The Score Doesn't Tell the Whole Story

Islanders 3 : Flyers 5

The score at the end of one period told the perfect story for Islanders fans. It was 3-1, on goals from Richard Park, Josef Vasicek (his first in a month) and then the captain, Bill Guerin, with a goal by Scott Hartnell thrown in between. It seemed as though the Isles had the game in their hands and the two points firmly in check, and all they had to do was hold the lead.

Turns out they couldn't even do that.

By the time two periods were over, Hartnell had scored his second on a crazy carom with Rick DiPietro behind the net, and Steve Downie scored to tie the game at 3. The Isles had seemingly fallen asleep, taking penalties and giving the league's best PP prime chances to get back into it. Trent Hunter had gotten his first career major for fighting with Derian Hatcher (and not landing anything, unfortunately), and the Isles had given up their lead, stirring echoes of the game they played in Calgary which resulted in a 5-4 SO win, but could have been a regulation win for the Isles had they not given up a 3-1 lead yet again.

By the third, it all unraveled.

Hartnell ended the game with a hat trick, Mike Richards tacked on a goal, and the Isles were buried just like that, in a 5-3 loss at the Coliseum. The careless play that the Isles executed allowed the Flyers to pull even and then ahead, and resulted in a lot of heads shaking and tongues wagging after the fact. Not only that, but some chances were wasted- Hunter and Mike Comrie both generated chances and could not finish them up with the score still close, so that by the time the Flyers pulled away the Isles were regretting their lackadaisical playmaking.

On a brighter note... Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt, both out with injuries for the past few games (Martinek for the last month), will play in the Isles' game against the Hurricanes tomorrow afternoon. Martinek had eight points and 67 blocked shots before his injury, whereas Witt has been in the top 10 in shot blocking with 109. Together, the top two will definitely provide energy, leadership, and more toughness to the defense. Also, Wade Dubielewicz has returned to the Island after a two-game conditioning stint in Bridgeport, and will perhaps look to start a game for the Isles this week, giving Rick DiPietro a rest.
link for more details- http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=350650