Senators overule Islanders

Senators celebrate one of five goals (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

          After going on a roll, winning five of six games, the Islanders suffered their second consecutive loss, falling to the Ottawa Senators 5-1.
          After the two teams traded goals in the first, the Senators pulled away, scoring three goals in a span of ten minutes in the second period. 
          The Islanders did take the early lead in the first.  Defenseman Mark Streit jumped up on the play and took a pass from behind the net, from center John Tavares, and buried a snap shot past the Senators goaltender, Craig Anderson.  The goal was Streit's seventh of the year.  About ten minutes later, at the 16:40 mark, center Kyle Turris would score his first of two goals, burying a wrist shot over the sprawling Isles goaltender, Al Montoya, to tie the game.
          The second period was all Senators.  Starting at the 3:09 mark when defenseman Sergei Gonchar would bury a one-timer by Montoya, to make it 2-1.  The goal was Gonchar's fifth of the year.  Just about three minutes later, at the 6:00 mark, left winger Milan Michalek would bury a backhander by Montoya, to give the Senators the 3-1 lead.  The goal was Michalek's thirty-fifth of the year.  The Senators would pile on, when at the 13:21 mark, left winger Nick Foligno dove for the rebound left by Montoya, and buried it into the back of the net, to make it 4-1.  The goal was Foligno's fifteenth of the year.  
          The rout would continue into the third.  At the 7:00 mark, the Senators would net the last goal of the game, when Turris would get his own rebound and relentlessly swing at the puck before it finally went in.  The goals were Turris' eleventh and twelfth of the year. 
          The Isles have only three games left, with two on the road and one at home.  They play one of those road games against the Devils on Tuesday.  Puck drop is 7 PM.       

Top 20 on the Islanders: #8 Mark Streit

Defenseman Mark Streit firing a slap shot (Photo by Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images)

          Next up on the top twenty list is a defenseman who has become quite the team leader.  All his hard work along with his great presence in the locker room, the Isles gave him the honor of being the teams captain this year.  The man I am talking about is defenseman, Mark Streit.
          Streit was drafted in the ninth round (262nd overall), by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.  He played in Montreal for his first three years of his NHL career.  He then signed on with the Islanders as a free agent on July 1st, 2008.  
          Streit started his hockey career in 1995, as an eighteen year old, in the Swiss-A league.  He played his first year for a team called Fribourg-Gotteron.  He played thirty three games with them, scoring two goals and getting two assists, for four points.  
          He then played the next three years for a team called Davos, from 1996-1999.  In his time there, Streit played in one-hundred twenty-eight games, getting thirteen goals and thirty-seven assists for fifty points.  
          Streit then made the move to the AHL (American Hockey League), for the 1999-2000 season, to play for a team called the Springfield Falcons.  He only played there one season.  He played in forty-eight games, getting three goals and twelve assists for fifteen points.   
          The next season, Streit became a member of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League).  He only played in fourteen games for them getting no goals and five assists, for five points.  That same year he also played one game for the Utah Grizzlies of the International Hockey League.  He tallied one assist in his lone game there.  
          The ever-traveling Streit finally settled down back in the Swiss-A league, for a team called Zurich.  He played from 2000-2005 there, playing in two-hundred forty-five games.  He compiled  fifty-three goals and one-hundred eighteen assists, for one-hundred seventy-one points.  
          He was then drafted and playing in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens.  He played three seasons there totaling two-hundred and sixteen games.  He got twenty-six goals and eighty-seven assists, for one-hundred thirteen points.
          Streit finally landed on Long Island in 2008, as a thirty-one year old, signing a five-year 20.5 million dollar contract.  Streit's currently in the middle of his third year with the Islanders, with two more campaigns to go.  
          In his career as an Islander so far Striet's played in two-hundred thirty games, compiling thirty-three goals and one-hundred fifteen assists, for one-hundred forty-eight points.  
          Streit's career has obviously been a well traveled one.  But it looks like he's found a nice home on the Islanders.  The Islanders know that Streit is a great presence in the locker room for two reasons.  One reason is that he is a top defenseman and will get his fair share of points for the club.  But the other reason, and possibly the more important reason, is he is a great defenseman to have to teach, and help, your young players.  
          With his experience and ability, Streit has become quite the two-headed monster.  If he continues to play at the level he's capable of, and is able to help these youngsters grow, Streit could quite possibly be the most important player on the Island today.     

Islanders Bailed out in Montreal

Bailey scores in shootout to give Islanders the win (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

          It took a shootout, but the Islanders won their first of five straight road games, beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-2, Saturday night.
          It was a battle of the two teams occupying the last place spot in the Eastern Conference.  With the two points the Islanders now have sixty-nine points, which is nine points behind the eighth place Washington Capitals.  The Isles have ten games left to play in the regular season.  
          Montreal got off to a quick start in the first period.  They took the early lead at the 2:53 mark of the frame, when right winger Aaron Palushaj fired a shot from a deep angle and it banked of Islander goaltender, Al Montoya's, stick and in.  The goal was Palushaj's first of the year.  The period would end with neither team scoring another goal, and Montreal had the 1-0 lead.
          The Islanders would tie the game early in the second.  At the 2:00 mark, defenseman Mark Streit would bury a backhander past Montreal goaltender, Peter Budaj.  The goal was Streit's sixth of the year.  The Islanders would take the lead at 16:05 mark of the frame.  Red-hot centerman Frans Nielsen, would bury a wrist shot over the glove of Budaj, to give the Isles the 2-1 lead.  That's how the second would end.
          The third period would see Montreal come back and tie the game.  At the 3:38 mark center, Louis Leblanc would bury his own backhander past Montoya, to tie the game at two.  The period would end with that same score and go into overtime.
          In overtime neither team could light the lamp so it went to the skills competition, known as the shootout.  It took six rounds of shooters but the Islanders finally broke through.  With Montoya stopping Montreal's sixth shooter, defenseman Andrej Markov, and the shootout score tied 2-2, center Josh Bailey stepped up.  Bailey went straight in at Budaj, and put on a nice head fake before burying his wrist shot past Budaj's right pad, and giving the Isles the victory.
          The Isles will try and continue their winning ways, when they continue their five game road trip in Toronto, Tuesday night.  Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM.  

Islanders Dethrone Kings

Islanders celebrate after Streit's overtime winner (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

          On a day where former defenseman, Kenny Jonsson was inducted into the Islanders hall of fame is was a current defenseman, Mark Striet, whose goal in overtime lifted the Islanders to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, at the Nassau Coliseum, Saturday afternoon.
          From the start the game was a very physical one.  The teams combined for a total of 89 hits with the Islanders finishing with a season high 48 while the Kings finished with 41.

          The first period saw a lot of the play happening in the Islanders zone, where the Kings were able to keep with their forecheck and get pucks toward Nabokov, who stopped all 12 he saw that first frame.  However is was the Islanders who left with the 1-0 lead, as Michael Grabner was able to get one by the Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, after the puck ping-ponged through traffic, for his 15th of season. 

          The second period saw much of the same with the Kings out shooting the Isles 12-4.  However this period saw Andrei Loktionov score as he deflected a Dustin Brown shot past Nabokov to even the score 1-1.

          When the Islanders came out in the third they played a much more physical game.  They also blocked a lot of shots, making Nabokov's job a little easier.  The Isles finished with 22 blocked shots in the contest.  The period ended with the Islanders out shooting the Kings 12-11, however none of those 23 shots went in.   

          With both teams now securing a point they played a crucial overtime for a pivotal extra point.  The Isles are trying to stay within firing range for that 8th and final playoff spot, while the Kings are right above that playoff dividing line just 4 points ahead of both the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.  

          The overtime didn't last all that long as just 1:36 into the frame the Isles set up a beautiful goal by Mark Streit, his 5th of the season.  Andrew MacDonald threw a pass from his own zone up to Matt Moulson at center ice, who tapped one to Streit who cut through 3 Kings defenders and shot one 5-hole on Quick to end the contest.

          The win ups the Islanders record to 23-23-8, while the Kings drop to 26-19-11.  Next up for the Islanders is yet another matinee game against the Florida Panthers tomorrow afternoon, puck drop at 3:00

Canadiens skate to victory over Islanders

Canadiens celebrate after scoring a goal to make it 2-0 (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

          The Montreal Canadiens skated into the Nassau Coliseum and left with a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders, on Thursday night.  
          Max Pacioretty scored his first career hat trick and Scott Gomez scored his first goal in over a calendar year to lead the Canadiens.  
          After Evgeni Nabakov won the game for the Islanders in Philadelphia, making 45 saves, he was not able to stop all of the 31 shots the Canadiens threw at him.  Nabakov finished the game making 28 of 31 saves.  
          The Canadiens got off to a quick start, with Pacioretty scoring his first goal just 1:23 into the game.  There was no goal scored for the rest of the first period.  Montreal  scored again in the second period with Pacioretty connecting on a slap shot 9:30 into the frame.  The Islanders would fall behind by yet another goal when for the first time in over a year Scott Gomez got one by Nabokov at the 10:10 mark in the 3rd period, to give the Canadiens a 3-0 lead.  
          The Islanders would show some fight in the final 5 minutes of the game.  They began to get their cycle going in the offensive zone and scored two quick goals against Carey Price.  The first goal was scored by Matt Moulson on the power play, with the second one coming from Mark Streit with 1:53 left in the contest.  The Islanders kept pushing for that game tying goal but would lose steam when Pacioretty hit the back of the empty net at the other end of the ice, completing his hat trick, giving the Canadiens the 4-2 win.  
          Next up the Islanders play a matinee home game against the Los Angeles Kings with the puck drop at 1:00