The Islanders defeated the Capitals tonight by a final score of 5-2, with Guerin netting a HAT TRICK!! What a way to get your first, second and third goals of the season – also your first, second and third as an Islander! Looks like Billy G still has that touch and it’s good to see him rewarded for his play thus far! Two of Guerin’s 3 were on the power play which was on fire tonight.
Berard also scored on the power play (game winner) and Bergenhiem had his first of the season. Berard has been a solid pick up and a great addition to the power play. Bergy has been super-solid since he was placed on the 2nd line with Satan and Vasicek. It appears that the offense is finally coming – which is huge.
For the Capitals, Ovechkin scored early in the 3rd to make it 2-1 and Fleischmann about 5 minutes later made it 2-2. The Isles were also solid on the penalty kill, keeping the Capitals power play from scoring on several occasions including a 5-on-3.
Some notables:
New line combos of Guerin, Sillinger and Hilbert looked great, although the “Free Agent Line” of Guerin, Comrie and Fedotenko was reunited for power plays.
The Hunter, Comrie and Fedotenko line worked their tails off all game, Hunter created room and they were able to grind into the corners and move around the open space made by Hunter. I think this "First" line was a bit better than the previous line, but for different reasons – mostly due to dynamic.
Also, defenseman Aaron Johnson made his Islanders debut tonight – at forward. He has played the position before in Columbus and they wanted to reward him with some ice time tonight. Unfortunately the Isles took a few penalties and the 4th line was only regulated to a few short shifts – Johnson did manage to take a penalty though.
When you get the chance, I took part in some friendly alternative perspective on a Capitals blog – Japers` Rink. Head on over there to check out the friendly banter – which may not be so friendly now that the Islanders defeated the Capitals.
Kudos to being one of the few Isles BlogBox bloggers to have a blog on the caps game up tonight. I haven't even seen blogs on the 3-1 flyers loss so this may be the blog I follow throughout the year.
I've gotten back into hockey to deal with the Mets collapse and am glad I have. I just need to get used to having 4-5 days between games. I really like what's going on with the team this year, perhaps most of all seeing Berard back with the team.
Bergenheim's star continues to rise with Ted Nolan and this team seems to be getting the most out of every player which is a credit to Nolan. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts to get accolades for his efforts soon.
Anway, keep up the good work and I look forward to future entries.