Islanders use balanced attack to beat Thrashers
Photo credit: AP | New York Islanders' Matt Moulson, left, is congratulated by teammate Bruno Gervais, right, after scoring a goal against the Atlanta Thrashers during the second period. (November 7, 2009)
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Nov. 7: Islanders 6, Thrashers 3
Unhappy with the previous two games and now saddled with a couple of crucial injuries, Islanders coach Scott Gordon made some adjustments last night.
Gordon placed sparkplug Richard Park on the Islanders' top line to inject some energy into a stagnant group and moved Kyle Okposo to the team's second line to balance the attack.
The move paid off. First-liners Matt Moulson (goal, assist) and John Tavares (two assists) had two points each and the Islanders scored a season-high six goals in a 6-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers at Nassau Coliseum.
Oh, and Blake Comeau? He scored a goal and added an assist in his first game back since watching the previous six from the press box and earned the first star of the game.
"The last two games, we struggled to get it done," Gordon said. "We mixed it up, got a different look and had some success. Balanced scoring is harder to defend against."
The Islanders took a two-goal lead out of an eventful first period in which they shelled goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and outshot the Thrashers 21-11.
Playing against his former team, defenseman Andy Sutton scored first for the Islanders, angling in from the left of the crease and backhanding one top shelf past Pavelec at 9:11.
After Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian tied the game at 12:56 with a wrist shot that beat Dwayne Roloson's blocker, the Islanders received goals from Sean Bergenheim and Jack Hillen and took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Comeau scored 22 seconds into the second period to make it 4-1. Back in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 26, he scored his first goal of the season by lifting it past Pavelec from the left circle.
"It felt good," Comeau said. "It felt even better that we got a win and I was able to contribute."
Pavel Kubina pulled the Thrashers within two goals with his one-timer at 3:42 of the second period, but Moulson, who entered this season with a total of six goals in 29 NHL games, scored his seventh goal of the season to give the Islanders a 5-2 lead after two periods. It also ended Moulson's five-game goal drought.
"We were kind of stymied the past two games against two good defensive teams," Moulson said. "It was good to bounce back like this."
The Islanders had a brief scare later in the period when Tavares was slow to get up after being smacked along the end boards by Eric Boulton, but despite skating over to the bench in pain, Tavares didn't miss a shift.
Johan Hedberg replaced Pavelec in the third period for the Thrashers, who got within 5-3 with eight minutes to go on Christoph Schubert's first goal of the season. But Josh Bailey added an insurance goal and concluded the scoring at 15:35.
"We needed this," Tavares said of the two points at home before the Islanders embark on a seven-game road trip. "This got our confidence up and ready for some tough games ahead."
