Isles 60 Shots Can's Stop Hurricanes

by: Brian Bohl | Senior Writer - NY Sports Day | Sunday, October 26, 2008



UNIONDALE, NY - Cam Ward’s uniform already contained more rubber marks than a Nascar track before the Hurricanes netminder faced Doug Weight’s penalty shot with seventh-tenths of a second remaining.

The Islanders set a franchise record with 60 shots even before Weight, who Ward’s teammate during its Stanley Cup championship run in 2006, took the biggest shot of his brief Islanders career. Down by a goal with less than a second remaining, the Islanders mounted a late rush before the officials ruled Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason covered the puck in the Hurricanes crease. By rule, the referees awarded a penalty shot to the delight of the remaining crowd.

Weight tried a deke move to Ward’s glove-hand side but couldn’t lift it high enough, cementing a 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes Saturday night. Ward’s 57 saves set a new record for the Carolina/Hartford Whalers franchise. The Islanders shattered its previous shot record of 54 yet still lost for the third straight game.

“With the ice conditions, I needed to do something where I could deke and put it on the ice, which on this day and age is pretty tough to do,” Weight said. “He was out 10-12 feet. I made my decision, I tried to put it high-glove but he made the save.

“Directionally, he went down, which was good. I had to make the perfect shot. I knew that going in. No excuse. He made a better save than I made a shot. He played it well.”

The bad news continued for the 2-5 Islanders. Goaltender Rick DiPietro, who missed the season’s first four games following offseason knee surgery, allowed two goals on 12 shots in the first before backup Joey MacDonald started the second. Coach Scott Gordon would not say how DiPietro reinjured himself, but basically confirmed the move to be a health decision by insisting the goaltending change was not performance-related.

“He’s day-to-day,” Gordon said. “That’s it. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I’ve been told our policy is that we can’t talk about injuries and that’s what I’m stuck with. All I can tell you is it wasn’t his performance.”

DiPietro surrendered two goals on 12 shots in his 20 minutes. Carolina opened the scoring just 3:43 into the game thanks to poor decision from the netminder. DiPietro gloved Eric Stall’s shot from the top of the left circle before dropping it to continue play.

DPietro proceeded to try and clear it up the middle, allowing Chad LaRose to knock it down with his glove before beating the goalie stick-side for the first of his two goals. After the game, DiPietro took the blame for the mistake but would not address questions about his health, citing an organizational policy that won’t allow anyone to discuss injuries.

“With as much respect as I can; I’d rather not talk about it,” DiPietro said. “It’s becoming a bit of a distraction answering questions all the time. When we figure out what’s going on, you guys will know.”

Future Hall of Famer Rod Brind’Amour added the second goal against DiPietro. The centerman won an offensive-zone draw and sent it back to defenseman Joe Corvo, who unleashed a shot from the right point that DiPietro stopped with his pad. But Brind’Amour skated to the slot and chipped the rebound into the left side of the net for a 2-0 lead at the 8:49 mark.

The Islanders lost for the fourth time in five games but still accomplished something not even the four-consecutive champion teams from two decades ago were able to accomplish by cracking the 60-shot barrier.

Fifteen of those shots came on the power play, where the Islanders finished 1-8. Freddy Myer recorded a two-point game, scoring an even strength goal 3:56 into the second and assisting on Sean Bergenheim’s tally early in the third.

Mark Streit added the Islanders lone power play goal with 9:26 remaining, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Weight assisted on the goal, sliding a pass at the point to Streit. Before scoring with the man advantage, Weight’s huge hit actually facilitated the power play opportunity.

The former All-Star leveled Carolina’s Brandon Sutter on a hard, but clean open-ice check in the neutral zone. Sutter stayed down on the ice for five minutes before being sent to North Shore Medical Center. Weight was not penalized, though Ryan Bayda was called for roughing in the ensuing pushing

"Brandon was coming up, and the puck was bobbling," Weight said. "I wanted to shoulder him, but he leaned forward at the last second and I had no way to stop. I hope he's OK.".

Myer’s added his first goal of the year, converting a rebound attempt after Ward stonewalled Andy Hilbert’s wraparound attempt to cut Carolina’s lead to 2-1. Whatever good will Myer built up dissipated nearly seven minutes later when Eric Staal picked off his defensive zone centering pass, allowing the former 40-goal scorer to skate in unchallenged before beating MacDonald glove-side.

Bergheim’s second goal of the season made it 3-2 before LaRose took the air out of Nassau Coliseum with his second goal of the game. LaRose entered the game without a point in his first six games.

Bill Guerin assisted on Streit’s goal to make it interesting. The Islanders captain said the outcome was disappointing but pointed to the effort as improvement from Thursday’s home loss to Dallas.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win tonight,” Guerin said. “That’s the biggest difference from last game. It’s a loss and it’s unacceptable, but the effort was better.”