A Big Two Points, A Bigger One Tonight... and the Spotlight on One Top Line Center

Great, entertaining game last night between the Sens and the Isles. I apologize to my friend upstate who just loves the boys from Ottawa, but hey, you got a point :P . JK. Upon speaking to Christine last night on the phone I must give her full credit for calling those two shootout goals (Guerin and Sillinger)- your sixth sense is definitely much stronger than I thought, haha. Overall, the Isles put out a great effort (and an otherwise solid Rick DiPietro almost gave me a heart attack in OT, but redeemed himself in the shootout), and thus snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Senators dating back to two years ago. A huge win for them, for Rick, and what impressed me the most was the fact that both Ottawa goals came from a defenseman, Andrej Meszaros. Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza were both stymied by the Isles' defense and DiPietro, despite getting about 40 shots on goal between them. It shows that the Islanders are definitely a defensive team, and with yet another one-goal game behind them, it proves it. Quite frankly, although I would love to see some scoring, as long as the PK and D keeps going strong, and DiPietro remains consistent, I'll be happy to spend my lunch periods typing away in the tutoring office about games instead of doing homework or studying for AP American History, while my friends chatter away and no doubt think that I have no life whatsoever. After all, the Isles are my life, right? *wink*

Now... on to a young man, our supposed number-one center, by the name of Mike Comrie. I say "supposed" because in the last ten or more games, he has slowly faded out of sight and has definitely not played like the monster he was in the first five games of the season. He's been holding back his shot to pass, and oftentimes that pass attempt has turned into clears or non-opportunities. It's frustrating to see this guy play now, and honestly speaking, I could care less about his relationship with that Duff girl (yes, I'm 16 and I've managed not to be a fan of her)- what I'm concerned with is him putting the puck into the net, which he's failed to do as of late. He hasn't been working as hard as I thought he would, and even though he may be our points leader and on pace to score a lot of goals this season, he hasn't been PLAYING like it. Stats could very well be meaningless if there is nothing to show for it in a guy's play. At the beginning of this season, I was looking forward to seeing him play the most out of all the new guys on the Island. Now, I look forward to him actually managing a shot on goal.

He- as well as Guerin (who may wake up now after his shootout goal) and Fedotenko- could do so against the Rangers tonight at MSG. This is their fourth meeting in two months, and the second straight at the Garden, and of course this will be one full of emotion and edge, as games against rivals usually are. Sean Avery looks to miss this one with an injured left wrist, and that saves the Isles from that pest's appearance on the ice, which is a good thing. It may not be so, however, for the Rangers, who have depended on the forward's presence to spark the team (which I find pretty sad- no offense). We'll see how this one pans out tonight, and here's to hoping the offense gets going and the D stays hot!