Isles Stun Sens 13-0, Doobie Gets Hat Trick
April 1st, 2007 by murph
…and the Islanders clinch a playoff berth!!
Did you DVR last night’s game? Quick, go mark it “do not delete”! In what will surely go down in history as one of the greatest Islander games ever - right up there with 1980 Game 6, and the “Easter Epic”, the Islanders shocked the Ottawa Senators with a record setting offensive explosion 13-0.
The Islanders started scoring early and often, chasing Ottawa goalie Ray Emery after just 1 period. Jason Blake and Alexei Yashin both had a hat trick in the first period, staking the Islanders to a 6-0 lead. Ryan Smyth added a hat trick in the second for a 9-0 lead, and THEN things started to get weird. After another injury to an Islander defenseman, Coach Nolan had no other choice but to lace up the skates himself and play defense. Thanks to some quick thinking by GM Garth Snow, the Islanders were able to sign Nolan to a two-way contract and keep the team under the salary cap. Nolan seemed a little out of place at first but finished the second period strong, going coast to coast with the puck and beating the Ottawa backup goalie for the 10-0 lead.
Faced with a monstrous 10-0 deficit, Ottawa elected to play the third period without a goalie for the extra attacker. That’s when First Star of the Game, Islander goalie Wade Dubielewicz got into the action. Doobie who already had 40 saves, made the Senators pay with the first ever hat trick by a goalie in the NHL. With the empty net at the other end of the ice, Doobie lifted 3 pucks over the heads of the defensemen and down the ice, into the net. Amazing!
