Please Hold on to the Bar

Islanders 1 : Rangers 3

First a moment of silence for the Isles loss to the Flyers 5-1 on Saturday...and now a moment of gratitude that I did not make it to watch that game in Philly and sit amongst Flyers fans while my team got pummeled. At least, on this rollercoaster ride of a season, the Isles beat the Penguins and Jeff Tambellini came through in the SO. Good to see Coach Gordon has not given up on him, neither have I. There’s more in that guy, finding where the ‘more’ is seems to be the challenge. Check his pinky toe.

The 1st period started out with a ta-do about the line-up, I was making some tea so I missed what happened – came back to the TV to hear there was no penalty called. Shots were sent Yann Danis’s way and beyond his ability and tiger like stance (as in martial arts) I am convinced this guy has a fairy hockey-mother. Some pucks just seem to repel away from him and the net on their own. Nigel Dawes scored the first goal of the game (5:37) with a snap shot that seemed to be a result of poor Isles positioning – lacking depth. The Isles soon responded when Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau provided a nice set up for Mark Streit’s goal (8:24), even NIICCEEER was Streit’s lift on the puck. Brendan Witt and Aaron Voros exchanged some love taps – the first of many during the game. Also in the mix this period was Sean Bergenheim and Chris Drury. Andy Hilbert served 2 minutes for tripping (13:26) and once again Witt and Voros clashed, this time Voros fell down and went boom. During the intermission Butch ‘fly suit and tie’ Goring commented that he thought Bill Guerin was a great Captain. Agreed.

The 2nd period started out with another ta-do. From what I could tell the time clock was set for 2 seconds so the buzzer sounded after the face off which ultimately resulted in a do-over. Shortly into the period Frans Nielsen was sent to the sin bin for hooking (00.26). Brandon Dubinksy did a nice wrap around the net though not resulting in a goal and with that I got up to make more tea and came back to Ryan Callahan taking a penalty for holding (4:18). Nothing came of the power play or any other man advantage for the Isles last night. While Richard Park was serving time for goalie interference (6:32), Scott Gomez skated up the ice and sent a wrist shot (7:26) past Danis (7:26) making the score 2-1. The puck appeared to deflect off the inside of one of Danis’s pads but overall it looked like a delay of reflex in response to the shot. Billy Jaffe (and later, others) stated this was a goal Danis should have had. I tend to think shots straight on are harder to stop so with that I consulted with my hockey hero and nephew TJ who plays goalie for his high school team. Although TJ agreed that for him, straight on shots are harder at times to stop, he did think Gomez’s shot was soft, that Danis seemed to get a piece of the puck, and that his delayed response could have been due to Danis possibly anticipating that Gomez would make a play rather than shoot. Verdict? TJ agreed with Jaffe. As we talked about this kind of thing happening to a goalie, TJ pointed out that when an O or D player makes a mistake it doesn’t necessary mean it will cost the team a goal, that there are other players out on the ice who can compensate for the mistake but when a goalie makes a mistake, the chances of that resulting in a goal are much greater. Thanks TJ for your insightful perspective and as always I LOVE YOU!

With the Rangers now up by 1, a sin bin extravaganza began. Erik Reitz was called for kneeing Bergenheim (10:16) which led to Andy Hilbert stepping in to back up his teammate which led back to Bergenheim but this time engaging in a full on fight with Petr Prucha. Although Bergenheim, actually after this game Sean ‘mad dog’ Bergenheim, took Prucha down on the ice this clash also left Bergie limping away. All were sent for a time out with the addition of Voros serving for Reitz’s roughing penalty. (Bergenheim returned and seemed ok). Bruno Gervais drew a stick holding penalty (1:17) called on Nikolai Zherdev and Richard Park almost tied the score if not for the ‘clink’ sound of the puck hitting the crossbar. Brendan Witt served 2 minutes for roughing (16:58) I believe as a result of another clash with Voros.

Shortly into the 3rd period Erik Reitz served more time in the sin bin for tripping (2:18), a result of his stick blade getting caught in the skate blade of Tim Jackman. Josh Bailey found himself all alone in front of Henrik Lundqvist but Lunkqvist came up with the save. Topping off the penalties in this game was Chris Campoli doing time for interference (16:46). With Danis pulled, Fredrik Sjostrom scored on the empty net (19:53) resulting in a 3-1 loss for the Isles. Overall it appeared the Isles opted for a physical game rather than winning the game.

LET’S GO ISANDERS!!