Comrie Leads Isles to Weekend Sweep
October 7th, 2007 by murph
A sellout crowd of 16,234 fans welcomed the Islanders home to start the 2007-08 NHL season last night and were treated to an exciting 3-2 Islanders victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Mike Comrie continued his hot start to the season with another 2 goals, including the game winner in the third period. Comrie was named #1 star of the game for the second night in a row.
With the beautiful October weather, the Nassau Coliseum parking lot was crowded nice and early yesterday. I showed up a little later than expected around 4pm and there were already hundreds of cars there. Free parking too, as the booths weren’t manned until sometime after 5pm. Footballs, hockey pucks, and beers were flying across the lot. If anyone doubts the Islanders fan base either in numbers or dedication, yesterday was an excellent example of how strong it is. Fans seem to like the role of the underdog, and that no one is giving the Islanders a chance this season (again). Everyone was really excited for the start of hockey season again, especially after Friday night’s win.
The Isles started the game slowly having to kill 3 penalties in the first period. On the third one, Buffalo’s Jaroslav Spacek scored on a one timer from the point with a lot of traffic in front. Chris Campoli tied it up in the second with his second goal of the season, a powerplay goal. Buffalo ended the night 1 for 5 on the PP, and the Isles 1 for 3. The game was tighter defensively and a little chippier than Friday night’s game with a few scrums and face washes throughout the game.
Third period…Comrie time! Under two minutes into the period, Guerin comes up the left side with Comrie trailing. I think Guerin was trying to snap a shot off but it deflected right to Comrie coming down the middle of the slot. Comrie made a couple of stickhandling moves and then sent a backhander at Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller slid along the ice but the puck went right through the 5-hole to give the Islanders their first lead of the night. About 6 minutes later, Guerin banks one off the boards in the Isles defensive end that somehow springs Comrie all alone in the Buffalo zone. He had to go deep into the Buffalo zone to scoop up the puck so he came in on Miller on a bad angle and Miller made the save. Fedotenko followed up the play, corralled the puck behind the net and then found Comrie alone in front for goal number 4 on the season.
Buffalo was pressing hard in the 3rd with 17 shots in the period. DiPietro played awesome last night with a lot of big saves. Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres with about 6 minutes to make it 3-2, but the Isles defense held on for the win.
The Ol’ Barn looked pretty good inside with a new fresh coat of orange, blue and white paint on the walls. The smoking/extra bathrooms section is now an outdoor patio area with some lawn chairs, flat screen TV’s and a couple of bars. It was great last night with the warm weather, but I’m not sure how popular it will be come December. The Islanders host the Capitals on Monday afternoon and then the Rangers on Wednesday night. 2-0! What a great start to the season! Go grab Comrie in your FHL pools now if you haven’t already!
Highlights from NHL.com
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