No Tiramisu For You!

The Islanders travelled to Pittsburgh for the first of two back to back games. Both teams were referring to these games as “playoff-like” because after a team plays one game adjustments need to be made quickly. What adds to this is the overall atmosphere. The Islanders are off to a good start and are only three points behind the Penguins heading into the game. A good weekend and the Isles could overtake or tie the Penguins. Last and certainly not least is the fact that these two teams are very competitive and hate each other. Game on.

Unfortunately, I will not have the pleasure of seeing either game live. On Friday, I travelled to Knoxville to see the Tennessee Volunteers take on the Missouri Tigers. On Saturday, I will be at Neyland Stadium with 102,000 of my fellow Vol Fans cheering on Big Orange. I was in the car driving up I-75 towards Knoxville and put the hockey game on the radio. Thank the lord for cell phones and the internet. Otherwise I would been screwed and would have had no way to know what happened. I DVRed the games at home, but it would have been hard to wait a couple of days to find out the results.

I was going about 90 miles and hour on the interstate to make up some time. However, I think the fact that I had Red Bull n my system and the Islanders game on the radio contributed to my breaking of the law. As the game stared, the Penguins got on the board first in the first two minutes as Brandon Sutter defected a puck past Johnson. It was risky starting Johnson against Fleury on Friday, but if the Islanders could pull out a win then they would have the advantage the next night with Halak in the Nassau Coliseum against the Penguins back up goalie.

Then the onslaught started. Starting at 8:18, Matt Martin came off the bench and found the puck to the left of Fleury and put one past him. It his first goal of the year and after that goal every forward could say that they have put at least one biscuit in the basket. It was important to tie it up so quickly because Pittsburgh had been playing well and Fleury has had a couple of shutouts in the past two weeks. Then a minute later, Nikloay Kulemin came into the Pittsburgh zone by himself and after some nifty stick handling he put a quick second goal past the goalie. It was his fourth goal of the year. He was the throw-in when the Islanders signed both him and Grabovski over the summer. However, Kulemin is turning out to be a very welcome addition.

Before I could let it soak in that the Isles had taken the lead, Ryan Strome scored to make it 3-1. It was Strome's fourth goal in a little over a week. I looked at Kellie in the car and confidently said “I told you…they are in fact a very good team this year”. There is no denying that now. Before the period was over the Penguins had a lucky deflection off the stick of Blake Comeau to make it a 3-2 game. It was unfortunate that it was a one goal game, because the Islanders were so much the better team. It would be interesting to see what was going to happen the rest of the way.

In the second period, Nick Leddy got his fifth goal of the year to re-establish the Islanders two goal lead. However, the Penguins got one back with a goal from Nick Spaling to make it 4-3 going into the third period. By this time, we had arrived in Knoxville and at Altruda's for dinner. I turned the game off and when inside for some good Italian Food and a couple of glasses of Malbec. Kellie wondered if I was going to listen to the game in the restaurant, but I could not do that. It would have been dis-respectful and a little strange to eat dinner with ear buds. Anyway, I had my iPhone on the table and kept refreshing TSN to get updates.

For the first 13 minutes the game remained at 4-3. It was impressive that the Islanders had maintained the one goal lead for so long. I wondered if that was how the game was going to end. However, the Penguins tied the game with a goal from Patric Hornquist. I kept refreshing the score for the rest of the third period and the overtime and was very nervous that the Penguins were going to somehow pull the game out. It went to a shootout. At least the Islanders got a point.

In the skills competition, both Malkin and Tavares missed on their first attempt. Then Neilsen and Crosby got their respective teams on the board. In the third frame, after Johnson stopped a shot, Kyle Okposo got the game winner. The Islanders got the bonus point and improved their record to 13-6. It did not work out exactly the way I wanted it to, but to get two points on Friday gave the Islanders the chance to tie the Penguins at home on Saturday. I did not see the game, but it was very clear the Strome had to be the player of the game with his goal and two assists. That gives him a very quiet 15 points. He is starting to show what he can do

I was very happy with the Islanders win. I had finished off my Snapper al Limone and pasta and ordered Tiramisu for dessert. The last time I was at there we got in too late and they ran out of my favorite dessert. Tonight was the same. No Tiramisu for me. I was disappointed. I always get it whenever I am at a good Italian restaurant. I looked back at the menu and ended up getting the New York Cheesecake. I found the following in Wikipedia:

New York-style cheesecake relies upon heavy cream or sour cream. The typical New York cheesecake is rich and has a dense, smooth, and creamy consistency. Sour cream makes the cheesecake more resilient to freezing and is the method by which most frozen cheesecakes are made. However, a lavish variant uses sour cream as a topping, applied when the cheesecake is cooked. It is mixed with vanilla extract and sugar and replaced in the oven, essentially making the cheesecake twice-baked.

Then afterwards I thought that maybe it was meant to be. Celebrating the New York win with some New York Cheesecake. Both the Islanders and my dessert were rich, dense and smooth. Suddenly my dessert tasted all that much sweeter.