Off day for Isles after big win

Sunday November 8, 2009 12:26 PM By Katie Strang

 No practice for the Islanders today. Instead they can bask in the glory of last night's 6-3 win. Ton of storylines last night that should make for a nice Sunday: the top line's re-emergence, Comeau's feel-good first game back, defensemen chipping in (Honestly, Andy Sutton's hands on that goal!), Tavares' underrated playmaking ability, Nate Thompson's contributions (two assists), Bergenheim's first goal, and Bailey plugging along.

Very hard to find many drawbacks from a game in which the Isles had a season-high 45 shots on goal (they outshot the Trashers 21-11 in the first period) and finished with a season-high six goals.

It really cannot be emphasized enough the importance of gaining those two points at home--not to mention the confidence--before hitting the road for a 7-game stretch. I will continue to harp on this point throughout November, but this month and grueling schedule (12 of their next 14 games on the road) will reveal the identity, character and resolve of this team.

Also, was nice to see Richard Park, who has centered a hard-working, energetic fourth line recently,  work with the Islanders top line last night.

I asked Moulson and Tavares after the game about what Park brought to their line, and the answer was basically...What doesn't he bring? Energy, versatility, good forechecking, etc

Give credit to Scott Gordon for shaking things up and getting six goals out of his team last night.

Moulson told me an amusing anecdote after the game about the recent drought he had been having and the lagging production of the entire top line in recent games. Apparently, Moulson's girlfriend made him and Tavares lunch yesterday before the game (Matt's favorite--chicken parm) after which she wisely predicted, 'With my luck you guys are going to have a big night and I'm going to have to do this every game."

Smart girl :)

Live Game Thread 17: Thrashers at Isles

Saturday November 7, 2009 6:51 PM By Katie Strang

 Isles take on the Kovalchuk-less Thrashers for their last home game before embarking on a 7-game road trip.

Just spoke to Scott Gordon about the loss of Radek Martinek for the season and this is what he had to say:

"To me, he's one of the best-kept secrets in the NHL as far as what he brings to the table," Gordon said. "He's a huge loss for us."

So Freddy Meyer gets his chance on D after sitting 8 straight as the healthy scratch.

Gordon said he'll go with the current group and abstain from seeking outside help or calling a guy up in order to have a seventh defenseman around.

"There's no need to have someone here just to have someone here," Gordon said.

Doug Weight misses his sixth gam of the season tonight. He suffered an upper-body injury in last night's game and is expected to be out for a week.

That means Blake Comeau rejoins the lineup after being scratch the past 6 games. Gordon said he has liked Comeau's physical play thus far, but wants to see him bring more.

"He's got to have the makeup to want to go to the dirty areas," Gordon said.

Pay attention to what Gordon does with lines tonight. Depending on how Comeau does, he may shuffle a bit.

UPDATE: Isles win 6-3

After combining to score only one goal in their previous two games, Islanders broke out for a 6-3 thumping of Atlanta. Huge two points at home for the Islanders who now face a seven-game road trip and 12 of their next 14 on the road.

 Big night for Blake Comeau, who scored in his first game back since being the healthy scratch for the past six and earned the first star of the night.

After the game, Scott pulled me and Post scribe Dan Martin aside, and said, " See? That's exactly what I was talking about" when talking about how Blake played last night, crashing the net and making things happen.

A tough stretch for Comeau, no doubt, but he handled it with patience and it paid off .

"It felt good," Comeau said. "It felt even better that we got a win and I was able to contribute."

Speaking of contributions, the Islanders got contributions from all over the place last night. Bergenheim and Comeau scored their first of the season, top-liners John Tavares and Matt Moulson both scored two points to end a stagnant stretch for their line and d-man Jack Hillen and Andy Sutton chipped in with goals as well.

As expected, Gordon tinkered with the lines and placed workhorse Richard Park on the first line, moving Kyle Okposo to the second line. Seemed to work.

"The past 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 hard to defend against."

UPDATE: Isles lead 5-2 after two periods

Islanders are on pace to make it a two-bowl-of-chili night for fans in attendance, as they come out again with a two-goal lead after a goal-studded second period.

After being scratched 6 straight games, Comeau scores his first of the season, carrying it through the neutral zone and lifting it past Pavelec. Kubina gets the Thrashers back in it shortly afterwards with one-timer setup by Hainsey.

Matt Moulson then breaks his five-game goal drought at 11:59. Tavares, who has two assists already tonight, swung back around the net and found Moulson in the slot where he teed it up off his skate and roughed up Pavelec for the fifth goal of the night.

Scary moment for the Islanders with less than five minutes to play in the second as Tavares got smashed against the end boards by Eric Boulton and skated off the ice in pain. Rest assured however, Tavares didn't miss a shift.

UPDATE: Isles lead 3-1

Action-packed first period and a good one for the Islanders who come away with a two-goal lead after outshooting the Thrashers 21-11.

Andy Sutton scores first for the Isles against his former team, angling in and backhanding one top shelf past Hedberg, assisted by John Tavares at 9:11.

Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian ties the game on a nice feed from the neutral zone from Rich Peverley, wristing past Roloson's blocker at 12:56

Then Sean Bergenheim (finally) gets rewarded with his first goal of the season as he hammered home a rebound to give Isles a  2-1lead less than minute later.

Isles extended their lead to two with a little more than a minute to play as Jack Hillen let loose a cannon from the left point at 18:52

Radek Martinek done for the year

Saturday November 7, 2009 12:54 PM By Katie Strang

 Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek is done for the year with a torn ACL in his right knee. Martinek suffered  the injury during the third period of last night's game when he got hit hard along the boards and lay on the ice for several minutes afterward. Tough break for the Islanders, who lose one of their top defenseman, and for Martinek, who battled injuries last year as well.

Doug Weight is out one week with an upper body injury. Not exactly sure when this happened, but he did get hit hard twice late in the game last night and he looked like he was reeling a bit as a result.

Photo credit: AP

Live Game Thread 16: Isles at Devils

Friday November 6, 2009 6:57 PM By Katie Strang

 Islanders take on NJ tonight at the Prudential Center, facing former Islanders goaltender Yann Danis. Danis will make his second start of the season tonight against his former team; he earned his first win of the season October 29 by making 31 saves in a 2-1 win over Boston.

Patrik Elias also makes his season debut since undergoing groin surgery in September, replacing the injured Rob Niedermayer.

Biron in goal tonight for the Isles. Streit and Gervais will start on D. Isles' fourth line of Thompson-Park-Jackman are your forwards.

UPDATE: Isles lose 2-1.

Rolston's goal stands up as the decisive game-winner. Isles turn it up in the third, but can't make up for a lackluster first two periods.

"Very disappointed," Scott Gordon said of his team's play.

A clearly frustrated Martin Biron took full accountability for the Devils' first goal, Cory Murphy's slapshot from inside the blue line, and said it was a crucial point of the game.

"It was a bad goal," Biron said. "I tried to get the puck into the corner before I made the save and it just caught underneath my stick. It was a bad goal that let them get back in the game."

Biron essentially said they handed the Devils the game and that they should've won 1-0.

"There are absolutely no positives to take from it."

*No morning skate for Islanders, but I'll check back in with any news

UPDATE: Devils lead 2-1 after two

Devils hit their stride in the second scoring two unanswered goals to take a one-goal lead heading into the third.

Devs d-man Cory Murphy tied it up with a slapshot from inside the blueline that looks like it may have caught a piece of someone's stick and skipped past BIron at 2:38.

Then, Brian Rolston scored his 100th goal as a Devil on a nice give-and-go play with defenseman Andy Greene to tally NJ's first power-play goal of the game.

UPDATE: Isles lead 1-0 after first period

Frans Nielsen scores his third goal of the season and the Islanders' first of the night at 6:23. Jon Sim did a nice job keeping the play alive along the boards and Sean Bergenheim made a nice centering feed, allowing Nielsen to backhand it past Danis for a 1-0 lead.

Good period for the Islanders. Stingy defensive effort in front of BIron

More on Islanders prospect Bobby Hughes' arrest

Friday November 6, 2009 5:40 PM By Katie Strang

 I just spoke with Bridgeport Sound Tigers President Howard Saffan about the arrest of prospect Bobby Hughes. According to the Connecticut Post, Hughes was arrested on a warrant issued from Bethlehem, NY for first and third-degree criminal sexual act.

Saffan said the incident occurred last year while Hughes was playing for the AHL's  Albany River Rats and that the Islanders were unaware of the situation until Wednesday.

"This was an incident that occurred during his tenure in Albany and we had no information regarding this," Saffan said. "We first learned of this when the U.S. Marshals showed up at our door."

According to Saffan U.S. Marshals came to the rink before the Sound Tigers game against Adirondack Wednesday and escorted him out during the game. He appeared in court yesterday and was released shortly after being booked Thursday night. Hughes was being held on $100,000 bail and Saffan said he believed that family members posted bond for him. Hughes is apparently en route to a family member's home in Albany until he can deal with this legal matter further.

Saffan, a lawyer by trade, said there was no backup documentation beyond the arrest warrant and that the case is sealed, thereby preventing them from gleaning any further information about the situation.

This is what Saffan had to say on Hughes' behalf:

"Bobby is an Islander. We stick by him. In this country you're innocent until proven guilty and we stick by him as an Islander."

The Islanders traded prospect Rob Hennigar in exchange for Hughes in August and had no knowledge that he had any legal matters pending.

I  spoke with Albany River Rats president Garen Szablewski, who said their organization was also not privvy to this information.

"No, not at all, " Szablewski said of his knowledge of the incident. "I did have a link forwarded to me today and I read a brief account, but no, none at all."

Isles prospect arrested

Friday November 6, 2009 3:50 PM By Katie Strang

 According to the Connecticut Post, Islanders prospect Bobby Hughes was arrested following Bridgeport's 4-2 loss to Adirondack Wednesday. Hughes, who the Islanders acquired for Rob Hennigar in August, was arrested on a warrant from Bethlehem, NY for first and third-degree criminal sexual acts. After appearing in court and waiving extradition to NY, the judge ordered Hughes held on $100,000 bond

Will report back as I learn more.

UPDATED: Hughes posted bond and was released shortly after being booked. He  is no longer being held in custody

UPDATE: Islanders general manager Garth Snow declined to comment until further information about the situation is known

Biron in goal tonight

Friday November 6, 2009 12:58 PM By Katie Strang

 Martin Biron will start in goal tonight as Gordon has once again flipped the rotation. Gordon said he looked at the upcoming schedule and said he liked how Dwayne Roloson matched up against Atlanta, who the Isles play at home tomorrow.

So, it looks like the exact same lineup as Wednesday against Buffalo.

Here is what Gordon said about former goaltender Yann Danis, who helped fill the gap last year when both Rick DiPietro and Joey MacDonald went down with injury and will get his second start of the season for the Devils tonight.

"Really his season came together after the West Coast trip in January. When we got back he had an opportunity to go in after Joey got hurt. From that point he really took the ball and ran with it," Gordon said.

"I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a guy who played better during his stretch where he was on top of his game from a goals-against and save percentage standpoint. For me, he really cleaned up a lot of the little things that were missing in his game, and he worked at it. That's all you can ask for your players--to work hard and get better--and he did that."

Danis says tonight's game will be "special"

Friday November 6, 2009 11:28 AM By Katie Strang

 Making his second start of the season Danis said it will be a little odd playing against his former teammates, but definitely "something special."

Danis, who was 10-17-3 in 29 games started last year, said he's grateful for the opportunity he was given with the Islanders.

"It was a lot of good things," Danis said. " They gave me a chance to play. I'm probably here right now because of that."

"I had a lot of fun, it's a great group of guys over there and I have a lot of respect for them. But, I've moved on. I'm here now and I'm trying to get the win tonight."

Danis is coming off his first start of the season, a 2-1 win over Boston October 29 in which he made 31 saves.

"I gained a lot of confidence in my last game," Danis said. "I definitely feel ready for tonight."

***

Patrik Elias is back in the lineup tonight for the first time since missing 13 games after undergoing groin surgery in September.

While coach Jacques Lemaire said he "definitely" would rather ease Elias in at wing, he doesn't have much choice but to play him at center in place of the injured Rob Niedermayer. Lemaire he expects to play Elias between 17-19 minutes toight.

Any time a player is out of the lineup for a significant chunk of time there are some nerves, Elias said, and that's what he'll have to deal with tonight.

"It'll be  exciting. I'll be a little nervous," Elias said. "I'll just try to calm myself down and play a good hockey game."

Yann Danis in goal against former team

Friday November 6, 2009 10:35 AM By Katie Strang

 Here at the Prudential Center for the Devils morning skate (Isles take the ice at 11:30)

Former Islanders goaltender Yann Danis will get his second start of the season tonight against his former team, so I'll check in with him soon to see if that adds a little extra emotion to the experience.

Patrik Elias, who missed the first 13 games of the season since undergoing groin surgery in September, might play tonight. If he rejoins the Devils lineup, he'll likely take the place of Rob Niedermayer, who suffered an upper body injury in Wednesday night's win over the Capitals.

I'll check back in as soon as I know.