Shootout+ John Tavares= TWO POINTS, FINALLY!

Hurricanes 3: Islanders 4 (SO)

Say it ain't so, Joe! Or in this case, John, as in John Tavares, who scored the shootout winner in a game that looked for a split second as though it would go the way of all the other games before it- Isles take a lead, Isles lose a lead, Isles lose a game. But instead, the Islanders made things right after losing a 3-1 lead in the third period, and were able to hold onto the two points.

As I was sitting in my 6 p.m. Mass Communication class and listening to a lecture on film (joy!), the Islanders took on the Carolina Hurricanes and started off strong. Matt Moulson opened up the scoring at around the 8-minute mark, with help from Andy Sutton to initiate the play. After the first goal, Brendan Witt scuffed skates with Scott Walker, and fought pretty well until he got knocked off balance. But that was all for the first period.

In the second, Carolina was able to tie things up on the power play (with Blake Comeau in the sin bin for interference), as Scott Cullen scored on a wacky goal that banked off of D Jack Hillen and past Dwayne Roloson. Timmy Jackman would get the lead back for the Isles, however, on an assist from Nate Thompson. 49 seconds later, the score was 3-1 New York, when Andy Sutton batted a Hillen shot out of mid-air and into the net. After quick review, it was ruled a goal.

However, as New York (perhaps?) got worn down, Carolina kept going, and Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen eliminated the lead in the third period, perhaps just as I was getting back from class and interviewing my professor for a project. Just like that, it was 3-3, and overtime was imminent.

Nothing happened there, and a fast-paced OT led to a shootout. Immediately you could sense some fear among the Isles fans furiously tweeting and Facebooking about the game. Roloson is a good goalie, but he hasn't faced many of these EC shooters... his five hole is shaky... who was Gordon going to put into the shootout... ugh, we're going to lose this game, were just some of the thoughts running through my head. But Rollie stood tall, denying one shot and allowing another, and the Isles were a perfect three-for-three - Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen, and Tavares all scored to preserve the second point and give the Isles their first win of the season, finally.

Relief!! Now for tonight's game against Montreal, who some say isn't as good as last year's squad, but can still give us some trouble tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Notes: Andy Sutton had his first multi-point game since Nov. 29, 2008... Hillen, Nielsen and Tambellini were the only three Isles who didn't register an official shot throughout regulation and OT... Tavares had 6 shots on goal... Mark Streit led, as usual, TOI with 27:07... Bruno Gervais, Rob Schremp and Jon Sim were scratches for the Isles last night.