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ISLES INFO |
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ISLES INFO |
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IslesInfo Comments: Following the Isles 3-2 win over Pittsburgh Saturday, they had some time off before returning back to their current 5 game road trip. The three days off in between allowed the team to return back to the Island before heading to Florida for two games in two night against the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night. Currently 1-1-0-0 on this trip the Isles were looking to take advantage of a young Florida team that lost in OT last night to Atlanta. Florida came into tonight's game currently on a 5 game winless streak and may be prime to slip in the standings. The Islanders game plan was to jump out early AND late against the Panthers. They did just that. Early in the game Arron Asham played the puck up the boards to Michael Peca who was entering the Panthers zone. As an attacker jumped all over Peca, the captain managed to dish the puck off crisply into the slot just in time to find Claude Lapointe. Lappy pulled the puck back and stuffed it on the backhand into the pads of Florida's starting goaltender Jani Hurme. The puck slid underneath Hurme for a 1-0 Islander lead. Lapointe scored his 4th of the season and it was his first goal since October 24th when the Islanders defeated the same Florida Panthers 5-3 at the Coliseum. The assist by Peca was his first point of 2002-03. While the Islanders pretty much dominated the first 10 minutes of the first period, the momentum changed around the midway point. The Panthers started to make some plays, particularly the third and fourth liners. Florida was able to tie the game at 1-1 at 11:47 thanks to two unlikely players. Antagonist Peter Worrell would score his first goal of the season by receiving a pass in tight next to Chris Osgood from behind the net and ticketed it up high. Worrell received the pass from Ryan Johnson. For both players, the point they recorded was their first of the season. Jay Bouwmeester also recorded an assist. But the Panthers didn't let up there. 2:16 later they completed a pretty give and go passing play in the Islanders slot. Roman Hamrlik failed to clear his zone and Viktor Kozlov grabbed it. He sent it down to red hot Olli Jokinen who immediately dished it over to second year man Niklas Hagman. Hagman took the shot and managed to squeeze it by Osgood for a 2-1 Panther lead. With 29 seconds remaining in the period, things got a little physical. Igor Ulanov laid a huge clean hit on speedy Jason Blake by the boards in the neutral zone. At first it looked like an elbow and Dave Scatchard jumped in after Ulanov to defend his teammate. Suddenly Panther d-man Lance Ward dropped his gloves from behind Ulanov and charged Scatchard. With one clean right hook Scatchard floored Ward with a shot right to the nose. Scatchard got a double minor and a 10 minute misconduct, which was a bit excessive. - The Isles came out in the second and picked things up their flow. At 7:08 of the second period the Islanders went on their first powerplay of the game. Hamrlik and Adrian Aucoin controlled the puck up at the blueline before Hammer relayed the puck over to Alexei Yashin over in his usual area in the left circle. Yashin circled at the top of the circle and let go one of his blistering shots at the net. The puck had eyes and traveled cleanly right by Hurme to give the Isles a 2-2 tie. Just a few seconds after Yashin tied the game, Steve Webb absolutely freight trained Dmitri Yuskevich behind the Panther net. It was reminiscent of the hit Webb laid on Michal Rozsival Saturday night against Pittsburgh, a play Rozsival separated his shoulder on. After the hit the Isles feel into the habit of shooting themselves in the foot. Someone on the bench got a bench minor by mouthing off to the officials. The Islanders killed off that penalty only to get hit with another call after Peca managed to hook down two Panthers. He might have only gotten one penalty, but apparently he said something as well to garner another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Panthers would connect on the first powerplay opportunity when Kozlov would blast a left circle shot by Osgood. Kozlov notched his 3rd of the season at 12:56 and it was his 100th career goal to make it 3-2 for Florida. Luckily the Isles survived the second penalty and killed it off. The Isles had another powerplay opportunity in the second off a bit of a scary play. Panther first year defenseman Ivan Majesky stuck his knee out on Peca and took him down to the ice. When Peca got up he had a few words for the 6'5" Majesky. Luckily Peca wears a brace on his repaired leg basically for plays like that. - In the third period Florida's Hagman took a penalty at 4:37. The Islanders failed to tie it up on the powerplay but 5 seconds after it ended Kenny Jonsson blasted a shot from the blueline and tucked it in off the post to the right of Hurme. Jonsson's goal was his third of the season and tied the game at 3-3. As with Lapointe, and mentioned on the IslesInfo pregame report, Jonsson had not scored a goal since the Isles and Panthers last meeting back on October 24th. Both players are currently the longest tenured Islanders. The Islanders totally dominated in the third period, following through with their plan to start and finish strong. At one point it was 10-1 in shots in favor of the Isles in the third and the period ended with the Isles out shooting the Panthers 13-2, and 35-23 in the game. The Isles were really fore-checking well and taking the game to the tired legs of the Panthers. In the overtime session, the Isles continued their dominance and had some glorious chances to end the game. The first minute took forever to get played as the Islanders kept swarming around the net and forcing Hurme to hold onto the puck. The Isles outshot Florida 7-1 in the overtime, and total 42-24 in the game. - Florida, despite giving up the game tying goal to the Islanders, were more than happy to take the point. Mike Keenan has them scratching for every point they can get. Tonight was Florida's 11 overtime game of the year already which leads the league. They have 4 overtime losses and 4 ties. The Islanders' record is now 6-11-2-0, 14 points. With Montreal defeating Pittsburgh tonight in overtime, Montreal improved to 22 points. Pittsburgh still gained a point and moved to 20 points. The Islanders enter tonight's game in Tampa Bay once again 6 points out of a playoff spot behind the Rangers, Pittsburgh and Florida. The Isles are now 1-1-1-0 on their current 5 game road trip. Tonight they face the surprising Tampa Bay Lightning who are currently 2nd in the East with 25 points, one point behind conference leading Boston.
Fight Card: Dave Scatchard vs. Lance Ward. Well, it wasn't really much of a fight since Scatchard's single punch put Ward down to the ice. Scatchard went for Ulanov after the d-man took a run at Blake. After Scatchard dropped his gloves, Ward came out of nowhere dropping his gloves as well and charging Scatchard. Ward ran right into a right hook into the nose that reportedly broke it and cut him as well right under the left eye. Ward's nose was bleeding profusely and the officials had to clean up the ice after he was taken off. Amazingly, he later returned to the game with both nostrils packed with gauze, and a bandage underneath his eye. Later in the third period Ward took another run at Yashin only to receive a glove and stick in that broken nose. From that point on Ward was just a bloody mess on the Panthers bench, bleeding uncontrollably into a towel. Scatchard was given a ridiculous 10 minute misconduct for supposedly dropping his gloves first. Like when was that put into the rules? He was also given a roughing penalty instead of a fighting major. So he made out there. But he also got another 2 minutes either a double roughing call or perhaps he also mouthed off and got an unsportsmanlike. Commentary: The Islanders came out with a much needed point tonight. They were down by one goal twice in the game but they showed something by fighting back and gaining the tie. They dominated at times, especially during the third period on and could have, maybe should have come out with 2 points. They still remain 6 points out of a playoff position and can't afford to lose anymore ground. They got two more games coming up against the tough Tampa Bay and the Rangers on Saturday. I like to follow what I call the 7 point rule. Once a team drops below three games under .500, they are officially struggling and can be termed a "bad" team. But we know and hope the Islanders are not a bad team. They can just be struggling right now and find their way later on in the year. There are exceptions. But the even bigger rule, the 7 point rule, is that once a team falls more than 7 points out of the playoff race, it's almost impossible to come back. It would be asking for a miracle comeback. Something that rarely happens. Not impossible, but rare. With Montreal winning tonight and Pittsburgh/Florida both gaining a point, that makes tonight's game between the Isles and Tampa Bay huge once again for the Isles to come out of with some points.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Struggled with the puck at times once again, but made a huge play in the third period when he held the puck in the Florida end and got it over to Jonsson for the shot which tied the game at 3-3. Alexei Yashin: Had an astounding 8 shots on goal in this game, but came away with only one powerplay goal. It was still a huge goal as he tied the game up at 2-2 in the second period. Shawn Bates: A bit of a quiet game. Played well on the PK. Mark Parrish: Has not scored a goal now in 10 games. Dave Scatchard: Didn't notch a point tonight, but came to the game obviously in a sour mood and took it out on Lance Ward's face. Now that's the scrappy Dave Scatchard we've all come to love. Jason Wiemer: Was second on the team with 7 shots, mostly coming in the first two periods of the game. Needs to improve on his shot selection as many of them were easy saves. Jason Blake: Killed penalties well. Took that big hit from Ulanov that led to Dave Scatchard breaking Lance Ward's nose. Claude Lapointe: Loves to play Florida as 2 of his 4 goals this year are against the Panthers. Steve Webb: For the second straight game he laid someone out with a huge hit, this time it was Yuskevich behind the Panther net. Eric Manlow: Scratched. Arron Asham: Played well, got the secondary assist on the Isles first goal by L:apointe when he fed the puck up the boards to Peca. Oleg Kvasha: IR. Michael Peca: Recorded his first point of the season on a beautiful dish to Lapointe in front of the Florida net. Took an undisciplined double minor in the second period and mouthed off for one of them. Mattias Weinhandl: Was quite impressive and showed some confidence in the offensive zone playing on the top line with Yashin. In the first period he managed to steal the puck thanks to good pressure fore-checking and immediately fed it to Yashin in front of the net for a quality shot. Later he took advantage of a Yashin puck that was sitting behind a pile of three Panther defenders. Weinhandl grabbed the loose puck and got a clean shot off. Laviolette had him killing penalties tonight and even playing late into the third period and overtime. You can see that once he gets use to playing in the NHL more, Weinhandl will show more and more of his skills. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Recorded his team leading 12th assist and played well defensively tonight. Though he was to blame for the Panthers second goal because he failed to clear the puck up the boards and out of the zone. Adrian Aucoin: Missed the net a couple times again, but you learn to accept that with Adrian. Defensively he had another solid game. He recorded an assist on Yashin's powerplay goal in the second period. Eric Cairns: Played well, particularly when Peter Worrell was on the ice for Florida. Cairns kept Worrell in check especially when the antagonist was buzzing around the net and trying to get Osgood off his game. Kenny Jonsson: Hadn't scored a goal since the last game the Isles played against Florida at the Coliseum. Tonight he was the Isles best player, along with Ozzie, for getting the game tyer. Radek Martinek: sent to Bridgeport. Mattias Timander: Played well defensively but has to get better at taking the man and not losing his assignments. Sven Butenschon: Was solid for the ice time he got. The Islanders are happy with what he has given the team thus far. Goal: Chris Osgood: Has continued to play well in the last few weeks and is starting to improve his GAA. Tonight, you can't really blame him on any of the goals he gave up. Most the blame has to go to the Isles defense which is struggling either with Laviolette's system or just not good coverage wise.
Coaches Guys getting unsportsmanlikes for mouthing off on the bench? Mouthing off on the ice? Something has to be done about this. The Islanders HAVE to stop mouthing off. The penalties in the league, even though too strict, are not different for the Islanders than any other team. The Islanders have been shorthanded 121 times this year in 19 games which is the most in the league. They have been shorthanded 6 more times than second place Rangers, who have played two more games than the Isles.
Islanders, Panthers Tie 3-3
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS FLORIDA PANTHERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
NYI - 1 of 3, FLA - 1 of 7.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Isles Look to Cage Cats Nov 20: The Isles come into tonight's came feeling pretty high following their 3-2 victory in Pittsburgh Saturday night. But with three days off in between they once again find themselves facing a very crucial game tonight as they skate into Florida. Isles vs. Florida: Last night, a few teams ahead of the Isles in the East gained a few points and once again the Isles find themselves 6 points behind Pittsburgh and Florida for the 8th and final playoff position. It's so important not to drop any lower than 7 points out because that is sort of the official point of no return. Beyond that it just gets tougher and tougher to comeback and get in the race. The Islanders are making it a sun state double header as they will also face the surprise Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night. So, they definitely need at least 2 points out of these next two games, but the game tonight is an even bigger 4 point game right now. Plus, with 7th place Montreal playing Pittsburgh tonight, that gap could become even wider if the Islanders cannot come away with a win. The Isles have a lot at stake tonight. It's most likely Chris Osgood will get a chance to reach the .500 mark tonight with the start as the Isles look for him to continue on a roll. The Islanders defeated Florida last month in their first meeting of the season 5-3 at the Coliseum. This is the third game of the Isles 5 game road trip. They are 1-1-0-0 so far with a loss in Boston and the win against Pittsburgh. Tidbits: Tonight's game will be Adrian Aucoin's 100th game as an Islander....Claude Lapointe has not scored a goal, or had a point, since October 24th when the Islanders defeated Florida 5-3 at the Coliseum. Kenny Jonsson also scored his last goal in that game. Both players are the longest tenured Islanders....The Isles have won 3 of their last 5....The Isles are 7-2-1 in their last 10 meetings against Florida, 16-21-6 overall....Osgood is 9-1-3 all time against Florida....Atlanta has agreed to terms with free agent G Byron Dafoe, who the Isles were lightly rumored to have inquired about.
Panthers Like Mike The Panthers have turned some heads early on in the season just by staying in the race. Much of that credit should go to coach Mike Keenan, who has the Panthers scratching out points however they can, even if it's OT losses as they now have 4. - Of course, everytime the Isles face the Panthers you always look to see if former Islander goaltender Roberto Luongo will be starting against his old team. It unsure though if he will get the start against the Isles tonight as Jani Hurme has been getting the call as of late. Olli Jokinen, another former Isles, was hot back in October and he hasn't really cooled off all that much. He still leads the team in scoring going 11-11-22 in 19 games played. He scored twice in Florida's OT loss to Atlanta last night. Right up there with him is shifty Kristian Huselius who also has 9 goals and 14 points in 16 games. There will be plenty of trade fodder to talk about tonight as the Isles and Panthers have been mentioned in many a trade this season. Guys like Valeri Bure, Viktor Kozlov and Dmitri Yuskevich have been rumored to be coming to the Isles. Bure has 5 goals and 13 points in 19 games and has a couple of overtime winners this year already. Kozlov is 2-6-8 in 11 games after missing 8 with an abdominal injury. Defensively, the Panthers have one of the biggest offensive threats in Sandis Ozolinsh who has 12 points in 19 games, but always seems to be on the trade block. Keep an eye out for Jay Bouwmeester, the number one overall pick in 2002, as he is learning the game and getting better and better with each game. Former Isles defenseman Branislav Mezei is still out with an ankle injury. Florida has many players on the minus side, with Huselius and Byron Ritchie the only plus players on the team. The Panthers are currently 9th in the East with a 6-7-3-4 record and seemed primed to be one of the teams that slips out of the race. The Islanders have a history of helping teams in trouble get better quickly. With a win tonight the Islanders can really help out their own cause and possibly send the Panthers on their way into a downward spiral. Florida is winless in their last 5 games.
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
