Isles Stop Canucks In Mid-Flight

Canucks 1: Islanders 2 (SO)

According to the Vancouver media, this was supposed to be a no-contest.

Well, let's hope no one placed a large sum of money on that assumption.

In truth, the Islanders brought plenty of their game over the second and third periods, defeating the Canucks 2-1 off a pretty backhander from Frans Nielsen in the shootout and making a statement to trounce all other statements last night.

Firefighter Appreciation Night saw Joey MacDonald douse the fire that is the Vancouver offense, which got things done the way they wanted to in the first, cycling the puck and getting plenty of chances. Pavol Demitra slapped the puck in from the point to make it 1-0 only 49 seconds in, but otherwise, MacDonald rebounded extremely well, once again doing all he could to keep the puck out of the net, as well as getting some help from the posts and his defense and penalty killers. The period ended 1-0, but the Islanders got things started well in the second, getting more of a presence in on the forecheck and cashing in on a power-play 3:54 in, thanks to Doug Weight (his 4th, and extending his point streak; Weight now has points in ten of the Isles' 13 PP goals).

There were a couple of flip-flops during the game; Sean Bergenheim displayed some very good defensive play, while Andy Sutton jumped in on offense with quite a bit of prowess. Also, Tim Jackman seems to be coming into his own now, crashing the net and getting a few chances against red-hot goaltender Roberto Luongo (34 saves last night), who has 5 shutouts on this season and had been 4-0-1 in his last five starts (.59 GAA, .979%). When the shootout arrived, Scott Gordon's choices clearly showed just how much focus he is giving young Josh Bailey, as he was the second shooter to face Luongo. First, however, was Nielsen, whose shootout goal in only his first NHL game lifted the Isles over the Toronto Maple Leafs last year; likewise, his was the only shot to get past Luongo, and it turned out to be enough, as Kyle Wellwood, Demitra, and Alex Burrows were all denied by MacDonald, who made 31 saves.

Surely by this moment, if not during overtime, the media up North was chewing on their pens with worry, and today had some explaining to do concerning their strong understatement of the Islanders, who now have a three-game winning streak.

LET'S GO ISLANDERS!!

Notes: Brendan Witt is inching closer to a return, but Kyle Okposo is out with an arm injury he sustained in last night's game. More info to follow...