Islanders deal Sutton to Ottawa, look towards future (Updated)

Andy Sutton has played his last game for the Islanders. Well, at least for the time being. He can always re-up this summer. The 34 year-old rugged defenseman was dealt by the club earlier today to Ottawa for a 2010 second round pick (SJ).

In three seasons off the Meadowbrook, the former Thrasher who GM Garth Snow signed in 2007 was a solid citizen who played his usual physical game. That gritty style saw him miss 59 games last season, including the final 50 due to a broken foot. He also missed 24 in Year One. In the final year of his contract, Sutton's been relatively healthy getting into 54 of the Isles' 62, producing a solid 2009-10 campaign that includes four goals, eight helpers, 73 penalty minutes, a club best 155 hits and just a minus-three rating. His 153 blocked shots rank second in the league, showing how dedicated the man is to helping a team be successful.

Now, Sutton moves to his fifth team (SJ, Min, Atl, NYI, Ott) where he'll try to help the Senators make some noise in the playoffs. They currently lead Buffalo by a point in the Northeast holding down the No.3 seed. Adding him to a blueline that at the moment still includes Anton Volchenkov, Chris Phillips, Filip Kuba and Matt Carkner and Alexandre Picard should bolster them. Especially with familiar face Chris Campoli and rookie Erik Karlsson out with injuries. The Sens also recalled Brian Lee.

As for the Islanders, it's a wise move because they got good value in return for an injury prone player whose contract expires. Snow did well here. Now, the question becomes does he move Martin Biron? The Flyers could come calling for Dwayne Roloson. Especially with Ray Emery done for the season. But Rolo has another year remaining and with Rick DiPietro back on the mend, it wouldn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to move their most dependable goalie. UPDATE: According to Bob McKenzie, the Flyers are in talks looking to acquire Roloson, who's expected to get the start tonight at home against the Blackhawks.

With Mark Streit, Bruno Gervais, Jack Hillen and close to being re-signed Andrew MacDonald comprising the club's top four, the Isles are set up well moving forward. Freddy Meyer has been solid. Radek Martinek is back next year but start the over/under at 35 for the unlucky 33 year-old Czech. Due to the trade, Dustin Kohn was recalled from Bridgeport. Boasting a surplus of young D prospects in the system that includes Calvin de Haan, Matt Donovan and Travis Hamonic, the franchise will continue to get younger filled with promise.

Along with young trio John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey up front and emerging second-year coach Scott Gordon behind the bench, referencing Biggie, the "Sky's The Limit."

DP, Islanders on roll

The Islanders gave their fans plenty to cheer about this afternoon in the annual Martin Luther King game, defeating the Devils 4-0 at a sold out Nassau Coliseum. With Hasan likely recapping it from the Devil perspective, we're just going to assess what's gone so right lately for Scott Gordon's hot club that's now won four straight. That includes impressive victories over the Red Wings (6-0), Sabres (3-2 in shootout) and now the Devils by a 4-zip KO helping Rick DiPietro to his first shutout of the season and more "D---P" chants.

Here are today's highlights that put the eighth seeded Isles at 52 points trailing archrival Rangers by one:

-Matt Moulson scored twice for his club-leading 18th and 19th. It was his first multi-goal effort since a Dec.3 hat trick at Atlanta (21 games). After hitting a wall in mid-December, the free agent steal has three goals in the last four and six points in seven contests this month. A great sign.

-Josh Bailey notched his 12th continuing to rip it up. Over the past 10 games, the improving sophomore has 13 points (5-8-13). Since Dec.21, the 20 year-old pivot has 15 of his 25 points (12-13-25) this season. Prior, he'd gone 10 games w/o a point. The 2008 ninth overall selection is finally demonstrating why Garth Snow picked him, giving the Islanders two scoring lines.

-With an assist on Mark Streit's first period power play goal, Kyle Okposo extended to a six-game point streak (4-2-6). Since a three-point performance in a Dec.26 road win at the Rangers, the 21 year-old emerging power forward is 5-5-10 over the last 11 games. Last year, the St. Paul native struggled mightily in the first half before finishing strong. Looks like the same thing's happening. Only this time, the stakes are higher with the Islanders fighting for a playoff berth.

-With a PPG, Streit has points in four straight including three goals and two helpers. Since 12/26, the Isles' No.1 defenseman is 3-7-10, plus-eight. He's heating up at the right time.

-Saturday's hero Trent Hunter followed up with two assists in the win. His first multi-point game since Dec.3. The grinding checking wing doesn't always show up on the score sheet but always gives an honest effort leading by example.


-Andy Sutton tallied an assist and went plus-three on the day, continuing to play his best hockey.

-With a primary helper on Streit's marker, John Tavares made it two consecutive games with a point and three of the last four. Prior, the 19 year-old wiz kid was blank in seven straight. It's easy to forget that JT91 is in Year One with tons of expectations. The centerpiece of the franchise is finally snapping out of it which could bode well.

-Also getting on the score sheet was Jack Hillen, who with an assist finished plus-three. That's three assists in the last four for the second-year undrafted defenseman, who's quietly contributed a goal and 12 helpers along with a plus-eight rating in 45 games this season.

-Shootout ace Frans Nielsen added a helper and finished plus-two. The 2002 third round gem has seven points (1-6-7) this month.

-Though he didn't get much work, how about DP. His first two home games in more than a year and victorious in both while permitting only two goals on 53 shots (.962 save percentage). With 20 saves, the 28 year-old former 2000 No.1 overall pick recorded his third shutout versus the Devils and 15th career. His first SHO since Feb.21, 2008 against the Lightning. Storybook.


All this added up to a great day off the Meadowbrook for the orange and navy blue. It won't get much easier as the Islanders (22-19-8, 52 Pts) pay a visit to Mellon Arena and the Penguins Tuesday night where they'll go for five in a row.

Schremp shoots Islanders past Jackets

It was precisely a moment like this that the Islanders got Rob Schremp for. Scoreless through two rounds of the shootout, the man a million tricks in his magic bag skated from the red line, making a zillion moves before curling and dragging to wire a perfect forehand beyond Steve Mason's outstretched pads.Dwayne Roloson, who was quite busy making 41 saves, had to stop one more shooter. After staying with Rick Nash, he did the same forcing ex-Ranger Fedor Tyutin out of real estate and wide, giving the hosts the final home win of the decade in front of an excited Coliseum.

Islanders 2 Blue Jackets 1

It was the third win in four for the Isles, helping offset an unlucky 13th consecutive defeat to the Flyers.  Despite being outshot 42-25, Scott Gordon's club came out with the 'W', improving to 16-18-7 for 39 points. At exactly the halfway point, they're in a three-way tie for 10th just a point behind Atlanta and the Rangers for the final playoff spot while Montreal is seventh only two points up. Not bad position for a rebuilding club no one gave a chance. Unless you count Stan Fischler. Hey. We know him quite well and he always sees the glass half full. If you're the eternal optimist, you can argue why not based on the fact prize rookie John Tavares was held off the score sheet again, scoring once over the past 10.

The poor stretch by the Isles hasn't cost them due to how much parity there is. If JT91 and Kyle Okposo (assist) get untracked along with Mark Streit (0 G in last 21), why not? As long as Rollie keeps them in games, you never know. When asked to assess the first half, the durable 40 year-old netminder didn't hesitate to say he feels they can aim higher than the eighth seed, going as far as five or six. It's probably unrealistic but making the playoffs no longer is. And wouldn't that be great to achieve? In an Olympic Year, there's still a long way to go. When does Rick DiPietro return? He could be headed for another rehab stint in Bridgeport before the organization reassesses. As long as Roloson and Martin Biron play adequately, there's no reason to rush DP back.

As for the game, they'll take it. The Jackets were coming off a superb effort in a 1-0 OT shutout of Detroit after acquiring Milan Jurcina and Chris Clark from the Caps for Jason Chimera. Both new Jackets debuted, contributing to another solid effort like the one that snapped a nine-game skid. Despite controlling the first with an excellent attack that forced Roloson to make saves from in tight, they fell behind when Steve Mason lost sight of Okposo's 40-footer with the puck caroming high in the air behind him where Josh Bailey finished off his eighth at 10:04. Originally, it was credited to Okposo but later changed to Bailey from Kyle and Andy Sutton, who's played inspired this year.

Despite being doubled up in SOG (14-7), they led after one. The second was similar with the offensively challenged Jackets trying desperately to break the Roloson wall, eerily reminding us of the Rangers. Hey. We can't score either and Rollie has played great against us. Ken Hitchcock's club again registered 14 shots but still hadn't beaten him. They led 28-15 but not on the scoreboard.

It didn't deter them from coming hard where finally, they got the equalizer thanks to a bit of luck. Off a great Rick Nash keep at the left blueline, the puck trickled right to R.J. Umburger, who made a quick move around the net and sent an innocent looking backhand wrap towards the net that might've deflected off someone past a surprised Roloson. As legendary Jiggs McDonald stated on MSG-Plus, "Just like that, we're tied." Umberger's ninth marker in the last 20 came from Nash and Tyutin, tying it 1-1 with 10:13 remaining.

Each club had power play opportunities to surge ahead but couldn't cash it in, including a late Islander one with 1:42 left after Freddy Modin foolishly tossed the puck into the stands. How Team Sweden chose him over an irked Mikael Samuelsson is beyond us. Even if he did score the lone goal Monday, he's not better than Sammy, who ripped his own country that also stuck Peter Forsberg on when he hasn't played in a big game in forever.

The game went to OT where the BJ's killed the remainder. In it, the Islanders got some good chances, forcing Mason to make five saves. That excluded a couple of posts including one from Tavares and another off the stick of Bailey late. It would go to the skill competition. Both goalies were strong with Mason and Roloson denying the first four shooters. That's when Schremp stepped out and put on a great stickhandling display before beating Mason, who never had a chance. Roloson then denied Tyutin, who actually was 2-for-5 entering, to seal the win in front of hockey legend Gordie Howe, who was in the building a night after watching the Devils defeat Atlanta at The Rock. Perhaps he also was on hand for the new Danbury Whalers earlier yesterday.

In any event, he saw an Islander win. Will he also be at The Garden later tonight for Flyers/Rangers? Or are we not worthy?

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Rob Schremp, NYI (SO winner, 2 hits, 3 takeaways, 9-3 draws in 19 shifts-16:26)
2nd Star-Dwayne Roloson, NYI (41 saves incl.28/28 thru 40, 3/3 in shootout)
1st Star-Josh Bailey, NYI (goal, 3 SOG, 2-2 draws, +1 in 15:39)

Rangers and Islanders have big nights

A couple of statements were made by the two New York teams on this big Saturday night. Both posted impressive wins to keep pace with the Flyers and Penguins (both winners as well) and gain valuable ground on first place New Jersey.

For the Rangers, the road treated them extremely well at Air Canada Center where they got five power play goals (five in 10 chances folks) including a season high four points (PPG, three assists) from team captain Jaromir Jagr in a 6-1 dismantling of the Maple Leafs.

This was about as good a performance as they've had all season. From Sean Avery's mouth saying how he hated Toronto due to how "hockey obsessed they are" even though he's from there to backup Stephen Valiquette (27 saves) performing great yet again in his home town to the unreal night the power play had, it all clicked for the Blueshirts on this night.

There's really not much to say. That's how convincing this win was. For whatever reason, the road team owned the season series with the teams splitting four games with the Rangers prevailing twice up north while the Leafs got the better of it on Broadway. Toronto technically took the series by virtue of their one point in a shootout loss to Valiquette.

But any way you slice it, this was a nice measure of revenge for that embarrassing 6-2 home defeat over three weeks ago on Dec.6.

They got the first six on the Leafs outskating and outchancing them by plenty. And the best aspect was all the penalties called on Toronto were earned and they buried their chances.

This was really a breakout game for Tom Renney's club who returns to MSG later this early evening to host the Canadiens who come in having won two in a row and are tied for fourth in the conference with New York and two other teams.

When Betts scores from Orr and there's a Petr Prucha sighting- yes twice the Czech tallied to double his goal output to four- you know it's your night.

Rookie center Brandon Dubinsky netted three assists and Scott Gomez continued to play well adding a secondary helper to hike his point streak to a career best 11.

Brendan Shanahan scored his club-leading 13th on an absolute rocket on a five-on-three. Avery not only infuriated the Leafs drawing a power play but basically danced on their faces with an unreal no-look backhand pass to help Prucha snap a 17-game long drought.

"It's a miracle," the very happy Czech expressed to the Associated Press later. "I was waiting for it a long time, and I just want to keep scoring ... and get some confidence."

"My confidence was shaken just in front of the net and I couldn't score a goal," he added. "The one thing that was missing from my game was points. I'm just glad I did it tonight."

A great thing for the Rangers which hopefully Prucha can build on. Now if only they could get Ryan Callahan untracked.

Even Marek Malik is looking better these days since being reinserted. He's actually worked well with Paul Mara and is making quicker reads and decisions instead of complexing things in his end.

Two wins in a row is nice. But three straight before a new calendar year would constitute a winning streak and cause for optimism.

One other quick point. Nik Antropov has had a great season for the Leafs but how many times did we have to see the lanky Russian chop down Rangers with his stick coming high and slashing Prucha or Chris Drury without an arm going up?!?!?!?!?!

That's what's wrong with the officiating these days. They're so obsessed with calling every hook legal or imagined but are missing much more serious blatant infractions which can cause injuries.

Wake the hell up already NHL!


Now to the Islanders who had a great win of their own at an energized barn on the Hempstead Turnpike- posting a 5-2 victory on home ice to make it four straight over the first place Devils this season.

To be perfectly honest, this was quite an entertaining game which included a couple of great scraps. Every time we flipped it on, there was lot of stuff going on. A lot of edge out there with plenty of battles contested. You could see how badly each team wanted it.

I really enjoyed the Mike Rupp-Andy Sutton fight. That was awesome stuff. I only wish I had caught the one between David Clarkson and rejuvenated Islander captain Bill Guerin. Even Mike Comrie and Mike Mottau got into it in the first!

You didn't hear any moans or groans from the crowd. I wonder why. ;)

The Isles really played well the first 40 minutes and led on a shorthanded tally by defenseman Chris Campoli and a second period power play goal from Marc-Andre Bergeron.

They seemed in complete control for most of the second until Devils' leading scorer Zach Parise took a Brian Gionta touch pass and converted a mini-breakaway beating Wade Dubielewicz to the backhand for only his second goal in the last 10. It was very timely because it came with just 25 ticks left giving his team a much needed lift after being outshot 14-6 in the stanza.

When John Madden scored his 12th to knot it just 3:59 into the final period, the Devils clearly had the momentum and began taking it to the Isles generating some really good chances. But Dubielewicz was up to the task stopping 12 of 13 New Jersey shots on his way to 27 saves and the game's 3rd Star.

The goalie allowed his team to find their composure and finally a great individual effort by Trent Hunter resulted in Sutton's deciding marker with 8:17 remaining.

With his team changing, Hunter held onto the puck and gained the Devil zone. Then he maintained control until the change was complete and dropped a pass to Mike Sillinger, who in turn fed a cutting Sutton for a quick one-timer past Martin Brodeur for his first as an Islander.

"I think it's my first (game-winner) ever," Sutton acknowledged later on.

"Guys like Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger deserve a lot of credit for the way they handled the puck. Hunter had it, and got it back to Silly. I
just tried to be there, and Silly found me and I just shot it as hard as I
could."

It really was just a smart play by Hunter and one which had Brent Sutter seething.

"When you play a team you haven't beaten yet in your division this year, you'd think there would be more of a sense of desperation to want to play one of your better games," the first-year Devil coach pointed out.

"For 30 minutes, we were a very average hockey team.
Then we woke up and played well the next 20 minutes. Then it looked like we
never learned how to play defensive zone coverage
before."

Of course, he was right. His team had plenty of incentive to come away with a 'W.' But the Fishsticks wouldn't allow it to happen Saturday as Sutton also assisted on Sean Bergenheim's insurance tally with 4:58 left which put it away.

Comrie added an empty netter to pull the Isles within five points of first despite being tied with the Flyers for last in the division. It just tells you how close things are in the Atlantic.

All in all, a good night for the two bitter New York rivals as we approach 2008.

Devils cannot beat the Isles this year.

The New Jersey Devils have problems on Long Island. Last season it was Miro Satan that pretty much owned them Devils; especially on the shootout. So far this season, the Devils cannot figure out the team at the bottom of the division.

The Islanders got out of the gate early with a nice goal from Chris Campoli. Then the rough stuff came into play. First it was Tim Jackman who wanted to get at Mike Rupp after a hit on Blake Comeau. Then after a huge hit by Mike Comrie on Mile Mottau, the two talked it over during a comercial break and decided it would be best if they dropped the gloves and worked it out with their fists.

Marc-Andre Bergeron put the Isles up after his attempted pass deflected off of Andy Greene's stick and right through Brodeur's legs. Andy Sutton and David Clarkson talked all game and we all knew that they were going to go sooner or later. After a faceoff, Clarkson lined up with Bill Guerin and they dropped the gloves. If that wasn't enough Tim Jackman and Mike Rupp lined up on hte ensuing faceoff and decided to go, until Andy Sutton realized that he wasn't going to get at Clarkson. Sutton ended up dropping his gloves as well and pushing Jackman out of the way to fight Rupp instead. Jackman obviously obliged because Sutton towers over him by like 12 feet.

After all of the fireworks were done, the Devils decided to make a comeback. Fearless Freddy Meyer got crossed up with Brendan Witt and Zach Parise cruised in on Wade Dubliewicz unscathed for a beautiful top shelf goal. Mike Comrie left John Madden wide open in front and he put home an easy rebound. That's the last time the Devils would see the back of the net.

With the score knotted at two Trent Hunter did a beautiful job of keeping the puck in hte offensive zone and fed Andy Sutton who was coming off the bench for a slapshot goal. It was Sutton's first goal as an Islander. Constant pressure from the Isles kept the Devils from getting any quality chances. Both Parise and Madden had great chances during an Islander defensive breakdown, but hte boys buckled down and started playing like htey wanted to win. Another great job by the fourth line kept the puck deep and during a change a few shots and constant pressure paid off as Sean Bergenheim picked up a loose puck and scored to make the score 4-2. Mike Comrie added an empty netter to seal the deal.

Final score was 5-2 Isles. They have not lost to hte Devils all season. Andy Sutton scored his first goal as an Islander and recorde the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, assist and a fight. Mike COmrie was an assist short of the GHHT as well. Isles can take this win and smile. Its probably one of hte best games they have played all season. They host Carolina on Monday and hopefully Rick Dipietro will be ready to play.