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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: By now, we all know about the Islanders long drought at home against the Senators. They are 0-11-3 against Ottawa at home since a 5-4 win on January 6th, 1996. But the Islanders once again were looking to end the streak all decked out in new threads as they debuted their new orange third jerseys in front of the Nassau Coliseum faithful. One thing the Isles wanted to keep an eye on was making smart plays and decisions in order to counter act the speed of the Sens. Ottawa has an uncanny ability to create turnovers and jump all over it utilizing their speed and advancing the puck up the other way down the ice. The Isles seemed focused from the opening faceoff, but Chris Osgood still had to be on his game against the Senator attack. And boy was he ever on. Ozzie made several huge point blank stops that quite frankly would have been goals if this was October. Last time the Senators were in the Coliseum on 11/12 they popped in two powerplay goals in the first period which all but buried the Isles. Tonight the Islanders were up to the task on the PK as they killed off a huge 5 on 3 advantage for the Senators that lasted about 51 seconds. Both teams had 12 shots on goal in the period and both teams were pretty equal at all aspects of the game. The Islanders held a nice edge in faceoff wins though, 12-6. The Isles had the first two powerplay chances but failed to capitalize on both. - Early on in the second the Isles seemed to lose some of their focus in the first minute. The Senators were able to take a 1-0 lead at the 58 second mark when Daniel Alfredsson broke in unchecked and backhanded a sharp angle shot towards the net. Osgood went down to one knee but the puck went wide and hit Magnus Arvedsson on the inside thigh. He may have turned it to redirect the puck into the net, which is a legal play. Arvedsson's goal was his third of the season. The Isles tried to pick their game up but were having their usual difficult time against the Ottawa forecheck. Captain Michael Peca mentioned during a first intermission interview that he didn't think the Isles were making the smart decisions and thought processes that they had set out to accomplish at the start of the game. This is where the officiating got very erratic. At 15:09, one of the referees Brad Watson or Scott Zelkin, called Peca for frankly, a BS clipping penalty against former Isle Zdeno Chara. After Chara released the puck in front of the Isles bench, Peca finished his check and led into Chara's thigh with his backside. Some may have thought that the play was similar in a way to Darcy Tucker's hit on Peca in the playoffs last year that led to Peca tearing his ACL. So there was some odd irony that the play involved Peca. Perhaps the refs called the play because Peca bent over slightly. But this was in NO way a clipping play. Peca did not hit Chara's knee or bend as low as Tucker did to Peca last year. The hit was right to Chara's thigh. And we all know that Chara has a history of playing out a fake injury. He's done it before as an Islander. Peca was shocked to get a 5 minute major and a game misconduct, which left the Isles without their captain for the rest of the game. The Islanders were fantastic on the penalty kill and even managed to steal away some of Ottawa's momentum. Towards the end of the penalty and the period Jason Blake drew a penalty which evened up the sides. The Isles were determined as they have been as of late on their 4 game unbeaten streak. That's when the BAM line would get going, the Isles newly named top line. Kenny Jonsson played the puck up to Isbister who tried to rip a shot on Patrick Lalime, but had the shot blocked by a sliding d-man. Yashin received a pass from Isbister in the corner and the Isles center tried to stuff the puck in between the right post and Lalime's pads. The Isles may have gotten lucky on the play that the officials didn't call the play dead. Isbister came in determined to get his goal and found the puck next to Lalime's skate. He pounded it in for his team leading 7th of the season and tied the game 1-1 at 19:45. Yashin got an assist and extended his point scoring streak to 6 games in which he has accumulated 1-7-8. The Isles were penalized once again at the 20:00 mark when Jason Wiemer blindsided Curtis Leschyshyn into the boards. - In the third period the Isles did good work by killing off Wiemer's penalty right away. Shawn Bates would be penalized at 6:14 in what I feel was another BS call, but it's in the rule book and you have to accept it. But I feel that this rule should be changed. Bates barreled down into the Ottawa zone to retrieve a loose puck. Lalime decided that he was going to try and beat Bates, a play that we see every so once in a while. Bates and Lalime met at the same time and Bates nicely leveled Lalime popping his goalie mask off. Because Bates didn't try to avoid Lalime he was penalized. My problem is why should Bates have to avoid Lalime in that position?? I understand you shouldn't be allowed to interfere with with the goaltender in the crease or above the crease where the goalie might be trying to stop the play or grab a loose puck. But if a goaltender comes out into the corner or wayyyyy out of his crease to chase down a puck with an opposing player, he should be FAIR GAME!! I'm sick of some of these panzy ass NHL rules. I know they have rules to protect the players, especially the goaltenders because they are paid so much and are the last line of defense. But this is HOCKEY! That play is HOCKEY! The goaltender should not have a glass ball around him 100% of the time, especially if he decides to make an out of ordinary play like that. Anyway, back to the game. Ozzie would make some more point blank stops and Isbister missed a chance to give the Isles a lead directly in front of Lalime off a beautiful pass from behind the net by Yashin. Weinhandl had a huge third period offensively making fantastic moves and getting more and more confidence with each shift. I have another beef about the Isles broadcast teams concerning Weinhandl that i'll get to shortly. At 11:06 the Isles would get their first lead at 2-1 when Yashin made a nice backcheck move in front of Lalime where he pick-pocketed the puck from a Senator defenseman. As the the players flocked to Yashin, Weinhandl grabbed the puck and let go a hard wrister for his 1st NHL goal. The lead stood for a short period of time as Yashin was called for a tripping penalty in the defensive zone 35 seconds later. The Isles PK finally let down here as Marian Hossa was able to feed the puck out of the corner to a wide open unchecked Radek Bonk in front of the net. He walked to the side of Osgood and tied the game 2-2 at 12:38. The game would remain tied with the Isles only getting credited for 5 shots in the third. - In the OT session the Isles got more fantastic play from rookie Weinhandl, who I personally believe could be the best rookie in the NHL. He is starting to find his niche with the puck as far as scoring goals. He has been fantastic at passing the puck and playing with Yashin, they are building great chemistry. Weinhandl had a good chance to win it with a shot from the slot. Laviolette was trying to go for it as he often put out 3 forwards with one d-man. Overall, the Isles played well to gain the point. They didn't end the streak and we'll have to be reminded of it once again next year but they remained unbeaten now at 3-0-2 in the last 5 games. They now have 19 points in the East with a record of 8-11-3. They played well in the third despite not having Mark Parrish, who missed the game with the flu and Peca who was tossed in the second period. Plus they were without Claude Lapointe but Oleg Kvasha did return after missing 3 games with an aggravated ankle. The Isles will look to take one in Ottawa Saturday night, but not until after they look to beat Columbus at the Coliseum Friday night. With the Devils losing in overtime tonight in Detroit, the Isles remain 5 points out of 7th place. Note to Isles Broadcasting Teams: If any of the Isles TV or radio broadcasting teams see this I have a small request. It amazes me how long these guys, Chris King, John Wiedemann, Joe Micheletti and Howie Rose have taken to figure out the correct pronunciation of Mattias Weinhandl's last name. You can't fault them but someone should have asked if they are pronouncing it correctly. I was impressed that the Bridgeport Sound Tigers play by play man, Bill McLaughlin, corrected himself about the third game into the season. The correct pronunciation is vayn-hanh-duhl. So it sounds like VINE and not WINE. I'm waiting for them to get this right. It's a pet peeve. But hey, if Roger Nielsen can get mad over "offside" being called "offsides", then I can have my own peeves as well. : ) BAM: Brad, Alexei & Mattias Fight Card: None Commentary: I was happy with the point, but I can't tell you how much I hate these guys constantly coming out and gaining points on our home ice. I've never seen one team totally dominate the Isles like these guys do. They play the same way every time the Isles face them. But I guess I could have said the same about the Isles streak against Washington that was ended last year. But that series has gone both ways in the past. That one just went ridiculously long. The Isles have never really beaten the Senators, even when the Senators sucked. The Isles will keep trying to end streaks this week as they face Columbus Friday night, another expansion team they have never beaten. The Isles are 0-2-1 all-time against Columbus. Then they head to Ottawa Saturday. All in all it was a hard fought game, a hard earned point and the Isles remain undefeated.
Report Card: Brad Isbister: Is playing the best hockey of his career right now playing on the BAM line. Izzy has 3 goals in his last two games and is taking the puck to the net, the way he should. Alexei Yashin: Six game point scoring streak with an assist tonight. Is playing much better after what could be considered a slow start. Could be due to the addition of Weinhandl on Yashin's wing. Shawn Bates: Played well tonight. Had some big shots to almost end it in the third period. Mark Parrish: Missed the game with the flu. Dave Scatchard: Played well. His line along with Blake and Wiemer didn't get on the board offensively though as they had in recent games. Jason Wiemer: Used his body well. Took out Senators d-man Curtis Leschyshyn with a nasty hit late in the second. Jason Blake: Like I said, his line didn't contribute offensively tonight but they still played well. Blake was once again tireless on the PK and drew a penalty on the Peca major late in the second period. Claude Lapointe: Missed the game with a sprained ankle. Plans to return against Columbus Friday night. Was placed on the IR by the Isles. Steve Webb: Had a few effective shifts tonight and took the body like we've seen him do many times in the past. Eric Manlow: Was sent back down to Bridgeport this morning, which was surprising since Parrish was scratched with the flu. They obviously didn't know Parrish wouldn't be able to go. So the Isles dressed 7 d-men tonight with Ray Schultz unfortunately sitting on the bench for 65 minutes. Arron Asham: Played strong on the fourth line as he saw some shifts with the newly returned Oleg Kvasha. Oleg Kvasha: Returned once again and had a bit of a quiet night. He was scheduled to get the slow return treatment on the fourth line tonight but was bumped up to the lucky 7's line with Parrish out. He was the hottest Islander before he went back on the IR after aggravating his broken ankle from last month against Pittsburgh. Michael Peca: Was having a strong physical game until the officials wrongly thre him out of the game. Very ironic that Peca was involved in this play, but that's the way Peca plays. It was a clean hit, no where near the knees. It should not have been a game misconduct. Mattias Weinhandl: WOW! I keep leading off his review with a wow each time. This kid is a rising star for the Isles and I think he is the best rookie in the league right now that I have seen. It took him some time to get accustomed to North American play. But now he is looking like a keeper and the sky's the limits with his potential. He scored his first NHL goal, a beauty. But TV & radio guys, get the name right, PLEASE??? Defense: Roman Hamrlik: Played well and had a couple big shots, including one with 9 seconds remaining in OT. Dave Scatchard won a faceoff back to him in the Senators zone and Hammer blasted it over a diving d-man. But Lalime made the save. Adrian Aucoin: Strong game defensively. Eric Cairns: Played well defensively. Kenny Jonsson: Great game, was the Islanders leader on defense. Stood out. Radek Martinek: Bridgeport. Mattias Timander: Strong defensively, except for one bad clearing attempt that Osgood bailed him out on. Sven Butenschon: Is getting better defensively and has made a place for himself as a regular on the Isles blueline. Gotta love that goatee. Goal: Garth Snow: Suspended game 2/2. Chris Osgood: Ozzie had a stellar game and was named the first star by the media. He made some point blank saves in this game. One he made in the third was unbelievable. He got his arms up while sitting down on the ice to stop a deflected shot that almost ended up in the net. Osgood is like night and day now compared to October. Rick DiPietro: Has apparently gone up and down to Brideport these last couple of days. I don't think the Sound Tigers had any games between these last two Islander games, so I don't know why they wouldn't have left him to practice with the big club. I'm not sure what exactly DiPietro did.
Coaches Laviolette was upset, as he should have been, at the officials calls during the end of the second period. It's nice to see that Lavvy is not afraid of the officials the way some might think after he was fined for chastising them to the media and getting fined. He was upset over Peca being ejected probably more so than the Wiemer hit being penalized. Special Teams The special teams were very good tonight and the PK is slowly getting better. Unfortunately they stopped everything until the Senators 7th opportunity when they tied it 2-2. The powerplay only had 4 chances though and didn't capitalize after the Isles had scored at least one in their last 4 games.
Senators Tie Islanders 2-2
Lineups: ISLANDERS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS SENATORS DEFENSEMEN GOALTENDERS
Power-play Conversions:
OTT - 1 of 7, NYI - 0 of 4.
IslesInfo Pregame Preview Preview It's Time Nov 27: The Isles are hoping that the unveiling of their new third jerseys will have more of an impact tonight than just a fashion statement. They are hoping it will bring good luck as they attempt to break two very long streaks as well as stay in the playoff hunt. Isles vs. Ottawa Preview: Let's first start with the streak against the Ottawa Senators. It began back on January 6th, 1996, when the Islanders wore the forgettable blue, green and white fisherman jerseys. Players like Travis Green, Marty McInnis, Zigmund Palffy and Tommy Soderstrom adorned the jerseys. Yes folks, that was the last time the Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators at the Nassau Coliseum, 5-4 was the score in a very close game. No current Islander played for that team, not even Kenny Jonsson, who came over that March in a trade from Toronto. Only two Senators remain from the Ottawa team of 1995-96 as both Daniel Alfredsson and Radek Bonk enjoyed their rookie campaigns that year. Tonight there will be a third man on the ice who played in the game for the Sens, but this time he'll be looking to help the Islanders end the streak. That man is Alexei Yashin. Since that game, the Islanders are 0-11-3, winless in 14 games at home against Ottawa. The Senators seem to know that they play well and hold this streak in our building and tonight it is time to stop. The Islanders need to put an end to Ottawa's over confidence and swagger coming into our home turf. This is Islander Country!! Not Senators Country. Unlike two weeks ago when the Michael Peca-less Islanders lost 5-3 on home ice to the Senators and embarrassed themselves and the fans, the Isles need to come out with a purpose tonight for an entire 60 minutes. They need to show Ottawa that they can play with them at a high tempo. Plus, Alfredsson may be a good captain for the Senators, but he's no Peca. The Islanders need all four lines playing solid hockey like they have of late to come away with an important win tonight to keep their unbeaten streak alive. The Isles are 3-0-1 in their last 4, all on the road. They need to start now making the Coliseum a tough place to play for the opposition, as well as an advantage. If they can win on the road they should be winning more at home, where they are currently 4-7. - What's the second streak you ask? The Islanders are 0-11-1, winless in their last 12, in the game immediately following a win against the Rangers. The Islanders face a tough team to end this streak as they are 1-19-6 in their last 27 meetings against Ottawa. The Isles face Columbus on Friday at home and then travel to Ottawa to play the Senators yet again. - Can the Islanders continue to get production out of their top line of Alexei Yashin, Brad Isbister and Mattias Weinhandl? All three players combined for 8 points in the third period win against the Rangers, each player impressing in his own way. Yashin was the offensive leader and made some spectacular passes as he should for the Isles to win consistently. Isbister finally came through and scored 2 huge goals for this team. And Weinhandl, as I have been predicting all along, could be the answer for Yashin's permanent right wing as he had 3 impressive assists on all three third period goals. With a little more experience, the goals should come for the kid. - The Islanders, following their win Saturday afternoon were 3 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. They dropped 4 out following the rest of that evenings games. After last night's win by Montreal over Atlanta, the Isles come into tonight's game 5 points back of the 8th place Devils and Rangers who are both tied with 23 points. The Isles, with 18 points, have 3 games at hand on the Rangers while the Devils have 3 games at hand on the Isles. With a win tonight the Isles can tie the Leafs and Caps who both have 20 points at 9-11-2. The Isles have a game at hand on both teams. The Devils are in Detroit tonight while the Caps host the Flames. - Remember, tonight is the debut of the Islanders new third jerseys. So tonight is going to be ORANGE OUT night. Make sure you wear orange. Personally, I felt they should have done that last year during the playoffs, only because of the fact that we had white out nights and it just seems like every team does that. So I thought it would have been unique for us to do orange out night then. But anyway, that's in the past. - Think orange is out? Of course not. Hey, October just past. Pumpkins are orange. Not enough for ya? Well how bout those copycat Philadelphia Flyers? They will be introducing their third jerseys supposedly on Friday. The color? You guessed it, orange. Obviously a retro look for them harking back not too long ago to their road jerseys.
Sens Rolling as Well As mentioned the last time the Islanders faced Ottawa at home, two weeks ago, there has been one player on their team who has contributed probably more than any other to their dominance over the Isles at the Coliseum for the last 14 games. - That man is Marian Hossa. He has developed into a sure fire Islander killer. And, he is a big reason why since beating the Isles 5-3 back on November 12, the Senators are unbeaten in 7 going 6-0-1. So two teams with unbeaten streaks meet tonight. Ottawa is on a 3 game winning streak as well, the most recent a 2-0 home shutout of the Leafs Monday night. Martin Prusek got his first NHL start and win the first time these two teams met, but it's doubtful he will get the start tonight. Patrick Lalime is personally 4-0-1 in his last 5. Hossa added an assist in the game Monday night vs. the Leafs and has extended a point streak to 10 games. He added a hat trick late last week to his efforts. Hossa is 9-7-16 in that span and 12-10-22 in 19 games total. He happens to be one point shy of leading scorer Daniel Alfredsson who is 8-15-23 in 19 games. The first time around, the Isles failed to take advantage of the fact that Ottawa had a number of key players out with injury. Wade Redden is the leader on D who missed the 11/12 game. He is back and leads their blueline in scoring with 2-9-11 in 16 games, third overall on the team which is a big drop off from the production of Hossa and Alfredsson. Martin Havlat, who also missed the 11/12 game, is 3-7-10 in 13 games. Peter Schastlivy, a big Czech winger once rumored in trade rumors regarding the Isles, is back after missing the 11/12 game and is 6-3-9 in 14 games. Keep an eye on Mike Fisher, Todd White and Sean Van Allen. These are guys who provide good depth and scrappiness for the Sens. Another guy rumored to be in Islander talks is Radek Bonk, who is playing but due to various chest injuries has been limited to 9 points in 11 games. - Karel Rachunek has been recalled from the AHL earlier this week to replace Shane Hnidy who is out with an eye injury. But he sat out Monday night's game with a hip flexor and is day to day. Of course when playing Ottawa we always have to be reminded of the Yashin deal. Ottaw will counter with ex-Islander Zdeno Chara on defense. The towering d-man is 2-8-10 in 19 games. Both his goals along with an assist came in their 5-3 at the Coliseum on 11/12. Rookie Jason Spezza has 8 points in 15 games. Ottawa is 5th in the East at 11-6-2 and 24 points. They are second in the NorthEast division behind Boston. The Senators, who normally wear their road reds at the Coliseum, will wear their home whites against the Isles orange third jerseys.
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Lets Go Isles! |
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1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
