Tonight was the second game in a back-to-back match-up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. I was in Knoxville, Tennessee at Neyland Stadium to watch the Tennessee Volunteers take on the Missouri Tigers. It was a good game, but not as good as the game going on at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale.
I DVRed the hockey contest, but it was unrealistic to think that I could watch it, because I would be getting home very late and there is no way I could have waited all that time for the final result. I brought my iPhone to the stadium and had Twitter fired up to track the action. The cell signal at the stadium is very poor, so getting a Twitter re-fresh was spotty at best. An Islanders win and they would get a share of first place (they would have more wins that the Penguins but Pittsburgh would have a game in hand). The match up was Halak vs, Greiss so the Isles had the advantage in net.
It was also Billy Smith mini-locker night. They were honoring #31 and celebrating his contributions to the Islanders legacy with his leadership during the four Stanley Cup runs. He spoke to the media and to the team before the game, and then dropped the opening puck. It must have been electric at the ole barn tonight.
The Penguins got on the board first with a goal from Malkin late in the first period. From what I was reading the Islanders continued their strong play from Friday night and dominated the Penguins, however, they could not find the back of the net. I was not too concerned, because I knew it was early and that the Islanders had first place on the line. Shots on goal for the period were even at 9 apiece.
In the second period it was more of the same. Then lightning stuck for the second time in two games. Matt Martin had a nifty backhand in front of the net for his 2nd goal of the season at the 18 minute mark. The Islanders 4th line had been playing great as of late and also has been chipping in with some offense. It was a relief to get the equalizer going into the last period.
The third period was all Islanders. It started with a tip in from Anders Lee off of a Visnovsky slap shot. It was Lee's 3rd goal of the season. I do not know what the Islanders are going to do when Michael Grabner comes back from injury. Lee and Strome are both playing very well even though they have options and can be sent down to Bridgeport without going on waivers. The only options are to let Conacher go or trade Josh Bailey. The other option would be to trade Grabner and get some draft picks, but I strongly believe that would be a mistake. I think Grabner is a very good player and his speed adds another dimension to an already fast Islanders team.
About 7 minutes later Downie elbowed Hickey and knocked him down on a dirty and intentional hit. The Islanders went on the power play and they quickly made the Penguins pay. A tick-tac-toe pass from Tavares to Okposo to Nelson put the Islanders up 3-1 and the barn was getting loud. It was Nelson's team leading 10th goal of the year. Then to add insult to injury, Tavares got his 8th goal of the year. It was a neat play as Tavares pulled the puck back towards him and away from Greiss and then put it in the open net. The Coliseum was on tilt for sure. The sellout crowd of over 16,000 was delirious. Twitter was exploding with happy Islander fans.
As I walked out of Neyland Stadium I was not upset that the Vols lost to the Tigers. Knowing that the Isles had played a near perfect game and had a share of first place made me grin from ear to ear. After all, an Islanders win means more to me than anything else. As I was driving home I listened to some post game interviews in the car. I love the fact that the Islanders are not getting ahead of themselves and taking this season one game at a time.
Overall the Isles out shot Pittsburgh 35-28 and were clearly the better team. Now it is a couple of days off until another home and home with the Washington Capitals. There is a game at the Coliseum before Thanksgiving and then a re-match against Washington at the Verizon Center on Thanksgiving Leftovers Day on Friday. There is a lot of work to do in the office and there is a lot of preparation for my upcoming vacation in Germany. However, all of that is masked by the Islanders success.
They Islanders are clearly the best team in New York right now. The media has not given them the attention that they deserve. It is kind of like how the liberal media ignores Obama and all of his shortcomings. That will be changing soon. Its time for some band wagon jumpers. They will not be able to ignore this team much longer. They are for real. The time to jump is now.
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