utilize his Tight Ends very well especially in the red zone, as Jeff Cumberland, and Kellen Winslow each had a receiving touchdown. Jeremy Kerley had a big game in the absence of Holmes, as he caught a team-high five passes for 68 yards, and a touchdown.

What Can Amar'e Stoudemire Give Knicks This Season?

USA Today Sports

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

*This is part of an article compilation being featured on Knickswag.com about Amar'e Stoudemire can give the Knicks this upcoming season; this section is the part that Kenneth contributed. Follow the link and check out the rest of the article and contributors takes on what Stoudemire can provide the Knicks with for the 2013-2014 season. A link to the whole article will be featured once the whole article is up and ready.

Another Knicks season is upon us and there is some new optimism surrounding the team. Sadly, there are some repeat events to start the season, namely Amar’e Stoudemire being injured once again. Stoudemire had a surgery on his knee in July to clean things up but is still not even running or doing basketball activities even though training camp has started this week.  For Knicks fans this has become too commonplace as Stoudemire has missed more and more time with each passing season he wore a Knicks uniform. So the question remains, what will Stoudemire bring the Knicks this season?

Islanders Rout Coyotes 6-1

October 8, 2103

The New York Islanders completely decimated the Phoenix Coyotes tonight by a score of 6-1. The Islanders improved their record to 2-0-1 and now have picked up 5 of 6 possible points to start the season. The scoring was led by Captain John Tavares who scored two goals and was searching for the third goal late into the final period. The only Phoenix goal came seconds after the Islanders scored their third. The whole second line of Grabner, Bailey and Nielsen each had three points a piece with Bailey having the only goal. Nabokov was excellent, stopping 33 of 34 shots. Peter Regin, Matt Donovan and Colin McDonald also added goals.

The Important Things:

John Tavares notched his first two goals of the season so Islanders fans can stop panicking over when Tavares will finally score. The second line was tremendous tonight and Frans Nielsen was star making three excellent passes that led to the goals. Peter Regin scored his first goal of the season as well, making the choice of who should be benched for when Cal Clutterbuck returns, which may be soon than people think.