Isles Sweep Home-and-Home Against Ottawa

by: Brian Bohl | Senior Writer - NY Sports Day | Sunday, November 16, 2008



UNIONDALE, NY — The Islanders entered Saturday night with an NHL-low 12 points. Considering the team’s standings, it seemed like a rematch against Ottawa heavily favored the Senators.

But the Isles bucked history—both recent and long-term— by shutting down the Senators offense and capitalizing on quality scoring chances to post a 3-2 win at Nassau Coliseum. Joey MacDonald, who negated the Sens offense in a 3-1 win Thursday in Ottawa, recorded 38 saves.

“Whenever you pick up a couple of wins in a row, it’s good for your confidence,” MacDonald said.

Islanders coach Scott Gordon had watched his club blow four multi-goal leads this month and the Sens almost became the fifth team to accomplish the feat when Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza scored just 4:58 apart to turn a 3-0 deficit into a one-goal game with 1:33 remaining.

This time, Gordon watched his team shrug off the set-back and hang on for the victory in regulation. It also marked just the second time the Islanders won two straight games this season.

“It’s the mind-set that’s maybe starting to change on our team,” Gordon said after recalling a message veteran center Doug Weight delivered to his teammates. “We keep skating. It shouldn’t be me having to say it. It should be something they take upon themselves.

“The more we get a comfort level with our system-play, the more it will come from the players and not me.”

MacDonald made 29 saves in Thursday’s win and continues to look comfortable in the starter’s role following Rick DiPietro’s knee surgery. The 28-year-old stopped 67 of 70 shots faced, picking up a banged-up defense that received a boost when Radek Martinek returned to the lineup.

“Fortunately, we kept boxing them out,” MacDonald said. “I’ve seen a lot of shots. The rebounds I did give up, they [defensemen] were there to clear it out.”

Ottawa had lost just 13 of the past 60 meetings versus the Isles before Sean Bergenheim, Jon Sim and Chris Campoli built a 3-0 third-period lead.

Bergenheim’s rebound goal 3:54 into the second broke a scoreless tie. Goaltender Alex Auld stopped Doug Weight’s initial shot, though Bergenheim crashed the net and pushed in the rebound that beat Auld glove-side for his third goal.

Jon Sim added the second goal exactly six minutes later, adding to the Isles’ resurgence on the power play. Following Shean Donovan’s roughing penalty, Sim scored on a shot from close range. He completed his two-point game on Campoli’s goal, completing his multi-point game.

Campoli’s tally 3:59 into the final period appeared to be just a tack-on goal, but proved to be the game-winner thanks to Ottawa’s late rally. Campoli’s shot from the point nestled over Auld’s glove into the net’s top-right corner.

Ottawa stormed back and put a scare into the announced crowd of 13,722. The Islanders survived a two-man penalty kill at the end of the road victory in Ottawa but couldn’t escape a similar jam. The Senators didn’t score on the two-man advantage, though Heatley converted the 5-on-4 chance.

Heatley, a perennial All-Star forward, scored his 10th at the 13:29 mark, banging home Daniel Alfredsson’s pass to end MacDonald’s bid for his first career shutout.

Jason Spezza exacerbated the “here we go again” groans from the crowd when he banged home a garbage goal. Heatley fired a centering pass that hit Islander winger Tim Jackman’s skate. The puck went to Spezza’s stick, who took two whacks before finally pushing it past MacDonald’s out-stretched right pad.

Despite the appearance of another collapse, Weight said the Islanders are becoming more confident in Gordon’s system and are looking to build confidence after improving its record to 6-9-2. The victory marked just the third time the Islanders won at home in 10 contests.

“We've got a team that can compete. We've got a system that's good for our team,” Weight said. “We've got guys that are believing more and more in themselves, and hopefully, we can keep going in that direction.

“We have a chance to creep back to the .500 mark.”

Notes: Darryl Strawberry dropped the ceremonial first puck. The former Met great now runs a charitable organization called The Darryl Strawberry Foundation for Autism.

"We raised money for an Autism center in St. Louis," said Strawberry, who was attending his first Islanders game. "The money goes into the kids program. My wife's sister worked at the center in St. Louis, and when I visited it, I was blown away. I knew nothing about Autism at the time, and I realized that they needed help. There needed to be more of a global awareness of Autism."

Also, general manager Garth Snow released a statement regarding defenseman Thomas Pock, who was suspended five games after elbowing Ottawa's Ryan Shannon during Thursday's game.

"We understand the league's position in respect to cracking down on hits to the head and we agree with their objectives. It was an unfortunate incident and we hope Ryan can return to the ice quickly."

Pock also released a statement, adding, "I understand why there is a need for the league to enforce a strict policy on hits to the head. I have reached out to Ryan to apologize and I hope he makes a quick recovery." Shannon was scratched after suffering a concussion from the elbow.