Sunday’s Biggest Upset - Isles Down Sens in Ottawa
January 14th, 2008 by Tom
While underdog lovers everywhere were salivating over two huge upsets in the NFL playoffs yesterday - the Chargers dethroning a shocked Colts team and the Giants stepping on the throats of an equally surprised Cowboys club - the biggest upset of the day may have taken place on the ice in Ottawa, where the Islanders beat the number one team in the conference 3-1.
The Islanders knocked the Sens senseless. They were faster, stronger, and smarter and won on the strength of nine power plays. That’s right. They got nine power plays on the road against the top club in the East. They had to be doing something right.
It helped that all-star sniper Dany Heatley missed the game with a shoulder injury and high-scoring forward Jason Spezza was taken out of the action early by a crushing hit from Freddy Meyer. Still, the way the OrangeAnd Blue played with passion for 60 minutes, I think they probably would have skated away with a win no matter who suited up for the Senators. They were that good.
And being that good in Ottawa is a rare occurrence for the Isles. In fact, it was the team’s first win in Ottawa since 2003 and just its third since 1996. To put that in perspective, the Yankees have won more World Series over that span (four) than the Isles have won road games in Ottawa (three).
It’s been sort of a rollercoaster first half of the season but Islander fans have to be happy with where the team is after 44 games - all alone in eighth place, just six points off the division lead. All the problems that have dogged this team are still there - an often punchless offense, lackluster defense, and stretches of bad penalties - but the Islanders seem to have recaptured the grit of the early season that catapulted them to the playoffs last season. They need to hold onto that.
Next up, three big games against conference foes Montreal, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
Patrick Says
I had a great day yesterday. Of course the Islanders won against one of the NHL’s best teams but so did the Giants against one of the NFL’s best teams. And the Giants made TO cry! Have the Islanders ever made anyone cry? Beside their fans. Ha ha!
Jan 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
fauxrumors Says
1) Sure the Sens were missing 2/3 of their top line BUT we have been told that they are the best team/deep up front/have great defense, etc, etc, etc. They didn’t look all that great on home ice.
2) Of course to be fair they were playing the second of back to back home games. The prior one a win against Detroit so some let down was certainly part of last night’s flat performance
3) Still ANY win on the road against a team ahead of you in the standings is huge!
Jan 14th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
murph Says
Don’t quote me on the specifics of this stat, but with the win, the Isles will win the season series from Ottawa for the first time in like 10 years.
Jan 15th, 2008 at 1:55 pm