Five That Got Away
March 31st, 2007 by murph
So here we are 5 games left, 2 points out, destiny in our own hands. For a moment, let’s forget that we are missing our 15-year franchise goalie, missing our trade deadline blockbuster, missing a forward suspended for 25 games, and missing so many defensemen that GM Snow has signed two players from the German Hockey League this week alone. Just another season in the life of a Ringling Bros and Charles Wang’s Circus hockey team fan - right?
Let’s look at 6 games, 8 points and what could have been a comfortable 6th place in the Conference with 91 points.
5. Bruins 4 Islanders 3 (OT/SH) 2/10/07
The Bruins have been doing the Islanders no favors the past three weeks, rolling over TWICE to BOTH Montreal and the Rangers giving those teams important points. Meanwhile back in February, the Islanders threw away a point vs the lowly Bruins failing to hold onto a 3-2 lead with 16 minutes left to play. The teams played a scoreless OT which forced a marathon shootout that saw ex-Islander Zdeno Chara score the game winner in round 9 of the shootout.
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4A. Rangers 2 Islanders 1 (OT/SH) 3/5/07
4B. Rangers 2 Islanders 1 3/8/07
OK so this list is supposed to be 5 games, but it’s pretty hard to separate these two games. It’s early March and the Isles are in the playoff hunt. They have a home and home against the Rangers who they are 4-0 against already this season - a chance to expand their 4 point lead in the standings - and they manage to get only 1 point out of the two games.
First on a Monday night at the Garden, the Islanders defense fails to show up. Maybe it was bowling night? DiPietro bails them out all night long with an Islander record 56 saves, but it’s not enough as the Islanders lose in a shootout.
Then three days later on a Thursday night at the Coliseum in what is affectionately known as “The Simon Game”, the Islanders play a much better game and are tied 1-1 in a third until Simon loses his cool and force feeds Ryan Hollweg some lumber. The Rangers score on the resulting powerplay and the Isles lose 2-1 in regulation.
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3. Canadiens 5 Islanders 3 3/13/07
If the Islanders fail to make the playoffs, this is the game that will get all the attention. DiPietro comes way out of the net in the first period to play the puck and collides with Montreal’s Steve Begin. DP leaves the game, misses the next two, and two weeks later the Islanders finally fess up and admit he suffered a concussion on the play. Dunham comes in the game and lets up 5 goals on 32 shots as the Islanders blow leads of 2-0 and 3-2 to a team they are battling neck and neck for a playoff spot - another four point swing.
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2. Red Wings 4 Islanders 3 (OT) 1/30/07
The Isles had a tough schedule after the All-Star break, first there was Atlanta - they came back from 3 goals down to force OT and get a point on the road. Then they hosted Buffalo and won with a 3 goal explosion in the 3rd period. Finally, they hosted Detroit and were sporting a 3 goal lead after 2 periods when things went south.
Detroit rallied for 3 goals (2 powerplay) to tie the game and force OT - where Henrik Zetterberg finished the Isles about halfway through. Detroit outshot the Isles 11-5 in the third and 3-0 in the OT.
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1. Blues 3 Islanders 2 (OT) 3/1/07
So blowing a 3 goal lead to a good team in the last 20 minutes is bad, how could the Islanders ever top that one?
March 1st: the first day of the last full month of the NHL season, time to prepare for the playoffs, Ryan Smyth’s first game as an Islander…and the Islanders go out and blow a 2-0 lead AT HOME in the final 2 1/2 minutes to a team with no chance of making the playoffs. Un-frickin-believable. Adding insult to injury, DiPietro picks up a penalty before the end of regulation and it takes the Blues just 20 seconds to score the PP game winner in OT . That’s 3 goals in the 3 minutes to a team near the bottom of the “goals scored” category all season.
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Honorable Mentions:
11/30/06 and 1/2/07 - The Islanders sport the NHL’s worst team, the Flyers, a 3-0 lead in both of these games and then come up one goal short in the comeback effort, losing 3-2.
12/30/06 and 1/4/07 - Right in the middle of their season high 6 game losing streak, Martin Brodeur personally steals 4 points from the Islanders. The first game should have been a 0-0 tie after regulation - the Devils scored a fluke goal when Islanders defenseman Alan Rouke tries to bat the puck out of the air…and into the net. The other goal that night was an empty netter. Five days later, Brodeur makes 40 saves, 17 in the third period as the Devils hold of the Islanders.
