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IslesInfo Comments: The first quality chances of the game went to the Canadiens. With the Isles putting on pressure in Montreal's zone, the defense became a bit lackadaisical and allowed Doug Gilmour to break in behind them. Gilmour, who scored two goals in his last outing against the Buffalo Sabres, received an outlet pass and skated down on Chris Osgood all alone. Osgood was up to the task in his first saves of the gave as he not only stopped Gilmour's initial shot but thwarted his backhand rebound attempt and another shot from incoming opposing sweaters. Ozzie came up with some more big saves as the Isles struggled on their first powerplay attempt by registering no shots. Before the game it was announced that Brad Isbister would be out after tweaking his ankle in practice. LW Raffi Torres was called up from Bridgeport of the AHL and placed on the 4th line while Claude Lapointe saw time on the first line with Alexei Yashin and Mattias Weinhandl. Torres, Steve Webb and Eric Cairns let themselves be noticed every time they jumped on the ice as they rammed, banged and smashed as many Montreal players as they could into the boards. Sven Butenschon would get called for interference late in the first period at 17:50. Just 20 seconds later the Islanders long penalty killing streak of 36 consecutive kills was over when Donald Audette would send a pass into the high slot to young Mike Ribeiro. He wristed a hard shot up over Osgood to end the Islanders longest consecutive games streak without a powerplay goal allowed since the 1977-78 season when the Islanders went 10 straight games. This one last 9 straight games. Ribeiro's goal was only his 2nd of the season to put Montreal up 1-0. Just before the goal, Saku Koivu got away from the Islanders defense into the slot and slammed a shot of the right goal post. So even though the Isles ended the period with a 10-5 advantage in shots, Montreal clearly was controlling the game. - Early in the second period, on a delayed call to Jason Blake for goaltender interference, Montreal hit yet another post. Osgood came up with some more huge saves to keep the Islanders down by only one. But they were not getting many chances of their own and the period ended with both teams registering 6 shots on goal. Montreal, with just a one goal lead, were already going into a defensive style of game and after two periods Jose Theodore had an 8 period shutout string over the Isles, for 100 minutes. The Isles best chance in the period was a nasty shot by Cairns as he has been jumping up into the play more as of late. Of course Cairns missed the last game with a deep knee bruise but was ok for tonight. The Islanders sent back D Alain Nasreddine, who filled in for Cairns in the last game against Washington, to Bridgeport before the game. Radek Martinek made a nice defensive play as he dove to get his stick on a shot by a Canadien who had a semi-break down the wing. - Early in the third period it was Adrian Aucoin's turn to fire one off the goal post. The Islanders were playing much better in the period overall and it was clear something must have been said between periods. Finally the Isles tied the game up at 9:05 of the third. Michael Peca went to fire the puck into Montreal's zone around the boards, but the puck hit the linesman and back out. Peca grabbed the puck and skated around an unsuspecting Montreal defenseman. As he got down low Peca released a backhanded shot low on Theodore and the puck bounced into the crease. Mark Parrish was right there to smack it the rebound, as all Parrish needs is a little bit of daylight when he's parked in front of the net. This was the event that the Islanders were waiting for all game long to really get them going. Apparently the team discussed taking some points out of the third period at home instead of the recent trend of allowing other teams to skate away with points in the third period on our ice. The goal was Parrish's team leading 12th of the season. The Islanders even kicked it up another notch and at 14:24 they took the lead for the first time in the game. Dave Scatchard won a faceoff over Yannic Perreault in the Montreal zone and sent the puck back to Butenschon who relayed it over to Aucoin. Aucoin wristed it in hard but the puck hit some players in front leaving a fat rebound right in front of Theodore. Scatchard had moved in and backhanded a shot that hit Theodore and directed into the back of the net for an Islander 2-1 lead. The Islanders were extremely pumped now because just seconds earlier Claude Lapointe was hauled down on a break and there was no call made. Scatchard's goal was his 9th of the season. The Canadiens pulled Theodore in the last minute of play. Peca somehow gained the puck and got it over to Kenny Jonsson. Jonsson made an unbelievable smart play. Instead of icing it he noticed Lapointe open up the middle. So Jonsson bank shot the puck off the far boards into Montreal's end and Lapointe was all alone for the empty netter. Lapointe scored his 5th of the season and first goal in 12 games. First point in 10 games to ice the win. The Islanders improve to 13-16-5, 31 points. At home they improve to 7-10-2 and now 1-1 on this current 4 game homestand. The Isles have been a bit see-saw in the last couple weeks as they have now lost only once in their last four at 2-1-1. A three game winless streak at home was snapped. A four game road winning streak for Montreal was ended as well. The Islanders are 1-1 against Montreal this season. Next Up: The Islanders will have off until Saturday when they will continue their with the third of the current 4 game homestand against Carolina, another conference match up. Their next 7 games are against conference foes. They won't practice for the next two days until Thursday. The Standings: The Islanders drew to within 7 points of three teams tied at 6th in the conference with the win tonight. Toronto defeated the Thrashers at home 5-1 and moved up to 38 points. They are tied with Carolina and Montreal. One concerning thing is that all three teams will be in action Friday night, before the Islanders get back to action. Carolina will play back to back with the second game on Long Island. They face the lowly Thrashers at home Friday night. Is every team the Islanders are trying to catch going to be playing Atlanta now??? Montreal will be in Ottawa, which is a little better match up. But Montreal is the one team that seems to play the Senators well. Toronto will be in Calgary. The Flames are a so so team, more bad than good as of late after they fired former Islander Greg Gilbert as coach. - The Islanders couldn't leapfrog the Penguins or
Rangers tonight. Pittsburgh got a 5-2 win over Buffalo to jump to 33
points and the Rangers got a tie with New Jersey to move just one point
ahead of the Isles at 32. The Islanders have 3 games at hand on the
Rangers. Florida lost to Nashville 3-2 in OT giving them 34 points and
Washington shutout the Lightning 3-0 to move to 35 points. Fight Card: none. Commentary: A great comeback in the third period. It was nice to finally see the Islanders turn the tables and win a game in the third period for a change. If Washington could do it against us Saturday night then we are certainly capable of turning the tables on a team as well. This will make the holiday week a little more bearable, as instead of being 7 behind on team for 8th, the Isles are 7 behind 3 teams for 6th and a bit closer to the teams ahead, including the Rangers. I'm a bit worried about many of the teams ahead playing before the Isles get back to action Friday night. Hopefully two or all 3 of the teams tied with 38 points lose. But once again, it was finally nice to see the Isles play with some passion in the third. The first two periods were typical Montreal and Jose Theodore slowing down a game with a one goal lead and it was totally boring. The Isles made it exciting and got the win.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Scratched. The Isles recalled Raffi Torres in his place. Isbister tweaked his ankle in practice and could not go. He is not expected to miss any long period of time and should get some rest with the next four days off. I have to admit though, I wasn't too heart broken that Izzy wasn't in there tonight. When Weinhandl went out with an injury I was very disappointed. If Isbister was more consistent maybe i'd feel differently. Alexei Yashin: Led the Islanders with 6 shots on goal, but many of them tough angle non quality shots. Yashin was a lot better though defensively in this game and made some nice defensive steals and blocks, especially in the third period. He was an even rating as far as plus/minus. Shawn Bates: Scratched third straight with groin strain. Could be back Saturday night against Carolina. Mark Parrish: Sparked the comeback as he finally broke the wall of Jose Theodore. He notched his team leading 12 goal of the season. Named second star of the game. Dave Scatchard: Was the first star of the game as he scored the eventual game winner in the third period. He later stated he didn't even know it went in at first. Scatchard notched his 9 and is on pace to score 20 this year for the second time in his career. He was great on faceoffs, especially the one that led to the goal as he beat Yanic Perreault, one of the best faceoff men in the game. Jason Wiemer: Was a bit quiet tonight but was a +1 with the Scatchard goal. Jason Blake: Same as Wiemer. Claude Lapointe: Had an excellent third period and broke a long scoring drought with the empty netter. Was pulled down earlier in the third in front of Theodore in what should have been a penalty at least. Lapointe still got a shot off as he fell to the ice. Steve Webb: Was throwing some cannon ball hits and it rubbed off on Raffi Torres. Arron Asham: Had a jump against his former team and had one good shot on goal. Oleg Kvasha: Played ok once again. But loses the puck too often and often, just like Isbister, does not seem to know what to do with the puck or his feet. Michael Peca: Even though he is struggling to find his game, Peca had the most points in the third with 2 assists. He started the play that led to the first and third goals for the Islanders. Something a captain should do and he did it well. Mattias Weinhandl: Continued to make some nice plays and drew a penalty early on in the first period. Raffi Torres: Sometimes you wonder if Torres will ever be better than a fourth line and at best 3rd line player. He hit like Steve Webb and plays 100% each shift. But it doesn't seem like he will have much of a scoring touch at the NHL level. He did have a nice shiner though on his left eye, something he has grown accustomed to as you may remember he had an eye darkened last season after getting hit into the boards in a game against Washington. This time he was highsticked in a game against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the AHL. His eye was black and bloodshot. Torres does not like to wear a visor. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Out with separated shoulder. Has resumed light skating and there is some rumor that he may return as soon as Saturday night against Carolina. This is hard to fathom especially with the Islanders off the ice until Thursday and the initial prognosis for the shoulder was at least a month out. Hamrlik is notoriously a quick healer. This would be a big boost to the team. Hamrlik has missed the last 6 games. Adrian Aucoin: Named the third star. Was good defensively and got an assist on the winning goal. Eric Cairns: Could you make an argument that he was the Islander best d-man last night? He jumped into the play and had a great shot in the second period. Kenny Jonsson: Very good, especially in the last minute when he used his smarts and bank shot a pass off the boards to set up Lapointe for the empty netter. Radek Martinek: Was solid and made a great defensive block in the second period by diving to get his stick on the puck. Mattias Timander: Never really flashy but concentrates on his defense. Sven Butenschon: Forgot about him the last couple games in the updates. He has been playing well and registered an assist last night on the game winning goal. Back when the Islanders traded Juraj Kolnik for him I stated that I wasn't sure about the trade. But now I am happy the Isles made the deal. Butenschon has been a capable 7th man and Kolnik will most like spend the majority of his career anyway in the AHL. Alain Nasreddine: Returned to Bridgeport. Goal: Chris Osgood: Was probably chomping at the bit to get back in goal. He did not disappoint and put in a solid effort, only allowing one goal on the night. He made some big saves and kept the Islanders within striking distance when the Canadiens led by one goal. The goal he allowed to Ribeiro on the penalty kill was unstoppable. Ozzie will should see a lot of net this weekend when the Isles play 3 games in 4 nights. Garth Snow will proably see some action too as the Islanders coaching staff has stated they will use all three goaltenders. Rick DiPietro, after two very good starts, was scratched tonight while Snow backed up Ozzy.
Coaches The Canadiens called a timeout in the last minute of play and Laviolette was doing his job coaching the players on what to do. If he said anything between the second and third periods then he should be credited with playing a big part in the Islanders comeback. Special Teams Even though the penalty kill finally gave up a goal, the Islanders were 1-2 on the PK and are now 65 for the last 68. The streak ended at 36 straight and 9 straight games. One game shy of the franchise record of 10 games set back in 1977-78. The powerplay went 0-3 but in the end did not hurt the team.
Islanders Rally to 3-1 Win Over Canadiens
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS CANADIENS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
MON - 1 of 2, NYI - 0 of 3.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Code Red Alert for Isles Dec 23: The season is almost half over and so is the calendar year of 2002. The Islanders opened their recent 4 game homestand with a disappointing loss and now find themselves 7 points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for 8th in the East. Isles vs. Canadiens Preview: Sure, it's nothing a nice winning streak in a week or two can't fix. But this current squad the way it is constituted has proven time in and time out this season that they cannot sustain any success for a prolonged period of time. They have hovered between 4-7 points out of a playoff position for about 2 months now and show no signs of improving. The calling up of Rick DiPietro was not just because he deserved it but because the Islanders are on their last rope to find something that will jump start a team that has lost it's swagger as GM Mike Milbury put it. The Islanders need to win tonight, or else there could be major changes made once the trade freeze is lifted Friday night. It may be the only thing the Islanders can do to get back in the hunt. - Alexei Yashin needs to shake out of his funk real soon. Even though he is currently riding a 5 game scoring streak in which he has 0 goals and 6 assists, Yashin only has 8 goals on the season and is a team worst -13. He's averaging a 20 goal season which would be the worst of his NHL career. It's scary at times to think that the Islanders gave him a 10 year deal. What happens in 5 years if he becomes totally ineffective? - The Islanders, who have won just once in their last six games (1-3-2), are coming off Saturday's 3-1 loss at Washington. Making his second straight start since being recalled from the minors, highly touted goaltender Rick DiPietro stopped 31 shots for New York, including 13 in a scoreless first period. "We were lucky Ricky played well, or it would have been 5-0 after the first period,'' Islanders forward Mark Parrish said. DiPietro has split his first two starts. No word on who will start tonight as coach Peter Laviolette is usually secretive about what goaltender will start games. It's possible that DiPietro could get his third straight start since he played so well in the losing effort against Washington. It's also possible that Chris Osgood will get back in there after steaming on the bench as a backup the last two games. The Canadiens defeated the Islanders in Montreal back on November 7th by a 3-0 score, with Jose Theodore in net. Expect him in goal once again tonight as he is playing very well as of late. PK Record Setters: The Islanders could tie a franchise record tonight if they don't allow a powerplay goal against the Montreal Canadiens. The Islanders have killed off 36 straight advantages and 64 of the last 66, as they have not been scored against in 9 straight games. Standings: Carolina defeated the Dallas Stars yesterday afternoon 1-0 and moved ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs who are now in 8th in the East. The Islanders trail the Leafs by 7 points and are never more in dire need of a win then they are tonight. Every team in the Eastern Conference are in action tonight except Carolina. Pittsburgh, directly ahead of the Isles with 31 points, recently snapped a 10 game losing streak and will host the lowly Buffalo Sabres tonight. The Rangers, also with 31 points will host the Devils. A loss by both Pittsburgh and the Rangers, could move the Islanders into 11th if they defeat the Canadiens. Washington, fresh off their win against the Isles, will host Tampa Bay. Florida will host Nashville. The Toronto Maple Leafs get another crack at the Atlanta Thrashers on home ice tonight, which does not bode well for the Islanders. Atlanta defeated Toronto last Monday night 1-0 in Atlanta.
Habs Are Hot Montreal has won two straight and six of eight, including Saturday's 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Jose Theodore has overcome a poor start by winning four straight starts. And their captain Saku Koivu is back, healthy and leading the charge.
Notes: Playing their best hockey of the season, the Montreal Canadiens look to continue their recent surge as they take on the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Doug Gilmour scored twice, and Yanic Perreault and Saku Koivu each had a goal and two assists for Montreal, which scored all six goals on its first 12 shots but was outshot 38-16 for the game. "People seem to pay a lot of attention to shots - and we do, too - but we look more at scoring chances,'' Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. Montreal's top line of Gilmour, Perreault and Randy McKay has been converting most of those chances. Perreault has five goals and nine points over his last five games, and Gilmour has six goals and 13 points in his last 10 contests. McKay has five assists in four games. The Canadiens' defense isn't allowing opponents to keep up with the offense. Jose Theodore, who won both the Hart and Vezina trophies last season as the league's MVP and top goalie, made 36 saves for Montreal for Saturday. "It feels a lot like last year,'' Theodore said. "The guys are scoring big goals, I'm making big saves and from there, we come out of it with a win.''
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
