Fresh off an emotional and exciting shut out of the New York Rangers, the Islanders took on the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Nassau Coliseum on Friday night. The Islanders came into the game a single point ahead of the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division and only a single point out of first place in the entire Eastern Conference. No one would have faulted the team if they had lost this one as you can't win every game on the schedule....or can you?
It was Bryan Trottier mini-locker night as the team once again paid tribute to one of their legends. Each one of these events has turned out a sell out crowd and a great game to boot and this night would be no different. Trotts was the glue that kept their top line together during the cup years. After retiring he had a fallout with the team and it was a number of years before he was welcomed back. It was nice to see him honored one last time.
It was about six or seven years ago that I was sitting in Champions bar in the Long Island Marriott after an Islanders game. I was there to meet Chris Botta who use to work for the team and also ran a popular Islander fan website. Islanders Point Blank was about to be shut down and Chris needed a sponsor to help supplement the cost of operating the web site. For some reason I reached out to Chris and helped him get a new job at AOL Fan House writing a hockey column. That helped finance the web site during an important time. Over time Islanders Point Blank was eventually transitioned to new management, however it still is alive and well today. It turned out that my involvement kept the site operating during a critical time. No telling what would have happened if I did not come forward. Glad that I did.
It was the first time I had met Chris in person and as we were sitting there in a booth having a drink all of a sudden someone sat down right next to me and it was none other than Bryan Trottier. I sat next to an Islanders legend for a good half an hour just talking hockey. I was excited on the inside but remained calm on the outside. I wanted to come off as a normal person and not a crazy fan. To this day I am not sure if that meeting was staged by Chris as a "thank you" for helping him out. It did not matter. It was a memorable experience all around.
After Trottier was introduced to the crowd and the ceremonial puck was dropped it was time for hockey in front a another sell out crowd. It was the same line-up once again and Jaroslav Halak was in net against Marc-Andre Fleury. The Islanders started their fourth line to not only reward them for their recent play, but also to send a message to the Penguins that they needed to bring their lunch pail to the Nassau Coliseum. A lot of the Islanders success lately has been due to the fact that they have been able to roll four lines and not worry as much about match-ups. That also enables them to limit minutes, keep everyone well rested, and simply wear teams down over the course of sixty minutes.
Right at the drop of the puck Martin-Czikas-Cutterbuck applied a lot of pressure and nearly scored. The Islanders had the better of the play for the first part of the game and also had the first power play. But they could not convert. What else is new. Same result, different day. Some say that the definition of insanity is "to continue do something over and over again and expecting a different result." If that is the case then the Islanders need to think about checking into an asylum pretty soon. The power play looked slow with too much passing and a lot of indecision.
On the other hand, Pittsburgh got two straight power plays and netted two quick goals. Crosby got the first one when he charged the net and got a lucky bounce of the puck off of his kneecap that scooted past Halak. Then less than two minutes later Perron scored off of a slap shot to the right of Halak. It was not a good sign. Whenever the Islanders play the Penguins and special teams are involved it always seems that the Penguins score with the man advantage while the Islanders struggle. Maybe the trick to beating the Penguins is to not commit any penalties.
Before the period was over the Islanders were able to get one back. Right after failing on their second power play, John Tavares came across the blue line into the Pittsburgh zone and stick handled past Despres and found Kyle Okposo's skate to make it 2-1. Tavares' play was very impressive as he nearly broke the ankles of the defenseman. It was Okposo's 10th goal of the year from Tavares and Bailey. It was not pretty, but BookerT certainly took it as goals have been few and far between for him. Islanders barely beat out the Penguins on shots 11-10 for the first period.
The Islanders started their fourth line again to start the second period and once again they applied a lot of pressure and nearly scored. The play then started to open up in the period as there was a lot more end to end action. Both teams were getting chances and it felt like someone was going to break the ice. That would end up being one Ryan Strome about twelve minutes in.
Strome led a two on one deep in the Pittsburgh zone and dropped a pass into traffic. He should have shot it himself. Fortunately the puck went into the corner and found its way back to the center of the ice where Strome was waiting for his second chance. He wristed one past Fleury to tie the game at two apiece It was Strome's 8th goal of the year from Lee and Nielsen. The 21 year-old kid can certainly play the game.
It looked like that would be the score as the period wound down. Travis Hamonic took a penalty with seconds left and let up a bit on the delayed penalty. However, the Penguins did not let up and Crosby slid the puck past Halak after some nifty passing for a 3-2 lead with five seconds left in the period. Usually goals at the end of a period end up being very demoralizing and the momentum usually carries over to the next period. Once again, not a very good since going into the third.
In the last frame the Penguins dominated play for the first five minutes. It was looking more and more like the Islanders were going to lose this game as expected. However, that was not to be. The Islanders top line pushed the play a bit and banged around in front of the Penguins net. Okposo was standing to the right of Fleury and got a rebound off of a Tavares shot. Kyle backhanded it in and the game was tied once again at three apiece. Bailey ended up with the second assist on Okposo's 11th goal of the year. Islanders Nation was happy, but what they did not know was that Kyle was far from over on this night.
A little bit later on Tavares found Okposo once again in the slot and he wristed one more goal past Fleury for am improbable 4-3 lead with about eight minutes left in the game. It was Kyle's 12th goal of the year and his first professional hat trick in his seven year career. Tavares and Hamonic had the assists. At this point the hope was to just get to overtime and steal a point, but Okposo again had other ideas.
Play in front of Fleury started to get nasty with a lot slashing by both teams. Sticks were broken on both sides. The Penguins were getting more aggressive. Steve Downie, in particular, from the Penguins was not very happy with the referees and voiced his displeasure. He felt that the someone from the Islanders should have went to the sin bin. However, play continued on and after the puck was cleared all the way back to the Islanders zone, Downie sought out his own revenge and checked Brock Nelson in the back right in front of the referee. He took a stupid two minute penalty with a little less than three minutes to go in the game.
It only took the Islanders a matter of seconds to get the puck in front of Fleury on the power play. A number of people wacked at it, but Okposo had the last wack for his 4th goal of the game and 13th of the season. It was the first time since 1992 that an Islander had four goals in a game in the Nassau Coliseum. The crowd was going nuts. It was about time that the Islanders got a power play goal. I guess timing is everything. Michael Grabner then potted the empty net goal for his 3rd goal of the season. All of a sudden a game that looked like defeat ended up being a 6-3 Islanders win.
Overall, it was a very exciting game. The Islanders bombarded the Penguins with 16 shots in the third period and ended up out shooting Pittsburgh 35-24 for the game. The Islanders reclaimed the top spot in the Eastern Conference and opened up a three point cushion on Pittsburgh heading into Montreal on Saturday night.
Just when you think this team has done everything it can they somehow figure out a way to do the unexpected. It is amazing to see how even-tempered they are as a group. Everyone has the same mentality and are on the same page. They constantly tell the media that "they have not won anything yet." They are right. They haven't until they win the Stanley Cup in June. This is starting to feel like a team of destiny.
I started out wondering if a team could win every game. Perhaps they can't, but the Islanders are starting to make their fans believe that they can.
These are the good times....very good times indeed.
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