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ISLES INFO |
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ISLES INFO |
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Menu NYI Database Transactions
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IslesInfo Comments: All the talk coming into this game was how the Tampa Bay Lightning were the New York Islanders of 2002-03 because of their great start. John Tortorella, coach of the Lightning, said before the game that his team has not realized yet what a powerhouse they are. Well, tonight the Islanders schooled the Lightning with a message that they're not quite there yet. Though it looked good for Tampa early on, in fact just 49 seconds into the game. Tampa Bay came out with a jump on the Isles that made it look like it was going to be a long night for the orange and blue. Garth Snow, who got his first start in 8 games, gave up a blast by Ben Clymer who tallied his 4th goal of the season. But soon things would turn around thanks to one shift in the first by the line of Dave Scatchard, Jason Blake and Jason Wiemer. The line put on a furious fore-checking exhibition and were relentless in the Tampa zone. The Islanders were slowly beginning to force a swing in momentum when Scatchard blasted two shots on net after retrieving loose pucks. Blake would end up with the puck behind the net and circle around into the slot. But before he could be read by the Tampa defense and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, Blake let go a sling shot at the near side and bounced it into the back of the net off the goaltender. The goal was Blake's 3rd of the season. Soon the Lightning, instead of looking like a team with 25 points in the standing already, began to take frustration and bench penalties reminiscent of the Islanders so far this season. The Isles would gain the lead at 16:19 on the powerplay. Alexei Yashin would make a beautiful play by keeping the puck inside the blueline before winding up with a blast on the net. The shot looked like it might have been going wide, but the great hand eye coordination of Mark Parrish came through once again when he redirected the puck behind Khabibulin to give the Isles a 2-1 lead. It was Parrish's 5th of the year and his first in 10 games. - The Islanders had squandered a few other powerplay opportunities including one early in the second period. Once again it would be the Scatchard line which would get things going for the Isles. Jason Blake tried to break up the middle with the puck and dished it over to a streaking Mattias Timander off the right side boards. Timander looked to make a pass himself back into the crease to Blake but he had been pulled down. It didn't matter because in an effort to block the pass Tampa defenseman Stan Neckar redirected the puck by Khabibulin to put the Isles up 3-1. The goal was Timander's first of the season and as a New York Islander at 5:14. Headed into the midway mark, the Islanders just took over this game in every aspect you can imagine: hitting, offense and defense. The Isles would take a 4-1 lead on a spectacular goal by Parrish that would just typify the way the game was going for Tampa: embarrassing. Parrish broke down the left wing side as he was defended by Dan Boyle. Parrish made a stutter step and Boyle must have thought Parrish was going to cut to the middle. But Parrish kept going towards the corner and Boyle just totally lost his footing, flying backwards with stick in the air onto his back. Parrish walked around him and two other Lightning players, as well as "The Bulin Wall" and tucked the puck into the net for his second of the game and 6th of the season, tying him for the team lead with Yashin. The assists went to the other members of the Lucky 7's line, Shawn Bates and Michael Peca. By this time it was the Islanders looking like a first place team as they were just relentless, especially Scatchard's line. Late in the period the Isles kept the offense coming. The Lightning had just killed off a penalty to Cory Sarich when Eric Cairns would grab a loose puck along the left side boards as he was pinching in. Khabibulin made the intial save but Scatchard was Johnny on the spot and quickly chipped the rebound over the goalie for a 5-1 Islander lead at 18:28. The goal was Scatch's 6th which also tied him for the team lead. Just when you thought the Isles were done they kept running up the score just 19 seconds later at 18:47. Blake handled the puck into the Tampa end on a semi two on one, but decided to drop it back to a wide open Wiemer. Wiemer wound up and took the shot which may have deflected up over Khabibulin's arm for his 3rd of the season. The Islanders now had a commanding 6-1 lead going into the third. - The Isles came out in the third wanting more and they got it by guess who: Jason Blake and his line. While Wiemer distracted Tampa relief goaltender Evgeni Konstantinov at the right of the net, Blake fired a shot on a rush towards the net. The puck once again had eyes and found twine as Konstantinov had no chance on it. Blake scored his second of the game and 4th of the season. Offensively this was turning out to be the best game of Blake's career as he now had 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points in the game. The same goes for Wiemer as he recorded a career high 4 points with a goal and 3 assists. Scatchard recorded a goal and an assist. That line was literally on fire tonight. And shortly after the Islanders looked as if they were just going to walk all over Tampa Bay. It could have become 9-1. Arron Asham just walked around the Tampa defense for a shot in close but couldn't get it over Konstantinov's glove. Then Bates rang one off the post and Peca just missed the rebound for an empty netter. The Islanders were blocking every shot and quality chance Tampa was getting in the Islanders end. - As the game wound down to 2:45 remaining, things started to get a bit scrappy when least expected. Roman Hamrlik and Sheldon Keefe got into a shoving match after Snow made a save. Hamrlik pushed Keefe into the crossbar of the net and Keefe went back at him, crosschecking Hamrlik from behind. Well, you just don't do that in Garth Snow's crease. Snow went ballistic on Keefe as he started to slam his blocker pad on the back of Keefe's head over the net. Konstantinov left his crease and came all the way into the Islanders end to even things up. The referees got everything under control. After penalties were assessed Snow was given a match penalty, which is reviewable by the league because it means there was an intent to injure. It's unknown why the call was made because it didn't really seem to justify a match. While Snow was fixing his equipment it may have been notcied that one of his fingers was taped up. But in actuality there really wasn't a fight. Anyway, Chris Osgood came in for the final 2:45 for what would seem to just pad his game appearances stat. On his first play though he hade to make a spectacular sliding slave after coming in cold. Unfortunately he would give up a goal on a bit of a long shot with 3 seconds remaining to tough guy Andre Roy. Roy just crossed the blueline and ripped the shot for his 3rd of the season. The only thing hurt was Osgood's GAA slightly. The Islanders dominated from start to end, only allowing a goal at the start and end. They improved to 7-11-2-0 and 16 points. This was the biggest offensive break out by the Isles, 7 goals, in over 2 years. They finally seem to be turning a corner as they draw to within 4 points of 7th place in the East. The Isles are now tied in points for 12th in the conference with Toronto, though the Leafs have a game at hand. Islanders are now 2-1-1 on this 5 game road trip and finish it off Saturday afternoon with the first battle of the year between the Isles and Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Fight Card #1: Eric Cairns vs. Chris Dingman. This happened early in the first period as Cairns was trying to get something going for the Isles after dropping down 1-0. Even though Dingman is a big man, it seemed like Cairns was even bigger. Dingman struggled to land anything on Cairns and vice versa. Dingman went down and tried to grab Cairns legs to pull him down, a sure sign of "I can't beat you with my fists so i'll slam you down." The officials broke it up and both men got 5 minutes. Nothing really happened. Decision: Draw. Fight Card #2: Garth Snow vs. Sheldon Keefe. As explained earlier, Snow was majorly pissed at Keefe. And it was a perfect time to teach Keefe a lesson. With the Islanders leading 7-1 Snow tried to pummel Keefe and let him know that you don't crosscheck his teammate in Snow's crease without hearing from him. As to why Snow got a match penalty I have no idea and feel it was totally a bad call. It will be reviewed possibly as an intent to injure. I guess the referees felt hitting the guy with his blocker was intent to injure but it wasn't all that bad. In a recent game involving the San Jose Sharks, the officials were recently criticized for letting Shark's defenseman Bryan Marchment remain in a game after a fight in which he had his hands taped up. Snow had on finger taped up but he never dropped any gloves and it really wasn't a true fight. It may get reviewed but I don't see anything coming out of it. Snow in no way should get suspended. Commentary: This was obviously the high point of the Isles season so far. But they still can't rest. They have a HUGE game Saturday afternoon to end the road trip against the Rangers, a team they need to catch. Perhaps this team just needed some time to gel and get some key players back, namely Michael Peca. They seem to have more depth now and everyone is finally contributing. Could this be where the Isles turn things around and start to make their move up the standings? A win against the Rangers would put them back in the .500 range. They don't want to drop back into the same place they've been toiling for the last couple weeks. It was great to see Jason Wiemer and Jason Blake playing as well as they did and both recording 4 points in the win.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Was probably the quietest Islander on a night when everyone was contributing and getting points. Isbister only had 1 shot on goal and no points. Izzie may someday gain some consistency in his game but it's time to officially stop waiting for him to do something "Bertuzzi-like". He just doesn't have the mobility or the skill level Todd Bertuzzi does. Alexei Yashin: Was a -1 and had 4 shots. He made a huge play to keep the puck in the zone on the Mark Parrish powerplay goal in the first period that until 3 seconds left in the game was the game winner. Shawn Bates: assisted on the Parrish goal that made it 4-1 along with Peca. The goal was remiscent of what the Lucky 7's line can do when they are all on their game. Mark Parrish: Got his first goal in 10 games, and came away with 2. Parrish showed his skill in this game by once again deflecting a shot in on the powerplay. Then, he later totally undressed Dan Boyle of the Lightning right out of his jock with a stutter step move. Probably the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a defenseman happened to Boyle courtesy of Parrish. Like Howie Rose remarked: " he transformed Dan Boyle into...Peter Boyle!" Dave Scatchard: His jump early in the game got the rest of the line going and his line just had an enormous night. 10 points between he, Blake and Wiemer. Scatch scored the Isles 5th goal. Jason Wiemer: He's finally showing why the Isles traded for him on this road trip. He notched the 6th goal of the game for the Isles and accumulated 3 assists as well for 4 points. Jason Blake: A couple of years ago, 2000-01, Blake had the game of his life in Madison Square Garden when he notched a goal and two assists(if I remember correctly), before getting a grant to leave by Mike Milbury because his wife was sick and with child. This game, at least offensively, may have surpassed that game as Blake's best game as an Islander. Blake has picked up his offensive game this season when the Islanders have needed it most and his penalty killing has been exceptional as well. Claude Lapointe: In the second period Lappy took a puck off the inside of his ankle that was reminiscent of the shot Oleg Kvasha broke his ankle on. He was carried off the bench and into the locker room. It's unknown yet as to his status. More will be known Friday leading up to the game against the Rangers. Lets hope it's not anything too bad, but if it is you can expect either Eric Manlow or Justin Mapletoft to get the call in his place. Steve Webb: Webb seems like that player that steems on the bench and just when Peter Laviolette decides enough is enough he unleashes Webb onto the opposing team. He's done just that in each of the last three games. Webb jumped out onto the ice and took a Tampa player right into the boards on a hit in front of their bench. That's when Andre Roy made a stupid play by dropping his gloves and chasing Webb. Roy ended up in the box and the Isles went on the powerplay. Webb a job well done. Eric Manlow: Scratched. Arron Asham: Played well and almost scored early in the third period to make it 8-1 Isles. Oleg Kvasha: IR. Michael Peca: Is getting more and more ice time as the games go on. He is getting more and more involved in the game. He may start feeling more natural with each passing game and has the determination of a great player that could help him return to 100% a lot faster than most other players. Recorded an assist tonight playing with the Lucky 7's line. Mattias Weinhandl: With more ice time you can see him getting more confident, especially with the puck. With each passing game he is just going to get better and better. Not sure if he will stick around once Kvasha returns but he is making the best of it. He had a couple good chances on two different two on one opportunities early in the game to get his first NHL goal. One thing about him is he shows great vision, despite only having 10% vision in one eye. On the powerplay he finds the open man very well, executing a pass several times tonight for a shot on goal. The only thing I think he will need to do for future seasons is gain some more weight and muscle. Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Recorded an assist on Parrish's powerplay goal, a place where Hamrlik has racked up a few assists this season. Got into it late with Keefe which led to the scrum with Garth Snow. Played very well against the team that drafted him #1 overall back in 1992. Adrian Aucoin: A solid game, blocked some shots and got involved physically in front of the net like he usually does. Eric Cairns: Was involved in the game the entire night. Notched the only assist on the Scatchard goal after pinching and keeping the puck in. His shot set up the rebound. Kenny Jonsson: Jonsson assisted on Blake's second goal, the 7th goal of the game for the Isles. Defensively he played well and got the puck out of the zone 99.9% of the time when needed. Radek Martinek: sent to Bridgeport. Mattias Timander: One of his best games as an Islander. Would like to see the rush he made to get the eventual goal more often. Perhaps he'd chip in a few more goals this season. I was originally hoping he'd get 10 this season. He had 4 last year but he is considered a more defensive defenseman. Congrats on his first as an Islander. Sven Butenschon: Played well in some brief appearances. Has been solid. Uses his size effectively. Goal: Garth Snow: Looked like another Garth Snow night was coming up when he allowed a goal on the first shot of the game by Tampa. But he settled in and the Isles took over shortly after. Snow admirably stuck up for his teammate Roman Hamrlik late in the game and stuck up for his defenseman. He was given a match penalty, and Chris Osgood had to come in to finish the game. Snow made 29 saves on 30 shots en route to his first win of the year. He is now 1-4-1. Don't expect anything to come of that match penalty after the review. Chris Osgood: Came in and made one great save at the drop of the puck, having to slide and stack the pads. He made a nice glove save. The goal he gave up with 3 seconds left was kind of a bad one though. It looked like he let up a little, hoping the clock would run out before the shot was taken. His focus wasn't too good there and that will only hurt his already high GAA. But Osgood's focus now should be all Saturday afternoon and the Rangers.
Coaches Lavvy called a good timeout in the second period when the Islanders gained a 5 on 3 late on the tail end of a powerplay. What was even more impressive, and damn right funny, was the clip that was played regarding the "Roast the Coach" party that was held Monday night. Charles Wang, Mike Milbury, Michael Peca and Shawn Bates all got to take some ribs at the Islanders coach. Wang and Milbury made fun of the college Laviolette attended, a division three college called Westfield State. Wang asked Lavvy if that was a two or four year college. Peca made fun of the fact Lavvy bragged often about how good he was when he and the coaches beat Michael and Radek Martinek, the injured guys at the time. Peca siad they had to let the coach look good because that's the closest he's ever gotten to playing in the NHL. Shawn Bates mentioned the fact that he's known Lavvy since their Providence Days and Lavvy loved to wear some blinding suits. In fact Bates chimed "no wonder i'm blind in one eye." - What was even more funny, was when it was Laviolette's turn to answer back. And Lavvy REALLY prepared for this one. I don't think the players were ready. He cut up on Jason Blake really bad, it was hilarious. He said Blake was SO small that he has to cuff his underwear. That was after he lifted a small boys outfit and said he had gotten Blake a new suit. He raised half a pair of sunglasses over one of his eyes and said he had gotten it for Bates, a shot at Bates half vision. He also said he got a new mask for Garth Snow, one that had binoculars set in front of the eye holes. Lavvy quipped that Sven Butenschon's ears were SO big that he could hear what Lavvy was thinkin. He also made a height crack about Claude Lapointe. So Lavvy took and gave even better. - Back to tonight's game. It just seems that Lavvy had gotten a handle on this team as of late. He knows the right times and when to get each player out on the ice. With the team coming more together, the coaching staff is learning the team more and everything is getting better all the way around. Special Teams The Isles went 1-7 on the powerplay, getting the PP goal by Parrish that put the Isles up for good 2-1 in the first period. The penalty kill has been a lot better as of late and last night they were a perfect 5-5, killing off all of Tampa's chances.
Islanders Shock Lightning 7-2
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
NYI - 1 of 7, TAM - 0 of 5.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview Isles Face Tough Match in Tampa Nov 21: A win tonight against the Southeast division leading Tampa Bay Lightning would surely do wonders for the Islanders as they prepare to play the fourth of a five game road trip, and for the second night in a row as the Isles desperately need points. Isles vs. Tampa Bay Preview: Fresh off their 3-3 tie last night with Florida, the Islanders were not sure if they should be happy with the one point they gained or disappointed that they didn't finish the tired Panthers off when they had the chance. At least they can take solace in the fact that they came from behind and thanks to the point are still in the race coming into tonight's tough match up against the surprising Tampa Bay Lightning. The Isles can't afford to lose ground as they enter this game 6 points behind the Rangers, Penguins and Panthers for 7th place in the Eastern Conference. This time, it may be Tampa Bay who will be looking at the Isles as a possibly tired team coming in after an overtime game the night before. But hey, it was only 5 extra minutes and the Islanders didn't lose if that means anything at all. Tampa lost their last outing 3-2 against Philadelphia Tuesday night. It's not known yet who will get the call for the Islanders in goal. Chris Osgood has started the last 7 games. Garth Snow last appeared in relief of Osgood in the Boston game on the first visit of this current 5 game road trip. With this being the second of back to back nights, and a match up against the Rangers coming up on Saturday, it's not improbably that Snow could get the call against Tampa tonight. Last season the Isles swept the season series against Tampa Bay 4 games to none and outscored them 15-5. Osgood played in all those games last year. If Snow does start tonight he is 1-3-3 lifetime vs. the Lightning and is still looking for his first win of 2002-03 where he is currently 0-4-1. This game will be the Isles 20th game of the season and marks the first quarter mark. GM Mike Milbury recently told the team that if they don't show something by the end of this road trip he may be forced to make a deal he doesn't want to make. Yashin has been getting a lot more ice time as of late and producing. Look for more of the same tonight. Captain Michael Peca is slowly starting to gain more ice time with just over 12 minutes against Florida and improving steadily in all aspects of the game: physical, offensively and defensively. The Islanders are 2 points behind Toronto for 12th in the conference.
Can They Keep it Going? The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a high flying start in 2002-03 and are reminding a lot of people of another certain team, the 2001-02 New York Islanders. With a good core of young talent and veteran leadership, the Lightning just may be for real. - One look at Tampa Bay's scoring leaders and you notice something that is out of the norm: the Lightning are getting production out of a lot of players. Some are producing high offensive numbers and among the lead leaders in scoring. Perhaps it was time for a few of these players to come into their own. Leading the way for the Bolts is diminutive RW Martin St. Louis. At 5'9", 181 pounds, St. Louis has proved that size doesn't always matter in the NHL. A castoff from Calgary just a few years ago, St. Louis is currently 6th in the NHL in scoring going 11-12-23 in 19 games played and has some saying he's the early season MVP. Last year he broke his leg midseason and missed a lot of games. Right behind St. Louis is Vaclav Prospal, who never really to this point fulfilled his potential as the Isles have seen him with Philadelphia, Ottawa and Tampa Bay. This year is currently 11th in the NHL in scoring with a mark of 6-16-22 in 19 games. But it doesn't stop there. Whenever you think of Tampa Bay you have to think of star center Vincent Lecavalier. After getting stripped of his captaincy last season and having a falling out with coach John Tortorella which led to his worst season in the NHL, Lecavalier is back on track this season going 10-10-20 in 19 games. The attack just keeps coming with Brad Richards. The young center, though another diminutive player, has gone 2-15-17 in 19 games as a playmaker on the team. Fredrik Modin has a blistering shot but the Isles might luck out with him missing the game due to injury. He is listed as day to day. He is 5-7-12 in 15 games played. Playing on a line with Lecavalier is speedy Ruslan Fedotenko, who was acquired from the Flyers last year for the 4th pick overall in the 2002 entry draft. Two more players to keep an eye on are Dave Andreychuk and Andre Roy. Andreychuk is continuing what has become a fabulous career as he recently set an NHL all-time record for most career powerplay goals. He currently has 599 goals, one shy of 600 in his career. Roy is not normally known for his scoring, but has done so this year following a surprising trade last year from Ottawa to Tampa Bay. This season he is 2-5-7 in 11 games. - Defensively the Lightning are getting production as well at both ends of the ice. Dan Boyle is their leading scorer with 2-10-12 in 19 games. Pavel Kubina has a huge shot and is 1-7-8 in 17 games. Keep an eye on former Islander draft pick Brad Lukowich who is 1-6-7 in 15 games. In goal, Nikolai Khabibulin is the guy the Lightning most revolve around. He has started 18 of the Lightning's 19 games this season and figures to get the start tonight as well. He is 11-5-2 with a 2.30 GAA as he backstopped Tampa Bay to a 5-0-2 start and 7-1-0-1 at home, just recently losing their first game at home 3-2 Tuesday night to the Flyers.
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
