DP and Isles’ PK Help Steal a Point
January 9th, 2008 by murph
After 45 shots and 7 powerplays, it’s a miracle the Islanders even got a point last night in Vancouver. With the exception of DP, the team did not look a whole lot better than they did the previous night during their shutout loss to Edmonton. Fortunately, DP played amazing last night and the Isles were able to get a point out of red-hot Vancouver who is 12-0-2 in their last 14 home games.
During a 19-shot first period barrage, Marcus Naslund netted one about midway through the period for the 1-0 Vancouver lead. Captain Bill Guerin tied it up in the second with a little help from video review to confirm. Shots were 31-16 in favor of Vancouver after 2 periods, thanks in part to 6 Canuck powerplays.
The teams traded gift goals in the third - Canuck goalie (and ex-Islander) Roberto Luongo mishandled the puck behind the net and Blake Comeau darted in to bang it home for the 2-1 Islanders lead. Just about a minute and a half later the Canucks tied it up though on a slot snap shot by Daniel Sedin that DP was noticeably upset at himself for letting in.
That was the end of the scoring, until the shootout, where (ex-Islander) Trevor Linden scored in the 3rd round to give Vancouver the 1-0 edge. Miroslav Satan was the Isles’ last chance and he came through with a nifty move to beat Luongo and tie things up again. I was all confused at this point because A) it was 12:30am and B) it looked like Luongo made the save at first. Defenseman Alexander Elder scored for the Canucks in round 6, followed by Luongo stopping Trent Hunter for the 3-2 Vancouver shootout win.
One thing that bothered me about the shootout was the Islanders not getting Luongo to move around too much. Everyone just came right down the middle at him, made a quick deke or fake, and then shot. Satan was the only one to get Luongo to move one way, and the scored the other way.
Coach Nolan shuffled lines all night long, looking for some offense spark. That plan backfired as there was no spark, and not a lot of defense either last night.
Nolan responded by throwing out at least five new lines in the third period to generate an offensive spark.
Coming off a 4-0 shutout loss the previous night in Edmonton in which Nolan benched Ruslan Fedotenko in the third period and played Vasicek and Miroslav Satan sparingly, changes were assured. Nolan put that trio together on a sort of “Doghouse Line” and used them as the fourth line.
Comeau jumped into Fedotenko’s spot with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter, and Sean Bergenheim joined Andy Hilbert and Tim Jackman as the third line. Only the top line of Richard Park, Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin remained intact.
The Isles’ roadtrip continues Friday night in Calgary, and then concludes Sunday night in Ottawa.
Hockey1919 Says
Can anyone explain what was the basis for the review of Guerin’s goal? I don’t recall “the linesman had his arm up” being a reason for a video replay. Is this a new war room power to go along with the recalling of goalie pads mid-game?
Jan 9th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Michael Schuerlein Says
They claimed that the play was offsides and that the whistle blew as the goal was scored. Review showed that the play was indeed on sides and that the whistle did not blow.
At least that is what I think I heard through my second period nap.
I vividly recall waking up due to Jaffe’s explanation.
Jan 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Hockey1919 Says
Rule 93 is very specific about what is and isn’t reviewable. The Islanders have not had a favorable video review in forever so it just struck me as strange that they invented “was the play offsides?” as reason number 8 in Rule 93.
Now the attempt to use “was the whistle blown before the puck went in the net” is a nice gambit. They were trying to say that the linesman intended to blow the whistle if the replay showed that the Islanders were off-sides, but in this case they weren’t and couldn’t screw them out of another goal.
Jan 10th, 2008 at 10:39 am