A Night In Boston

Last night was the first hockey game in Boston since the tragedy at the Boston Marathon. The video above was taken by Jesse Spector whose a writer with SportingNews. It was an emotional night that started with that special moment. The game had a playoff feel to it considering there are only a few games remaining and the Buffalo Sabres are fighting from behind to get in the 8th spot. They showed that they can come from behind when they tied the game up with a goal from Cody Hodgson with 27 seconds left. The game went into a shootout in which Ryan Miller saved all 3 attempts from the Bruins. Fan favorite Drew Stafford scored on the 3rd attempt for the Sabres to win it and put Buffalo 2 pts behind the Rangers and Jets for the 8th spot. Given the Sabres have a game in hand on Winnipeg and 2 on the Rags, but as I always say, that is a few games in hand that the other team can lose, not to mention tho but they do play the Rags & Jets in the final games remaining. And yes considering that I mainly focus on Islanders hockey, the Sabres do have a game left vs the Islanders who currently have the 7th spot. That is the last game of the season so it has the potential to be a big one. For more on Sabres hockey and their run for the playoffs check out http://sabrespulse.blogspot.com

Boston... Check!!

Josh Bailey was a beast last night scoring 2 goals in a 2-1 win in Boston. Mark Streit also had assist on both goals. You also can't forget about Nabakov who stood on his head making 30 saves and just missed stopping the only Bruins goal as it hit his arm before sneaking into the net. It was a good road win to keep up with Ottawa who also won. Tomorrows game vs the Rangers is going to be huge so expect a very physical game with some good goaltending.

Also in a scary moment last night David Krecji tripped Travis Hamonic causing him to fall awkwardly looking like a hyperextended knee. Hamonic left the ice without putting any pressure on the knee that appeared injured. The Hammer did however returned after only missing a few minutes showing that hockey players are indeed the toughest athletes. I just wonder if Derrick Rose happened to see that last night, considering he still hasn't returned to the court after missing a whole year and counting.

With the win last night, the Isles have now beaten every team in the East except for Carolina who they play April 23rd, it's nice for hockey to still be relevant when your an Isles fan this time of year.

Voided Trade?

It felt like long ago that the Islanders traded for Lubomir Visnovsky, really just 10 months ago. It seemed that he didn't like the deal as he wanted to void the trade but now its 10 months later. The Islanders are tied with the Rags for the 8th spot, given their game in hand. But big news just announced is that Visnovsky has just resigned for 2 more years. This deal will soon bring the resigning of Mark Streit which I say will happen in the offseason, meaning 1 more year to see John Tavares as Captain of this team. It is great to see a first timer with the team wanna resign. Things are starting to look different for this team.

The Test Ahead

Even though the Filthy Flyers are having a bad season they always play the Islanders good. Just a few weeks ago they made the Isles look like a peewee hockey team so I was a little nervous going into last nights matchup. I turned the game on a few minutes late but just in time to see the Flyers go up 1-0. The Isles are not a great 3rd period team hence the blown leads in previous games so I wasn't feeling good about being down 2-0, thank God tho for John Tavares as he put the team down by 1 with a min left in the 2nd. They fought hard and showed a lot of heart in the 3rd period though, something that the team was missing the previous 5 seasons. Colin McDonald who was involved in a little scrap earlier in the game with Scott Hartnell tied the game for the Isles in the 3rd and then scored again to put them ahead 3-2. Then as time winded down a questionable delay of game call against Frans Nielsen put them down a man, and with the Flyers pulled goalie it was a 6 on 4. History told me that the Flyers would tie the game and of course with 30 seconds left history smacked me right in the face. The Isles had a few chances in ot with a man advantage but with no success so it was onto a shoot out. The Isles played catch up most of the game and were forced to do so in the shoot out with Claude Giroux scoring first. Brad Boyes answered though with a nice shot top shelf and a save by Nabby led to Josh Bailey scoring the game winner, a great win vs a team that embarrassed us weeks earlier in the Coli.

Now with 3 wins in a row tomorrow the Islanders face a huge test, the Penguins. With newly acquired faces including Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginlia it will be tough vs an already stacked team who hasn't lost since February 28th in Carolina. Since then they are winners of 14 in a row including 2 victories over the Isles. However tomorrow is a new day and as the late Owen Hart says "enough is enough and it's time for a change", a Penguins loss would be great, even better will be the Islanders beating them.

The Goalie Scores!!!

On Thursday night Marty Brodeur played in his first game since February 21st and he scores? He scored his 3rd career goal and he has more goals than Marty Reasoner this year. The goal was absolute luck as he just so happened to touch the puck last.

Then in a Polish league a goalie scored on a 2-1, that's right he actually shot the puck into the net. The goal didn't stand since a goalie can't cross the center red-line. The goal was quite amusing and I loved the goal celebration. To make things worse the opposing team was awarded a penalty shot due.

But when I hear about a goalie scoring I always think back to this, Ron Hextall in the '89 Stanley Cup  Playoffs,

Greatest Show On Earth!

Just this past weekend the Barnum & Bailey Circus was at the Nassau Coliseum. The circus was supposed to be long gone last night, but when the Islanders took the ice I couldn't tell the difference. Okay, the first 2 periods were great where the Islanders were up 3-1, Bailey/Neilson/Okposo line were dominating during that time. Some players from both teams appeared to be falling and mishandling the puck due to the poor Coliseum's ice surface, thanks to the circus and an old building. Once the third period started the Islanders blew the lead in 2 minutes. As a fan I saw it coming with this team just like most others due to recent history. Keith Aucoin scored what appeared to be the go ahead goal but was disallowed. Butch Goring was adamant that it should of counted and I agree with him. The game from there was an absolute joke. Granted the Islanders had 6 power plays and they did blow the 2 goal lead right into the 3rd period. The end of this game was totally determined by the refs. First the Aucoin no goal (which was Toronto's doing) and then the failed call that changed the game then Ottawa touched the puck first after Mike Zibanejad's high stick which led to the go ahead goal with 1 minute left. So the one game that the Islanders really needed, now that they have to face Montreal and then Pittsburgh in back to back games. I am very interested to see how the Islanders will respond tomorrow night, I expect the team to come out strong, its just the 3rd period I am worried about. Until then, enjoy:

A Fun Week Ahead?

It is almost that time of year where you have to look at your team and see if your a real contender. Don't get me wrong, there is still lots of hockey left to play but the trade deadline is approaching. Some teams who are on the bottom trying to play catch up are going to be looking at there roster and see if they want to go all in and try to add a few missing pieces or to roll back and go for it next season. As time goes on and the deadline gets closer more and more teams could become sellers. A team like Florida can shop players like Stephen Weiss whose in a contract year who they will most likely lose in the off-season anyway and at least get something in return.

Now the Islanders being just 2 points out of the 8th seed I have to say I am glad for how things are till now with the exception of Michael Grabner and David Ullstrom injuries and 2 blowout losses vs the Flyers and Pens. I know I maybe making it seem that the Islanders are a lock for the playoffs but hey, the team is over .500.... by 1 game. For real though, they are due to make the playoffs soon or a later with not being there in the past 5 years. It would be only fair to the fan base that they make an attempt to make a little run.

It is still real early into the season but this week is a big test for the Islanders. A game on Tuesday vs an Ottawa team looking for revenge from the previous shootout loss, and even more versus the Habs on Thursday who the Islanders beat twice so far. The worst part of the week but  has a chance to be the best part with an Islanders win would be the game versus the Pens. It will be a back to back coming off of Thursdays game at the Coliseum. That game will be a tough task for the Isles considering last game was terrible vs Pittsburgh let alone the Pens dominating right now winning 9 in a row. Damn you Crosby whose still crying from getting hit with the puck last game in the Coliseum.

 I feel as tho I would be asking too much to see them go 1-2 over this 3 game stretch but an 0-3 will definitely change the tune I am singing as I look at my team just 2 out. We do have Florida to look forward to on Sunday but even they nearly tore the Islanders hearts out coming back from a 3 goal deficit to then lose in regulation. Come on tho, the Islanders have the longest current drought in the NHL when it comes to winning a playoffs series which came 18 seasons ago. All I have had since then was hope and that is all that I can have now, but this time we got John Tavares and a young group with Dougie Weight helping us and he has been to the playoffs more recently then the Islanders team has.