Isles Bounce Back, Blank Bolts
November 2nd, 2007 by murph
Thatta boy Teddy…way to get the troops ready for last night’s game. Looking much more prepared than they did last Saturday, the Isles came out and played a full 60 minutes of solid hockey in a 4-0 shutout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. DiPietro played pretty solid and got some help from his friends in red…the goalposts…as the Lightning rang the post 2 or 3 times in the 3rd period. The shutout was DiPietro’s first of this season and 12th career shutout.
It was a big win for the team not only bouncing back from last Saturday’s Carolina debacle, but against the Lightning who have historically owned the Isles. It seems the Isles can never beat the Lightning or the Ottawa Senators. In fact the win was the Isles’ first in 9 tries against the Lightning, dating back to a 3-0 win in March 2004.
The man of the night, Mike Sillinger playing in his 1000th career NHL game, picked up an assist (and so did DiPietro) on Captain Bill Guerin’s goal in the first period. Josef Vasicek and ex-Lightning player Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the 2nd to give the Isles a 3-0 lead and Trent Hunter scored in the 3rd - his first goal since opening night to seal the deal at 4-0.
After the game, Sillinger spoke about the milestone.
“Guys are calling me the old guy,” Sillinger said. “Senior Guerin is the oldest.”
“It’s an honor to be in that 200-plus guys who have played 1,000 games,” Sillinger added. “It’s quite an accomplishment. Knock on wood, I’ve been healthy and played roughly 70 games a year, carrying into my 17th season. I’ve always stayed in shape.”
With the loss the Lightning get swept on their 3-game road trip to the NYC metro area, losing 3-1 to the Rangers, 6-1 to the Devils, and 4-0 to the Isles.
Finally, I posted a link to this on the new sidebar a couple of days ago, but it deserves it’s own mention. Lightning fan Steve Williamson is on the Ultimate NHL Road Trip, catching 30 games in 30 days, in 30 different arenas. Last night he visited the Coliseum which I’m sure was quite the difference from the Devils’ brand new Prudential Arena and the Rangers’ MSG. Check out his thought on the Coliseum and be sure to keep an eye on his blog as he continues his trip. Best of luck Steve, we’re all insanely jealous.
I trekked out to the Nassau Coliseum expecting a letdown after experiencing two glitzy arenas in Montreal and New Jersey. Traffic wasn’t too bad and I arrived about 6pm. Parking was only $7, which is way cheaper than any other arena so far, so that put me in a cheery mood. And I got a front row spot about 30 yards from the front door. From a distance, the Coliseum resembles a UFO that has landed splat in the middle of suburbia. I felt like I had stepped into a time warp for the night. When I get to Big D. tomorrow, I’ll explain what I mean, ’cause in a retro sort of way, I really enjoyed myself in the building.
