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Breaking News (4/27): Captain Michael Peca will miss the rest of the playoffs and the beginning of the 2002-03 season after tearing an ACL ligament in his left knee thanks to a dirty hit by Leafs Forward Darcy Tucker. Isles defenseman Kenny Jonsson will also miss the rest of the playoffs with a concussion that he sustained after being viciously checked from behind into the glass by Gary Roberts. If the NHL doesn't do something about this, the Isles have to take it into their own hands. April 26th: The Islanders were wronged tonight. They were wronged by the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were wronged by the officials. And if something is not done by the NHL they will be wronged once again. Toronto has been enforcing goon tactics all throughout this series. They instigated post game scrums in both games at the Coliseum. Game 5 started off in an unbelievable fashion. The Islanders had an opportunity to ride the momentum even more when once again Toronto coach Pat Quinn made yet another major coaching error. On the Leafs pregame submitted roster they had Mikael Renberg listed as #21, a scratch. When the officials realized this they informed Quinn that Robert Reichel could not participate in the game because #21 was listed as a scratch. An unbelievable odd moment especially after Quinn's error of not having a replacement on hand to take Sundin's place in Game 4. Toronto seemed at the point of turmoil when you could easily see the faces of the players on their bench. Reichel looked sick when he was told he had to leave the game. Alexander Mogilny laughed in disbelief at his coach as the Leafs were down to 19 skaters once again. Mogilny also supposedly cursed Quinn out during Game 4 for that games error. The Islanders had a wonderful opportunity to grab the lead and bury the Leafs. They even had an early powerplay advantage that they could not capitalize on. But at 6:29 of the first period the Islanders lost that advantage they got when they allowed a goal to Garry Valk. Three minutes later Toronto took a 2-0 lead on another pretty weak goal by Jonas Hoglund. At 13:16 of the first period a melee broke out in front of Curtis Joseph. That was when Shayne Corson sucker punched Alexei Yashin smack in the face. Not one referee saw it. Joseph left his crease and was in the corner of the rink, yet....no call. The penalties were evened out. Then at 17:32 Gary Roberts, who has suffered a major neck injury in his career, charged Kenny Jonsson from the Islanders blueline. As he slammed into Jonsson from behind Roberts pushed forward with such force, driving Kenny's face into the glass and rim of the boards. Kenny laid on the ice out cold for about 5 minutes. Dr. Elliot Pellman had to come out on the ice to assess the situation. Luckily Jonsson was able to get off the ice with some help. But with his history you just knew concussion. And that's exactly what was diagnosed and reported later on in the game. What was unbelievable was that Paul Devorski and his fellow referee took this entire time to decide that Roberts would only get a 5 minute charging major. And what was even worse, they did NOT give him a game misconduct. Roberts should have NEVER been allowed to come back in this game. Coach Laviolette went nuts. Especially after the referee reportedly told him that they did not give Roberts a game misconduct because Jonsson had no signs of head injury. WHAT GAME WERE THEY WATCHING??? On the first half of the major penalty the Islanders managed to cut the deficit in half when Kip Miller banked in a shot off Aki Berg's skate. - In the postgame interviews Wednesday night Michael Peca commented on Toronto's bully tactics and stated they may continue to play the same way knowing that it could be Curtis Joseph's last game in Toronto. Well, it's reporters jobs to make things of these statements and some Leaf players took offense to that, especially Darcy Tucker. Tucker said "Michael Peca is a great player, just ask him." So it is obvious that Tucker dislikes Peca. Which leads to the second incident Friday night. Peca had the puck in the corner of the Isles defensive zone. He lobbed the puck up into the air and into the neutral zone. Peca was watching the puck but it seemed as though he knew Tucker was coming at him. Now hipchecks are allowed in the NHL. All Islander fans have to do is think of Darius Kasparaitis. And the NHL usually allows about a 3 second window after a player loses possession of the puck for him to be hit. But Tucker knew well beforehand that Peca no longer had possession. He could have just rubbed Peca out and finished his play into the boards. But instead he submarined Peca, hitting him down low. Totally uncalled for. He smirked as he skated away and was proud of himself on the Leafs bench. This was a total premeditated cheapshot that in my mind rivals that of Tie Domi's hit on Scott Niedermayer in last seasons playoffs. Peca was helped off the ice and could not put any pressure on his leg. It was announced later that he had a sprained knee. Toronto would go up 3-1 on a powerplay goal by Bryan McCabe seven minutes into the second, and he then would put them up 4-1 seven minutes later. At 16:39 the Islanders would get a big goal by Trent Hunter, who scored his first career goal playing in his second NHL game in place of Brad Isbister who could not go for the second straight game. But the momentum was killed once again when 39 seconds later Tucker would score on a rebound off Garth Snow, who replaced Osgood, to make it 5-2 Leafs. - The Islanders came out in the third period feeling that they still had a chance. But they were never really able to get things going. The Leafs would score another powerplay goal midway through thanks to the fact that Peca was out of the game and Oleg Kvasha was taking his place on the penalty kill. With less than seven minutes remaining Adrian Aucoin scored the Islanders third goal of the game on the powerplay, but it was too late. - If everything goes right, the NHL should suspend both Roberts and Tucker for the rest of the series. And Bryan McCabe should at least get a game suspension for spearing Eric Cairns twice late in the game. The Islanders were down so they were even more frustrated that they could not get any kind of payback or retaliation. Why though do I feel like the NHL will not dole out justice here? - Preview(April 28th Game 6): Every player on the Islanders now have to dig down deep. Their backs are against the wall. The Islanders have played well in their history and this season when their backs are against the wall. But with the possibility that they will be without Kenny Jonsson on defense and their captain Michael Peca, the Islanders have to band together and give everything they got. Mariusz Czerkawski has been a non factor in this series as has, to a lesser extent, Oleg Kvasha. The Islanders have to win to force game 7. That's all that matters. The fans will be going crazy rooting the Isles on. The building will be rocking. The Islanders need Chris Osgood to play the best he has all season, because he has not been good for the last two games. Scratches: Jim Cummins, Mats Lindgren, Evgeny Korolev Playoff Injury Update Isles vs. Leafs II: The Bridgeport Sound Tigers took a 2-0 series lead over St. John's last night after Raffi Torres scored in OT to win it 2-1. Juraj Kolnik scored his second goal in as many nights and fourth of the playoffs. Game three will be Monday night in St. John's.
New York Islanders: 42-28-8-4,
96 points, 5th seed in Eastern Conference Season Series: Islanders won the season series going 3-0-0-1 Schedule:
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News: April 29, 2002 |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
