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IslesInfo Comments: The Islanders were all over the Capitals in the first period as they fed off the enthusiasm of the crowd. By the end of the period the Isles were outshooting them 16-3. With all that the Isles only went into the intermission with a 1-0 lead. The goal came at about 15 minutes in as the Islanders were wheeling and dealing on the powerplay. Alexei Yashin would get the puck by the left side boards, circle up around the faceoff dot and wrist a shot that Olaf Kolzig was screened on. Before he was even able to realize Yashin had released it the puck went over Kolzig's shoulder and top shelf. The fane erupted and Yashin seemed to celebrate arms raised with a look into the crowd.

In the second period the Islanders seemed to keep up the pace. The Isles were getting powerplay chance after powerplay chance and they kept going by the wayside without a goal. They were getting chances on shots from the point but nothing really down low around the goal mouth. Just when you were starting to worry that it would be a sloppy play that would tie it if the Isles let down for a minute, it happened. The Isles got running around in their defensive zone and the puck began taking weird bounces. Before you know it and three bounces later Glen Metropolit flubbed a shot that spinned directly over Chris Osgood's shoulder, where he lost vision, just about a period after the Islanders took the lead. Now the game is tied at 1-1 and you begin to fear the worst going into the third period.

The third period was more of the same as the Islanders had 9 total powerplay opportunities in the game. They scored on their first chance of the game but went 8 successive chances without scoring. And now, the Islanders have only scored two goals in two games, both on the powerplay and no even strength goals. The Islanders outshot Washington 36-14 in the game and in the last 4 periods have allowed just 15 shots against. Yet they got outscored in that span thanks to the game winning goal that they gave up at once again the 15 minute mark of the third period. The most dangerous Cap on the ice, Jaromir Jagr would get the puck off a down low pass in front of Osgood. Ozzie seemed to make the block but the puck found it's way underneath his body and into the back of the net. The Islanders basically had 4 minutes left to tie the game, including their 9th powerplay opportunity. They came up short. A disappointing ending to a great night and start. Now the Isles drop to 0-2 but can hopefully rebound yet again when they host Nashville on Tuesday.

Fight Card: After 4 fights against Buffalo, Washington is not that type of team and no fights broke out in this one. 

Commentary: How can they lose this game after outshooting them 36-14? And they lose 2-1? Where is the offense? Nothing from Isbister and Kvasha yet again. Washington apparently outbid the Islanders to get Kip Miller, but it's too bad the Islanders couldn't have kept him with the knowledge that they were also getting rid of another offensive player in Mariusz Czerkawski. 

Report Card:

Brad Isbister: Was more noticeable this game. Drew a couple penalties. But no quality scoring chances.

Oleg Kvasha: Played another ok game offensively and on the penalty kill. But how is he gonna score playing on the third line with Asham and Wiemer?

Alexei Yashin: Had a very good game. His goal against Kolzig was a rocket that the goaltender never saw. When he gets the puck his linemates never seem to get open.

Shawn Bates: Bit of an ordinary game.

Mark Parrish: Had a few good redirect shot on net. But once again nothing quality.

Trent Hunter: Not many chances except one in front of the net during the third period that hit a Cap defender.

Dave Scatchard: Played a physical game but really wasn't all that noticeable either.

Arron Asham: Through a couple big hit in the first period. Tripped over the blueline once in the third.

Jason Wiemer: Doesn't seem to get much opportunities offensively. He did have a play reviewed but the officials ruled it a no goal when the Isles were down 2-1.

Jason Blake, Claude Lapointe, Steve Webb: Once again this line gives everything they got every game. You just felt like they were going to score a goal. Very high tempo and physical.

Defense:

Roman Hamrlik: Is he going to keep playing just status quo hockey for the rest of his career? This guy has so much talent, yet he never seems to put up 100% and step it up to the next level.

Adrian Aucoin: Averaged close to 40 minutes in the game! Seemed like he was never off the ice. That's ok for now but not all season. Martinek better get back soon!

Eric Cairns: Not bad defensively. Got called for roughing it up with Chris Simon in the third period.

Kenny Jonsson: had an good game defensively and always seems to make that smart pass out of the defensive zone. But his three penalties in the game were uncharacteristic and it finally hurt the Isles on the Jagr goal.

Tomi Pettinen: Got very little icetime with Aucoin taking up most of it.

Goal:

Chris Osgood: Was better than the Buffalo game for about halfway through this one. Was guilty of a few bad bounces on the Metropolit goal. Should have had the Jagr goal. 

Coach:

Awsome audio of Lavvy in the locker room with the team before the game. He told them to be relentless for 60 minutes. Do it for the guy next to you and for the fans. Let them call us homers because that means we always win at home.

Gillies Drops the Puck

Even though the result was not good, the Coliseum was rockin as expected. One great moment before the game was when future Hall of Famer Clark Gillies came out for the ceremonial faceoff. He almost slipped on the ice, but recovered very nicely.

Overall it was a nice pregame ceremony. But I have to admit that it wasn't as nice as last years. Of course last season there was the excitement of the Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin and Chris Osgood acquisitions. As well as the great 4-0-0 start to the season on the road. Last season the Isles introduced a fantastic scoreboard video that was shown at every home game to mark their 30th anniversary. There wasn't really anything like that, but like I said that was for the anniversary and you can't do the same thing every year. Also, last season the Isles must have paid a nice penny to get Michael Buffer to introduce each of the Islanders. The regular public address announcer did it this year. 

The fans were LOUD! It was almost like a carry over atmosphere from last seasons playoffs. Chants of Lets Go Islanders could be heard many times before and during the game. As Peter Laviolette told his players before the game, it would be a compliment to be called homers this year and win all the time at home. The Islander fans take that to heart and do their part every game.

Capitals 2, Islanders 1

By IRA PODELL
.c The Associated Press 

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Jaromir Jagr scored a power-play goal with 4:36 left Saturday night, lifting Washington to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a game in which the Capitals had only 14 shots.

Calle Johansson's poorly struck shot trickled to Jagr near the right post. He sent the puck toward goalie Chris Osgood, who got his right pad on it but knocked it into the net.

The Capitals have mastered the art of banking in shots off goalies in winning their first two games of the season. On Friday, Peter Bondra scored when his shot struck the glass behind the net and caromed in when it hit the back of Nashville goalie Mike Dunham.

Glen Metropolit tied it 1-1 on Washington's eighth shot during a delayed penalty. While the Capitals had an extra skater on the ice, Metropolit was able to score his first of the season from in front at 15:08 of the second period.

New York nearly took the lead 2:29 into the third when Jason Wiemer jammed a puck at Olaf Kolzig at the right post. Wiemer raised his hands in celebration, and the goal light went on, but video replay showed the puck didn't completely clear the line.

The Capitals continued their parade to the penalty box that began Friday when they committed 10 infractions against Nashville. Washington was called for 10 more penalties, and a call for too many men on the ice led to the Islanders' goal.

Just 38 seconds after Metropolit went to the box to serve the penalty, Alexei Yashin fired a wrist shot from the left circle that cleared Kolzig's glove and went into the top right corner with 5:07 left in the first period.

The game played out similarly to Washington's first game. The Capitals managed only five first-period shots, en route to 28, against Nashville on Friday and only three against New York a night later.

Kolzig kept the Capitals in it, turning aside 15 Islanders shots in the first 20 minutes. Washington was outshot 8-6 in the second period and 36-14 for the game.

Except for a partial breakaway by Bondra in the second period, Osgood was hardly tested by anything difficult until the third. He was helped twice when pucks struck the goal posts in the second period before Washington tied it.

New York, which opened 9-0-1-1 last season and reached the playoffs for the first time since 1994, fell to 0-2. The Islanders have only two power-play goals in 18 chances this season, going 1-for-9 in both games.

Notes@: It was the 30th anniversary of the Islanders' first victory at Nassau Coliseum - a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 12, 1972. ... Kip Miller, New York's leading goal-scorer in last season's playoffs, is now with Washington. His older brother, Kelly, a longtime Capitals player, is an Islanders assistant coach. ... New York D Adrian Aucoin played his 450th NHL game. ... Washington began an eight-game road trip and is not home again until Oct. 30 against Boston.

Lineups:

ISLANDERS
FORWARDS
(17) Shawn Bates-(79) Alexei Yashin-(37) Mark Parrish
(15) Brad Isbister-(38) Dave Scatchard-(21) Trent Hunter
(45) Arron Asham-(28) Jason Wiemer-(12) Oleg Kvasha
(55) Jason Blake-(13) Claude Lapointe-(20) Steve Webb

DEFENSE
(29) Kenny Jonsson-(3) Adrian Aucoin
(4) Roman Hamrlik-(8) Tomi Pettinen
(33) Eric Cairns-(2) Mattias Timander

GOALTENDERS
(35) Chris Osgood
(30) Garth Snow

CAPITALS
FORWARDS
(17) Chris Simon-(9)Dainius Zubrus-(68) Jaromir Jagr
(12) Peter Bondra-(20) Robert Lang-(14) Kip Miller
(22) Steve Konowalchuk-(11) Jeff Halpern-(25) Mike Grier
(18) Mike Pettinger-(21) Glen Metropolit-(51) Stephen Peat

DEFENSE
(2) Ken Klee-(55) Sergei Gonchar
(19) Brendan Witt-(58) JF Fortin
(6) Calle Johansson-(44) Steve Eminger

GOALTENDERS
(37) Ollie Kolzig
(1) Craig Billington

 

FINAL	1	2	3	Total
Washington Capitals	0	1	1	2
New York Islanders	1	0	0	1

 

Period Summary
Shots on Goal	1	2	3	Total
Washington Capitals	3	6	5	14
New York Islanders	16	8	12	36
First Period
Scoring: 1, Ny Islanders, Alexei Yashin 1 (power play) (Kenny Jonsson, Shawn Bates), 14:53. Penalties: S Eminger, Was (elbowing), 3:11; D Scatchard, Nyi (elbowing), 11:01; Bench, Was (too many men served by G Metropolit), 14:15; C Simon, Was (roughing), 16:36.
Second Period
Scoring: 2, Washington, Glen Metropolit 1 (Peter Bondra, Ken Klee), 15:08. Penalties: K Jonsson, Nyi (closing hand on puck), 3:50; S Eminger, Was (slashing), 6:13; K Jonsson, Nyi (holding stick), 7:02; C Simon, Was (slashing), 11:13; D Zubrus, Was (obstr hooking), 16:07.
Third Period
Scoring: 3, Washington, Jaromir Jagr 2 (power play) (Calle Johansson, Robert Lang), 15:24. Penalties: J Fortin, Was (interference), 0:11; S Eminger, Was (tripping), 7:43; C Simon, Was (roughing), 11:33; E Cairns, Nyi (double minor roughing), 11:33; K Jonsson, Nyi (slashing), 13:34; J Halpern, Was (tripping), 17:26.

Power-play Conversions: WAS - 1 of 5, NYI - 1 of 9.
Goalies : Washington, Olaf Kolzig (36 shots, 35 saves; record: 1-0-0). Ny Islanders, Chris Osgood (14 shots, 12 saves; record: 0-1-0).
A: 16,234.
Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Mike Leggo.
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Jean Morin.

 

Washington Capitals
G A + / - SHOTS J Halpern 0 0 even 1 P Bondra 0 1 +1 2 K Miller 0 0 even 1 C Simon 0 0 even 3 M Pettinger 0 0 even 0 B Witt 0 0 even 0 K Klee 0 1 +1 2 R Lang 0 1 +1 0 G Metropolit 1 0 +1 1 S Konowalchuk 0 0 even 0 M Grier 0 0 even 0 R Berry 0 0 even 0 S Eminger 0 0 even 0 S Peat 0 0 even 0 S Gonchar 0 0 +1 2 J Fortin 0 0 even 0 C Johansson 0 1 even 0 J Jagr 1 0 +1 2 Totals 2 4   14
Did not Play:   • M Farrell -- Coach's Decision   • R Berry -- Coach's Decision   • S Cote -- Coach's Decision

 

New York Islanders
G A + / - SHOTS O Kvasha 0 0 even 5 C Lapointe 0 0 -1 1 B Isbister 0 0 even 1 S Bates 0 1 even 4 M Timander 0 0 -1 1 S Webb 0 0 -1 0 T Hunter 0 0 even 2 J Wiemer 0 0 even 2 K Jonsson 0 1 even 4 A Aucoin 0 0 even 2 E Cairns 0 0 -1 0 M Parrish 0 0 even 3 D Scatchard 0 0 even 2 R Hamrlik 0 0 even 0 A Asham 0 0 even 2 J Blake 0 0 -1 4 A Yashin 1 0 even 3 T Pettinen 0 0 even 0 Totals 1 2   36
Did not Play: Ray Schultz Michael Peca Radek Martinek

IslesInfo Pregame Preview

2002-03 Home Opener

The Coliseum will be alive and kicking once again as the New York Islanders open up their 2002-03 home schedule tonight when they battle the Washington Capitals. The Isles will be looking to rebound from Thursday nights forgettable loss.

Oct 12: The Islanders realize they have 81 games left to go, so it doesn't make sense to linger on the season opening bad loss. But coach Peter Laviolette has them focused on what will be a tough game at hand against the always annoying Washington team. The Islanders can think of their last game against the Capitals on April 6, 2002 for inspiration, for it was that game late last season that vaulted the Islanders into the playoffs for the first time in 8 years when they won 5-4. The win also ended a 22 game winless streak against the Capitals.

Preview: Washington is coming off a win in their season opening home opener last night as they defeated the Nashville Predators 5-4 thanks to a goal by new Cap Robert Lang with 54 seconds remaining in the game. The Isles will see an old face from just last season as Kip Miller was signed as a free agent by Washington. He signed with them in large part thanks to his past success with Caps winger Jaromir Jagr, and the fact they offered him a two year deal over the Isles one year offer. Miler had 2 assists last night including one on Lang's game winner. Of course Jagr is always a top priority to try and shut down. Petr Bondra tallied two goals and an assist last night. Many of the Caps top offensive players are European(Jagr, Bondra, Lang, Sergei Gonchar, Dainius Zubrus), so it will be interesting to see how the Isles mean, scrappy play will match up. The Capitals a few days ago acquired heavy hitting Mike Grier from Edmonton for a couple draft picks. The Isles just acquired Sven Butenschon from Florida, but it is unknown what their plans are for him just yet. Whatever happens, the Isles should come out with much more energy, determination and jump after getting embarassed against Buffalo. The fans will demand it. The Coliseum will be rockin again!

- This will be the Islanders 31st home opener. It was 30 years ago tonight that the Islanders won their first game ever in 1972 when they defeated the LA Kings 3-2 at the Coliseum. One positive note the Islanders can take from their loss to Buffalo was that they only allowed one shot on goal in the third period which tied a team record. They should generate some more scoring chances tonight, especially with the home crowd behind them cheering them on.

Lets Go Isles!