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ISLES INFO |
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IslesInfo Comments: The Islanders once again struck first just 4:05 into the first period thanks to aggressive forechecking, especially by the thriving line centered by Dave Scatchard. Jason Blake played the puck out of the corner and into the slot area where Scatchard and Jason Wiemer were looking to pounce. This may have confused Bruin goaltender Steve Shield as Wiemer grabbed the puck before it could reach Scatch. Wiemer had to extend his stick and chipped the puck over the arm of Shields for his second goal in as many games. For Wiemer it was his 9th goal of the season to put the Isles up 1-0. Roman Hamrlik was called for tripping at 6:33 which set up a wild offensive period from that point on as both teams traded goals back and forth. The Islanders were leading in shots 6-1 when Adrian Aucoin tried to play the puck into the Bruins end. He didn't get it all the way down and Boston countered back on the attack. Glen Murray skated the puck across the blue line for the B's and ripped a wrist shot with Garth Snow possibly screened on the play. The puck got by Snow for Murray's 30th of the season and tied the game 1-1 at 8:13 of the first. Prior to that on the powerplay, Boston had put 8 shots on Snow with the Isles goaltender making 5 point blank stops in one sequence. Just 1:48 later, Boston would take a 2-1 lead on sloppy defensive play by the Isles. The Bruins put pressure on and got a shot down low in on Snow that left a rebound. Brian Rolston tried to bang it in with Snow getting a glove on it. But Rolston would eventually chip in his rebound as the Isles defense failed to clear the crease. Rolston's goal, his 22nd, came at 10:01 of the first. At that point Boston had come back to gain an 11-6 advantage in shots. But the Islanders did not lose their early jump and bounced right back. Mark Parrish put pressure on Shields as he tried to dump the puck around the boards from behind the net. Parrish managed to block the shot and it bounced right on the stick of Shawn Bates. Bates then made a beautiful backhand pass into the slot. With the puck bouncing, Michael Peca just slapped at it and the puck found wood. It lobbed straight over a diving Shields and Peca had tied the game 2-2 with his 12th goal of the season at 13:24. The Islanders would go up on their first powerplay opportunity of the first period with former Islander Marty McInnis in the box. While on the extra man Nick Boynton tried to slew foot Peca and a delayed call for tripping was in effect. Both Parrish and Bates worked the puck down low to Peca near the bottom of the right circle. The Islanders, close to going up on a 5 on 3, saw Peca backhand a wicked shot at such an angle that found it's way by Shields and into the top left hand corner of the net. Peca notched his second of the game and 13th of the season to put the Islanders up once again 3-2 at 15:36. That goal negated the McInnis penalty, but the Islanders would stay on the powerplay as Boynton still had to serve his penalty. That pretty much ended the first period, with the Isles killing off one more penalty to Wiemer. Boston held the edge in shots 16-11. - The Isles got into some big time penalty problems early in the second period. Boston would go up on a 5 on 3 advantage when Snow took a roughing penalty and Aucoin went off for interference. At 2:39 Boston worked the puck down low to Joe Thornton. He sent the puck across the crease right on the stick of Jozef Stumpel, who tapped in his 13th goal of the season to tie the game 3-3 at 2:39. Thornton was not credited with an assist on the play, but should have as the goal was marked as unassisted. The game remained tied for the next 10 minutes until about 13:14 when the Islanders got a big boost from a fight between Wiemer and Boston defenseman Sean Brown, who had been taking some liberties with the smaller Islander players. Namely Blake and an incident when he winded Bates by kneeing him into the boards. The fight was pretty much a draw, but Wiemer scored a take down with a hard punch to Brown's head along the boards. Just 18 seconds later, at 13:32, Scatchard attempted to clear the zone and the puck got by Bruin's defenseman Jonathan Girard. Scatchard skated by him and relayed the puck up to Blake who motored in and chased down the puck with a man on his back. Surprisingly, the puck got in real close on Shields, who did not even try to poke check the puck away from the net. Blake reached the top of the crease and roofed the puck into Shields, who along with Girard could not find a handle on the path of the puck as it bounced behind the goaltender and into the net for a 4-3 Islander lead. The goal was Blake's 19th goal of the season. By this time both teams had already hit a post as Aucoin did it on the powerplay in the second and McInnis banged one off the post for Boston on the powerplay in the first. The Isles out shot Boston 12-5 in the second and overall the Isles led 23-21. - After killing off an early penalty to Sven Butenschon in the third period, the Islanders had two more powerplay opportunities of their own to score at least one goal and probably ice the win. But both times the powerplay failed once again. The Isles held onto their lead right down to the wire before allowing a goal to Don Sweeney which was incredibly similar to the Murray goal. Sweeney cut down the middle and used a screen in the high slot to wrist a shot by Snow to tie the game 4-4 with only his 2nd goal of the season with 2:24 remaining. The Islanders got some good hard play in the third from the likes of Alexei Yashin and Brad Isbister, as well as Wiemer. Now the game was headed to OT instead of another notch in the win column for the Isles. Both teams on the season were 4-2-6 in OT this season. To finish off the third period, Boston out shot the Isles 10-7 and overall led 31-30. - The OT session surprisingly went by without a shot on goal by either team. Yashin and Kvasha got a lot of ice time in the 4 on 4 with the open ice. The Isles did have a close call when they had to kill off a final penalty to Kenny Jonsson for tripping with a 1:02 left on the clock. The Isles were strong defensively in the final minute which included a blocked shot in the last seconds by Peca which hobbled him a bit. The tie basically eliminated the 4 point swing aspect of the game. Even though the Isles lost a point and the chance to really spread some distance between them, Tampa Bay and Boston, the point gained is still crucial and put the Isles two points ahead of both teams. The Isles record is now 29-23-7-2, 67 points. Good for 6th in the Eastern Conference.
More stats: The Islanders are 18-7-2-2 in their last 29 games....The Isles are 5-3-2-0 in the month of February, and with 2 games remaining they are at least guaranteed a .500 month....The Isles are 17-13-3-0 overall at Nassau Coliseum....The Isles face Boston one more time this season, March 6th in Boston. Previous results: The Islanders lost in Boston 4-1 back on November 14th 4-1 in Michael Peca's official return. The Islanders defeated the Bruins 8-4 at the Coliseum in their first game of 2003 on January third when they pasted now former Bruin goaltender John Grahame 8-4. Season series: 1-1-1-0....Since Chris Osgood went down January 22nd with an ankle sprain, Garth Snow and Rick DiPietro have combined to allow only 27 goals in 14 games. Averaging less than 2 goals a game against. Garth Snow has allowed only 20 goals in his last 11 starts, a 1.82 GAA....The Isles are 70-51-15-6 under coach Peter Laviolette since he took over in 2001-02....Boston is now 28-24-7-2, 65 points. They are currently tied with Tampa Bay for 7th in the East....The Isles are 5-1-2-0 in their last 8 games....The Islanders are undefeated in their last 5 at 3-0-2-0....The Isles are 11-3-1-0 in their last 15 at home. They've won 5 of their last 7 at home and are undefeated in 4 at 3-0-1-0....The Isles are 10-5-2-0 in their last 17 games....Garth Snow is 7-3-2-0 in his last 12 starts....The Bruins are 11-15-4-1 on the road which includes a current 5 game winless streak. Next Up: The Islanders will travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre for the first time since Game 7 of the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals on April 30th. The Islanders have faced Toronto once this season at the Nassau Coliseum on December 6th. It resulted in a 4-2 Islander victory. This will most likely be an emotional game, but the Islanders need points just like in any other game. So they should be focused. The Islanders face Toronto two more times after Tuesday, one game on each team's home ice. The Isles return home for another two game set at home foloowing the Toronto game against New Jersey and Buffalo. Toronto is currently in 4th place in the East with a record of 35-22-4-1, 75 points. They hold a wins tiebreaker over the Flyers, despite losing their most recent game Sunday to Nashville 5-2 at home. The Standings:
The Islanders entered the game in sole possession of 6th place with 66
points, one point ahead of Tampa Bay and two ahead of their opponent the
Boston Bruins. With the tie, and a surprising 4-1 loss by Tampa Bay at
home to Buffalo, the Islanders moved two points ahead of both Boston and
Tampa Bay. For the teams chasing a playoff spot, 10th place Pittsburgh
lost at home to New Jersey 4-3 and 11th place Rangers lost in Colorado 4-1
following the Avalnache's loss to the Islanders Friday night. Fight Card: Jason Wiemer vs. Sean Brown. This fight took place midway through the second period about 10 minutes after the Bruins had tied it 3-3. Wiemer was looking to provide a spark to his team and was most likely upset with some of the antics of Brown during the early part of the period. Brown had gone after some of the Isles smaller players like Jason Blake and he kneed Shawn Bates in the stomach. Brown gained the early edge in the fight connecting on Wiemer with some early shots. Wiemer fell to the ice but battled his way back up. The two grappled for a few seconds until Wiemer gained the upper hand and landed some heavy shots to Brown's face. The fight ended with Wiemer getting in the last shot as Brown was going down along the boards. Brown had thrown some punches on Wiemer while he was down to begin the fight so Wiemer returned the favor. Brown skated off to the penalty box hunched over and obviously in some pain. The fight worked out well for the Isles as just 12 seconds later Blake skated in on a breakaway and put the Isles up 4-3. Commentary: Well, it was a good point. As long as we get something out of it. But I tell ya i'm pretty upset that the powerplay let us down once again in the third period by failing to score on two occasions that could have iced us the two points. Alexei Yashin has got to start getting it done. The powerplay has GOT to start contributing more. While I say this, i'm not bashing Yashin like so many so called Islander fans out there are. He's been the Isles leading scorer all the way till now and is obviously working his tail off on the fourth line. It bothers me that the fans can loudly cheer his hard work in the OT where he relentlessly fought to keep the puck in the offensive zone, but the turn right around and almost loudly boo the guy when he almost lost the puck at the Isles blue line. Unfortunately it only takes one bad move for the fans to jump down the guys back. True, the Islanders need him to score for them to win. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. And we all know he's not going to spend the rest of the season on the fourth line. It's being done just now to shake him out of a funk and because these current lines are producing results. Good players do not always produce the same numbers every year. If Alexei Yashin is considered a 80 point per year player, he's not going to reach 80 points every year most likely. Unfortunately for Yash his paycheck allows instant scrutiny from fans who expect results every time he takes the ice. I give him credit for keeping a good attitude about, despite unfounded reports that he's unhappy or moping with his head down and what not. Let's wait and see what happenes if the Isles can acquire some first line help. And I don't want to hear anymore of his teammates bad mouthing his effort. I don't particularly like that. They can demand more out of their teammates but don't constantly make that public centered around one guy, who when he is on can carry the team. Back to the Bruin game, just take the point and move on. No harm in the standings done. And one more last note on Ranger fans. Keep thinking your going to make the playoffs. It makes me laugh. Do they think they are gonna win all 3 games against us remaining? I can't wait to read that back page newspaper when the Isles beat them and the heading says: "Isles Win Does in Rangers Playoff Hopes Once Again!" It's inevitable Ranger fans. Once that happens, you can live all summer long on your 5-0 greatest win of the season against the Isles.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Was a -1 with no shots on goal. If anyone should be criticized it's Isbister, not Yashin. What is he bringing to this team? An occasional big assist every other week? He can't play with the puck, doesn't use his skating ability and has a bad attitude. Alexei Yashin: Had 2 shots on goal and was a +1. Any plus for Yashin at this point is much accepted. He played hard for most of the night on the fourth line and the powerplay. Gets booed as soon as he makes any little mistake though. Yashin had a perfect chance to put the Isles up further on the powerplay when he has an open net, but couldn't get the shot off. Clearly would have been a goal for the Isles star last season. Shawn Bates: Assisted on both Peca goals and recorded one shot on goal. The second assist was secondary, but the first one was a beautiful backhand pass from behind the goal line out to the slot where Peca knocked the bouncing puck into the net to tie the game 2-2. Mark Parrish: Also assisted on both Peca goals. So the Lucky 7's line is back in full force. Laviolette termed them his number one line recently. Parrish has to get more shots on net as tonight he only had one. Dave Scatchard: The center for the Isles real top line right now, Scatchard assisted on Wiemer's opening goal and then on Blake's 4-3 go ahead goal. He had 2 shots of his own on net and was a +1 on the night. Jason Wiemer: Scored the opening goal of the game and recorded a team leading 4 shots on goal. Wiemer has hot hands right now and it could be his turn late in the season to put up some big numbers on his hot line. Jason Blake: Notched a goal and an assist. His goal on a breakaway in the second put the Isles up 4-3.he was a team leading +2 and had 3 shots on net. Claude Lapointe: Had 1 shot on goal. Lapointe has been starving for a goal as he has gone 26 games without one. He has 5 for the year. Steve Webb: Sat out as his back spasms were acting up again. No word if it will be a one game thing or if it will be for any length of time. Obviously that would not be good news. The Islanders could use his presence in Toronto. Mattias Weinhandl was called up to take his spot. Arron Asham: Was a -1 with 1 shot. But always plays well positionally and physically. But has to stay consistent offensively. Oleg Kvasha: Was a -1 with no shots on goal. Kvasha has been quiet the last couple of games and needs to achieve that level where he stands out again. He really didn't stand out at all last night except perhaps a couple times in the OT. Michael Peca: Scored 2 goals on 2 shots. He socred the goal in the first period that tied it 2-2 and then he notched a powerplay goal to put the Isles back up 3-2. Peca now has 4 goals in his last 3 games. He scored two in the Isles 3-0 win over San Jose last Wednesday night and was scoreless in the win over Colorado. Mattias Weinhandl: Had one
of those games where at some point you felt he was going to score. His
last goal came back on January third against the Bruins in the Isles 8-4
win. Weinhandl had an excellent chance to score for the Isles once when he
cut in front of the net on the powerplay and tried to backhand the puck
behind Shields. He led the team with 4 shots on goal playing predominantly
on the fourth line with Yashin. Though Yash has struggled, he does seem to
play his best when Weinhandl is on his wing. So it's hard to say it's a
fourth line when those two are out on the ice. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Played over 20 minutes, about 8 minutes less than he did against Colorado, even with an OT session. He was a +1 with 3 shots on goal. Adrian Aucoin: Played over 20 minutes, about 9 minutes less than he did against Colorado. Clearly the Isles spread out the minutes more in this game. Aucoin was a team leading +2 and also led with 4 shots on goal. Eric Cairns: Missed 14th game with dislocated shoulder. Will miss the next 4-6 weeks, as of January 22nd. Kenny Jonsson: Played 20 minutes, about 5 less than he did against Colorado. KJ registered one shot on goal. Radek Martinek: Played close to 9 minutes, about 4 less than he played against Colorado. Mattias Timander: Was a -1 with 9 minutes, just a couple less than against Colorado. Where did all these minutes go? They were listed as official. Timander also has 1 shot on net. Sven
Butenschon: Played about 4 minutes against Boston, which was
1 minutes less than Colorado. How could every Islander d-man play less
minutes than he did against Colorado when they went to OT vs. Boston?
Something fishy about the NHL's official stats? Boots also had 1 shot on
goal. Goal: Garth Snow: Made 27 saves on 31 shots and for the first time in a long stretch allowed more than 2 goals in a game. He's started 9 straight games and is 5-2-2 over that span. In that time he has allowed only 17 goals for a GAA of just under 2.00.
Coaches Both benches called a timeout during the OT session but neither team recorded a shot on net. The Isles once again failed on 2 powerplay opportunities in the third which could have iced the win. Not blaming that on the coaching. That's definitely a personnel thing that the Islanders management needs to fix with some tweaking. Special Teams The Islanders PP, ranked 22nd in the NHL, went 1-6 on the day. Peca scored his second of the day on the extra man with another delayed call to put the Isles up 3-2 in the first period. The PK, ranked 13th, went a very unimpressive 4-6 allowing two goals against. The first was by Murray which tied the game 1-1 in the first. The second came on an early second period 5 on 3 where Stumpel tapped in a cross crease pass to tie the game 3-3.
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS INJURIES: D Eric Cairns (dislocated shoulder, 4 to 6 weeks as of Jan. 22) and G Chris Osgood (ankle sprain, skating). BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
Boston - 2 of 6, Ny Islanders - 1 of 6.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Huge 4 Point Game Vs. B's Feb 23: The Islanders enter today's game against Boston looking to go seven games over .500 for the first time this season. With a win the Isles can move 4 points ahead of the reeling Bruins. Isles vs. Bruins Preview: There is no doubt which team will have momentum on its side when the New York Islanders play host to the fading Boston Bruins in a key Eastern Conference matchup. The Islanders got another stellar performance from goalie Garth Snow and Dave Scatchard had two goals and an assist, as New York stretched its unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1) with a 4-1 victory over the red-hot Colorado Avalanche on Friday. Colorado suffered its first loss in 15 regulation games (11-1-2-1). "I think it worked to our advantage playing one of the hottest teams in the league coming off the road trip,'' coach Peter Laviolette said. "It put a little fear in us.'' Jason Blake added a goal and two assists for New York, in sole possession of sixth place in the conference. The Isles have outscored opponents 13-4 during a three-game win streak at home. Snow has been the biggest reason behind the team's recent success. Since starter Chris Osgood sprained his right ankle on Jan. 21, Snow has filled in by going 7-3-1 while allowing two goals or fewer in nine consecutive games. Osgood is expected back next week, but Snow may have earned the No. 1 job. "Snowie has been unbelievable,'' forward Jason Wiemer said. "He gives us a lift. He gives us momentum.'' Also playing a major role in New York's strong play is the line of Scatchard, Blake and Wiemer. The trio has combined for nine goals and 12 assists over the past six games. What's at Stake?: This is a huge 4 point game as the 6th place Islanders, 66 points, with a victory can move four points ahead of the current 8th place Bruins, 64 points. Tampa Bay, 7th place with 65 points, will host the last place Buffalo Sabres. 10th place Pittsburgh, 59 points, will host New Jersey. The Rangers, 11th with 59 points, will be in Colorado who come off having their 14 game undefeated streak in regulation ended by the Islanders. Tidbits: This is the third meeting between the Islanders and Bruins this season. The season series is tied 1-1-0-0 thus far. The Islanders lost in Boston 4-1 back on November 14th 4-1 in Michael Peca's official return. The Islanders defeated the Bruins 8-4 at the Coliseum in their first game of 2003 on January third when they pasted now former Bruin goaltender John Grahame 8-4....The Islanders have recalled RW Mattias Weinhandl from Bridgeport. No word yet if there's an injury. Weinhandl was sent down to Bridgeport February 14th....Jason Blake is now only two points behind Alexei Yashin for the team scoring lead with 42 points.
Bruins Slip-sliding Away The Bruins having been plummeting down the Eastern Conference standings going winless in regulation over their last six games. Entering their last of a seven game road trip, Boston comes in with a record of 28-24-6-2. Good for 8th with 64 points.
Notes: Two months ago, the Bruins were leading the Eastern Conference with a 19-4-3-1 record and seemed a sure bet to make the playoffs. However, they are 9-20-3-1 since, and has dropped into the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Despite two goals from Joe Thornton, the Bruins' winless streak reached four (0-3-1) with a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Friday. "There were times in the game where I thought we were back on track and playing really well,'' defenseman Bryan Berard said. "But we're at the time of year where we can't afford mistakes. You may call it bad luck, but each mistake seems to end up in our net.'' Goaltender Jeff Hackett has struggled since arriving in Boston. He was 8-7-2 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage with Montreal, but is 4-5 with a 3.20 GAA and .892 percentage in nine games with the Bruins.
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
