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ISLES INFO |
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ISLES INFO |
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IslesInfo Comments: Even though the Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the best offensive teams in the NHL so far, and the Islanders one of the worst defensively, perhaps Pittsburgh was a good opponent for the Isles right now. Because what the Penguins got in offense, they lack in defense. As the Islanders shut down the Pens on D they had more chances to get creative and get some quality offensive chances of their own. It also doesn't hurt that the Isles seem to like playing on the bigger ice surface and normally play well in Pittsburgh. Michael Peca was able to go tonight, but this time coach Laviolette planned to slowly ease him back in since Peca's body is not use to NHL play. So Peca played most of the night centering the fourth line. Laviolette planned to utilize Alexei Yashin much more tonight, and he did by double shifting him quite often especially in the first period. And it paid off early. At 7:24 of the first period the Islanders got a much needed goal from a player they much need to produce. Mattias Timander fought with a Penguin player in front of the Pittsburgh bench before Yashin stepped in at the offensive blueline and and took possession. Once he stepped into the zone, and before two Penguin players could reach him, Yashin flipped the puck over to Oleg Kvasha who skated in all alone on Pittsburgh goaltender Johan Hedberg. Kvasha stepped in and just about placed a shot past Hedberg into the back of the net. Oleg circled and pumped his fist emphatically for his first goal of the season as the Isles took a 1-0 lead. Kvasha now has a 3 game point scoring streak. But soon the Isles would get into penalty trouble against the #1 powerplay in the league. Shawn Bates and Roman Hamrlik would find themselves in the box and Pittsburgh went on a 5 on 3 advantage. The Penguins moved the puck around and of course Mario Lemieux was orchestrating it. After the Penguins got a flurry of shots a rebound would skip off Kenny Jonsson's leg and right out to Alexei Kovalev. Kovalev wound up and ripped a shot through Osgood finding an inch of net between the post to tie the game at 1-1 at 10:16. Pittsburgh remained on the powerplay but the Isles managed to kill it off. - The Islanders would eventually get their lead back on a powerplay chance of their own. Adrian Aucoin received a pass up at the blueline and fired a long hard shot that eluded Hedberg. Aucoin's goal at 17:03 made it 2-1 and it was his 5th goal of the season which ties Yashin and Dave Scatchard for the team lead. Yashin assisted on both goals. Once last highlight, Steve Webb returned to the lineup tonight and had one shift in the first period. Man did he make it worthwhile. Michal Rozsival grabbed the puck at one point deep in the corner of his own end and without knowing was targeted by the human cannonball Webb. Webb plastered into Rozsival's shoulder and the Penguin defenseman laid on the ice for a minute or two. He was later helped off the ice under his own power but was favoring his shoulder. On the subsequent play the Penguins sent out goon Steve McKenna to go after Webb and he wound up with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the whistle to put the Isles up a man which led to Aucoin's goal. - The second period had it's good points and bad points for the Islanders. They survived it and impressively kept their lead. Earlier in the season the second period was not the best period for the Isles. The bad point was that the Isles had four straight powerplay opportunities and hardly mustered up any shots after getting a powerplay goal on their first chance back in the first period. Evidently, Pittsburgh decided to focus more on the Isles point men on the powerplay in the second period. But the Islanders failed to get the puck deep when they did have chances. The Isles even ended the period on a fifth straight powerplay and failed to score going into the third. But the second period was highlighted by unbelievable goaltending from Osgood. At one point, Jonsson lost the puck in his feet in front of the net. Kovalev found it and sent it over to Lemieux for the tap in but Ozzie slid across and stacked the pads. Lemieux tried to roof the rebound, but Osgood raised his arms and blocked that down as well. Lemieux got a third chance and put the puck into Ozzie's pads the play was eventually called. Another time he stopped former Islander Dick Tarnstrom on a point blank shot to preserve the lead. This was perhaps Osgood's best performance of the season. You can probably say the same for Yashin and definitely for Kvasha, who for the first time in a long time played with some purpose and determination. - The Islanders needed this game bad to stay in the playoff hunt and get something going on this road trip. And they played desperate in the third period. The defensive effort was still evident. The Islanders took two penalties in the first 10 minutes of the third but both were negated by Penguin penalties. In between the set of calls, a new Islander line got an insurance goal that would eventually turn out to be the game winner. Jason Blake fore-checked hard into the Penguins zone. Missing on a shot off the faceoff, Blake managed to get his stick on the puck in the corner before a Penguin defenseman could. As the puck bounced out Scatchard grabbed it, circled and found struggling Jason Wiemer in the high slot. Wiemer didn't hold onto it long and smacked it behind Hedberg to give the Isles a 3-1 lead. It was Wiemer's 2nd goal of the season at the 6 minute mark. If the Isles can get more like this out of guys like Kvasha and Wiemer there will be much more wins in the future. Scatchard was called for hooking at 14:56 and Pittsburgh drew back to within one when none other than Lemieux made it 3-2 at 15:46. He got the high shot in this time off a rebound of a sprawling Osgood. As Scatchard was released from the box he gave a nasty stare at the referee. With just over 4 minutes remaining the Islanders needed to tighten up even more defensively and try to chew down the clock. They did just that as Pittsburgh eventually pulled Hedberg for the extra man. The Islanders couldn't get the empty netter but most importantly didn't allow any chances and got away with the 3-2 win. The Isles improved to 6-11-1-0 and 13 points. They remain 13th in the East, one point behind Toronto who lost 2-1 to Detroit tonight. Much more importantly they climb back to with 5 points of a playoff spot. The Isles will return home briefly before flying out to Florida for back to back games Wednesday and Thursday night against the Panthers and Lightning respectively.
Fight Card: None. But as mentioned earlier, McKenna tried to get Webb to go after the hit on Rozsival, only to get tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Commentary: A nice win all around. When you see Kvasha play this way you wonder why he can't do it all the time. This guy has so much skill that he hasn't even tapped into yet. Everyone talks about Isbister and how other teams want him, but Kvasha could be the better of the two offensively. The Islanders did a good job containing Lemieux. Nice wack on the back by Aucoin on Lemieux in the first period. Mario screamed in pain and later said it's a long game during an interview, implying some kind of payback. Later he got called for his first 2 minute penalty of the season off a highstick on Blake. Thank God the Isles came away with the win to stay alive in this race. It was getting close to draft watching time. But don't get too complacent. A trip to Florida coming up will not be as easy as it has been in the past. Mike Keenan has the Panthers gaining points and staying in the race, even if it's overtime losses. And Tampa Bay could be the 2001-02 Islanders of 2002-03. - Some teams may be looking at the Islanders record and thinking that's an easy win. But they should not expect that. The Islanders are hopefully a good team that is just having a bad time right now. Teams will learn that if the Islanders come together soon.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Had an ok game but was 3rd best compared to Yashin and Kvasha. He lost the puck a few time and sometimes seems clumsy stickhandling. Alexei Yashin: Had a very good first period with 2 assists. Was possibly his best game of the year. He had some good scoring chances in the second including one where he walked out in front of the net. Hedberg made a lucky save. Shawn Bates: Was kinda quiet tonight but played well and made some key passes. Mark Parrish: Same as Bates, though he screened Hedberg on the Aucoin powerplay goal that put the Isles up 1-0. Dave Scatchard: Was quiet until the third when he orchestrated a faceoff win in the offensive zone, eventually setting up Wiemer for the would be game winner. Did take a late penalty that made it 3-2. Jason Wiemer: Has been bad up to this point and i've often remarked about his slow footedness, but if he can chip in more like he did tonight then things could get a lot better. Perhaps he needed time to adjust to the Islanders system. But he has to keep contributing. Jason Blake: Assisted on the game winning goal. Got the play started by keeping the puck in the corner. His persistent fore-checking caused the Pens to take a tripping call in the third that negated one of their powerplays. Claude Lapointe: Good penalty killing tonight. Steve Webb: Got maybe 2 or 3 shifts in the game. But he made the first one count in the first period when he lambasted Rozsival. Eventually he drew a penalty to McKenna. Webb needs to do this more on the road where he is historically less effective than he is at home. Eric Manlow: Scratched. Arron Asham: Once again he put in 100% and made some good passes. Almost got an early goal when he took the puck to the net. Oleg Kvasha: Maybe the Islanders should widen the ice at Nassau Coliseum so Oleg can play on a bigger ice surface? He was awesome tonight. Please, please, please lets see some more. Show us that passion Oleg! Yes. :) Michael Peca: Played a little more than he did against Boston. But a wise move tonight by Laviolette to ease Peca back into play. In hindsight, it was probably not too wise to throw him right back in there. But they wanted to see what he had. The captain is a bit of a quiet leader right now on the bench, chipping in here and there. But hopefully soon he will be back full stride and contributing more. Just his presence helps out immensely. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Notched an assist on Aucoin;s goal that made it 1-0. Had a pretty solid game all around. Adrian Aucoin: Scored to make it 1-0 with a blistering shot from far out. Though it's up to him and Hamrlik to get the puck to the net more, along with the forwards. After the first powerplay, the ensuing 5 were not good at all. Eric Cairns: Sat on the bench for a large portion of this game. Kenny Jonsson: As good as Osgood, Yashin and Kvasha were in this game, this may also have been Jonsson's best game of the season as well. When he's in the lineup the Isles defense is just so much better and defensively sound making good decisions and getting the puck out of the zone. Radek Martinek: scratched. Mattias Timander: Had one of his better games as well. Assisted on the Kvasha goal. Sven Butenschon: Played sparingly in the first period against another of his former teams. Did not see much ice in the second or third periods. Goal: Chris Osgood: The man was like a human puck stopping fiend tonight. Those point blank saves were something to watch, especially on Lemieux. Osgood has seemingly found his game, despite the Islanders overall poor effort against Boston. When the Islanders usually win, he's named the first star of the game. To get back in this thing they need Ozzie to go on a run.
Coaches Laviolette was questioning many calls by the linesmen throughout much of the first two periods. Often the Penguins were making illegal line changes before the dropping of the puck and getting away with it, therefore botching up Laviolette's matchings.
Islanders Top Slumping Penguins 3-2
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS PITTSBURGH DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions: Ny
Islanders - 1 of 8, Pittsburgh - 2 of 5.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Season on the Brink? Nov 16: Normally, it's tough to say that the 18th game of a young season could mean so much to a hockey team, but tonight's game against Pittsburgh at the Igloo could already be the biggest game of the season for the New York Islanders. Isles vs. Pittsburgh Preview: Why? Because the Islanders have so much at stake with tonight's game. They are currently 6 games under .500, which ties a season low. Most glaringly, the Isles are now 7 points behind four teams tied for 6th in the East with 18 points. If they should drop any more than that they could be digging a hole that there would just be no returning from. We've seen it time and time again over the past 10 years of this franchise. Now is time to show that this is not the same team from two years ago or however many years ago you want to compare it to. Coach Laviolette has to somehow find a way to motivate this team and prove that they turned a corner last year. Management may have made some significant changes, and the payroll is set at what it is, but there are many players on this team who were here last year when they finished 5th overall in the Conference, and they have to find a way out of this. Michael Peca is listed as day to day and their is a possibility he won't miss any time by suiting up tonight. The Islanders will need all they can muster to turn around what has become the worst start since 1995-96 when they went 3-12-2 in their first 17 games. That was Mike Milbury's first season with the Islanders organization. They also will need all their horses going strong to combat one of the best offensive powers in the league in the Pittsburgh Penguins. - The Islanders opened up this current road trip with a 4-1 loss in Boston. They have four games remaining against Pittsburgh tonight, Wednesday in Florida, Thursday in Tampa Bay and then in Madison Square Garden a week from tonight for a showdown against the Rangers. Last season the Isles went 1-1-1-1 against the Penguins. Mario Lemieux only played in one of those games and went scoreless.
Isles Face Mario & Pens Some may say the Pittsburgh Penguins are a very top heavy team. But that hasn't stopped them from getting out to a great start. Offense is the name of the game for the Pens, and it's all spearheaded by one man, Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux. - Why would I say that Mario Lemieux is the least liked player in New York Islander history? Well it's simple. Mario has probably accumulated more points against the Islanders than any other player in Islander history with 122 points(I didn't do research on this, but it's 99.9% true). Mario is flying high so far in 2002-03 thanks to many factors. For one he is benefiting from the new league obstruction rules and secondly, he's healthy. Those two things have played a huge part in why Mario is comfortably leading the NHL in scoring once again going 8-22-30 in 15 games played. His 22 assists also leads the league.Mario may be a great player, but you don't lead the league in assists without players to pass the puck to. That's where Mario's linemates, Alexei Kovalev and Alexei Morozov, come in. Kovalev is second on the team with 10-11-21 in 15 games and like Mario, loves to play against the Islanders. His 10 goals is tied with a few other players for fourth in the league, just one goal behind 3 players who have 11. Kovalev is 6th in the league in scoring. Morozov has gone 7-11-18 in 15 games. Since Pittsburgh is currently on a 4 game winless streak, all on the road. At home they are 5-1-1-0. Since they have recently struggled, Kovalev and Morozov were replaced on the top line by Alexander Daigle and Martin Straka, both speedy players. While Daigle's return to the NHL has been a moderate success, former Islander Straka's return from a myriad of injuries is even more important for the Pens. He's gone 1-3-4 in just 4 games following his return. Jan Hrdina has been a very good defensive player for Pittsburgh during his career and has also supplied some offense. This season he had gone 4-7-11 in 15 games. Randy Robitaille, who is not expected to play with an ankle injury, was contributing as well with 4 points in 5 games. - Only one Pittsburgh defenseman has more than 3 points on the season. His name? Dick Tarnstrom. Yes, the same Dick Tarnstrom that played for the Islanders last season. The offensive minded Tarnstrom has turned out to be a fantastic acquisition by Craig Patrick as he fits perfectly into the Penguins think offense first style of game. Last year, Dick went 3-16-19 in 62 games for the Islanders. This year, thanks to plenty of powerplay time with Mario, he is 3-10-13 in 14 games, averaging almost a point per game. If it wasn't for him their defense would be practically anemic offensively. There are not a lot of plus players on the Penguins, possibly because of their offensive style. But defensively they are not Boston and if the Islanders can withstand the attack they may be able to exploit the Penguins in their own end. The Islanders have historically done well on the Igloo's bigger ice surface. In goal, the Penguins will probably go with Johan Hedberg who has posted a record of 6-3-3 in 12 starts. Though their backup is Jean-Sebastien Aubin, who normally plays well against the Isles.
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
