Isles fans win by losing to Green's Caps
by Dominik on Apr 2, 2009 10:14 AM EDT
in New York Islanders Game Recaps
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PrintFor a fanbase that -- 76 games into Rebuild, Year 1 -- is largely just hoping to secure the best lottery ball at this point, last night's game was an ideal scenario: Minus team MVP Mark Streit, the Islanders got goals from their youngsters and put up two leads on a Cup hopeful, testing the Capitals at home and forcing them to come back via two power plays that were giftwrapped from the officials, with love.
In the end, a good game and not even a "loser" point accumulated to mess with the lottery standings. Frankly, I'd rather gather our remaining points when it can really hurt a team -- like tonight against Montreal...
Game Summary | Event Summary | nhl.com Recap
I don't want to make too much of the refs' rulings. The Josh Bailey "goal" was rightly waived off; it was just a cruel addendum to also give Tim Jackman an interference penalty when Tom Poti essentially "drew the charge" by standing him up on the way to the net, then allowing both of them to topple into Jose Theodore.
But the scramble at 9:26 of the third: Brooks Laich, really? Next time the players union in all its sincerity brings up hits to the head, I will remember that Laich's response to Doug Weight's great play to box him away from the Islander net is to slug Weight in the back of the head. The message: "Yeah, we care about concussions ... on our own team. But if I don't get my way, I'm suckering you from behind." You go, buddy.
Anyway, somehow the Islanders ended up shorthanded after the ensuing face-wash and shove festival, and Laich got off scot free, to add an extra degree of absurdity to things. The Islanders PK failed to hold, and the Norris-caliber Mike Green scored on both PP opportunities (his 29th and 30th) to reverse the 3-2 Islanders lead -- part of a third-period shot barrage that you knew was coming from the Caps.
Links, notes and video after the jump.
...Poor Joe Callahan. That really was an ugly turnover to create Keith Aucoin's goal. Brendan Witt was not innocent, though, losing sight of the fat rebound that Joey MacDonald put back into the slot...
...Frans Nielsen: I know his goal was off his foot, but man what a difference a year makes. Last season I thought he was a smart defensive forward with hands, like Richard Park, but Scott Gordon got him to see a higher ceiling for himself, and this year has been a revelation...
... Speaking of Park, another well-crafted breakaway goal by the secret weapon...
...Great combo on the first goal -- Kyle Okposo with the shot through a screen, Josh Bailey with the sly movement to create that screen....
... MacDonald: insane save during the frenzied scramble when it was still 3-2. Not quite the same failing to fight through the screen on Green's seeing-eye go-ahead goal.
Links
- Newsday: Minus Striet, Scott Gordon continued to experiment -- this time with D pairings.
- The Capitals side of things at Japers' Rink.
- 7th Woman says we're last, but we ain't easy.
- Forever1940 has the stat run-down. A top 4 pick is now clinched.
Tune in later for a look at tonight's Coliseum guests, Montreal.
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Haha. It was a throw-in either way. (“Ah, the D-man scored his 29th and 30th goals, I guess I better mention him.”)
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1979-80
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May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
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May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
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May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
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May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
