Isles Get Fired Up, But Win Not Found

Islanders 1: Flyers 2

The Isles are still having some issues with getting the puck into the back of the net. The good part about this for today is that the Flyers didn't do that much better.

What began as another frustrating showing by New York turned into an all-out, to-the-wire thriller at the Wachovia Center, ending with the Islanders coming up that short against Philadelphia. Daniel Briere scored his 18th of the season to start it off, and then Scott Hartnell scored on the power play to make it 2-0. Josh Bailey would score his own after a man-advantage (more on that in a moment) to cut the lead in half, but though the Isles eventually got the jump and life that they had had during earlier wins, they couldn't get the equalizer.

That said, they did come out strong after a bizarre turn of events. It had seemed as though Kimmo Timonen had gotten the Flyers a 3-0 lead, but after Dwayne Roloson had been interfered with and (furiously) protested, the goal was disallowed, and Hartnell made his way to the penalty box for goaltender interference. Seconds after Hartnell came out of the box, Rob Schremp led Kyle Okposo and Bailey down the ice and centered to Okposo, who got to Bailey at the back-post. 2-1 Flyers, tables (almost) completely turned. In the third, they really got things going with scrappy play and plenty of pressure, but Ray Emery proved to be too good. That, and the Islanders failed to elevate the puck on plenty of good chances where half the net was open. The penalties they took were of no help either. Emery finished as the number-one star of the game, though Roloson made some decent saves of his own, including a point-blank one on Jeff Carter who hovered at the doorstep.

Trevor Gillies was recalled from Bridgeport, and the 31-year-old played just over three minutes, with Blake Comeau being the healthy scratch. I'm consistently against these kinds of call-ups, because I feel as though it's unfair to both the call-up and the scratch. The scratch sits out while the call-up barely plays, and with Gillies in the role of an enforcer- well, you know exactly the only thing he was there for. As it was, he didnt' factor much into the game at all. Reminiscent a bit of Mitch Fritz last season. Scott Gordon would be better off getting a forward who will play more than just three minutes a game into that spot, if he doesn't like what Blake Comeau is doing. Just my two cents' worth, though; I'm only the blogger in the room.

Tomorrow afternoon, it's the Isles up against the Panthers at the Bankatlantic Center at 4:00 p.m. 3:30 pregame, of course, and the game can be seen on MSG Plus 2, NOT MSG Plus. Check your local listings.

Notes: Each team finished with 32 shots... The Isles went 0-4 on the power play, 5-6 on the penalty kill... The Flyers have now beaten the Isles for 14 straight games.