Islanders blanked by Quick

If they fall short in their bid for a postseason, the Islanders will look back on the past 24 hours in California. A night removed from a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime defeat to Saku Koivu and Anaheim, the Long Island club was blanked by Los Angeles 1-zip at Staples Center. Jon Quick turned aside all 26 in backstopping the Kings past Scott Gordon's club- dealing them a second consecutive tough loss.

Unlike Friday when the roof caved in with the team blowing a 4-2 third period lead before Koivu won it 14 seconds into OT, the Islanders never led against another desperate club attempting to qualify for their first postseason since 2001-02. Terry Murray's bunch entered with 85 points- four better than Calgary and Detroit, who pulled off another magic rabbit out of the hat in a thriller against Vancouver courtesy of Henrik Zetterberg. With Nashville also pulling out a 1-0 OT decision in Columbus, the pressure was on LA to hold serve. Thanks to Brad Richardson's tally midway through the first period, Quick was able to make it stand up, moving the Kings past the Preds into fifth out West with 87 points. One better than idle Colorado, who fell to seventh with the Wings three back and ninth Calgary five out.

While that was good news for their opponent, it sure did nothing for the Islanders who remained at 68 points tied with red hot Carolina, who came back to beat Pittsburgh courtesy of Jamie McBain's OT winner with under a second left moving them into a three-way 11th place tie with the Lightning (3-1 loss to Caps) and Isles. Technically, Gordon's club ranks 13th by virtue of one more game played (72-71). Trailing eighth Boston by six with only 10 left, they'll actually have to root for the Rangers later today in the NBC Of The Week. They'll need the enemy to win in regulation. Go figure. While March Madness is taking place in another sport, there's plenty of madness going on in the NHL where you had Calgary fans rooting for the Canucks tonight to no avail.

No doubt these are desperate times for a young Islander team led by rookie John Tavares, whose five-point game in a win over those Nucks a few nights ago gave them life in this wacky race. If only they'd held onto that two-goal lead a night before, which ultimately saw a furious Gordon walk out of a press conference following the dreaded third period question. Sure. They got a point but at this pressure packed time of year, you need every single one. Especially with the wins tiebreaker. Their 29 victories are two less than Boston, the Rangers and Atlanta, who go Niclas Bergfors' 20th (7th as a Thrasher) in a 5-2 home triumph over Philadelphia to pull within a point of the Bruins.

The odds are stacked against them but stranger things have happened. Aside from Carolina, nobody's playing well. If the Isles can put together one more good stretch, who knows? They don't play again until Wednesday's Garden 3D clash against the Rangers before returning home for a tough back-to-back against Calgary. They'll then visit Columbus before seeing the Blueshirts once more on March 30. In other words, those games will have even more significance. Of a possible 20 points that could take them to a max of 88, they'll likely need to go 8-1-1 to give themselves a realistic chance. Not bad for a team written off before the season in Year 1 Of JT91. Believe it or not, 85 could do it for that final spot. In '02-03, under the guidance of Peter Laviolette, the Islanders squeezed out 83 to hold off the Rangers.

Can a similar miracle take place? While they'll need plenty of help, the Islanders will need to play their best hockey. One point will no longer do. And zero like they got Saturday are a no no. Sure. They competed hard against a solid team who also want to steal some of the spotlight from Kobe's Lakers. But despite coming close with Tavares setting up Kyle Okposo on the doorstep with nine seconds left, it wasn't enough.

Unfortunately, Richardson's lone tally stood up. The only goal was set up by Wayne Simmonds, who dug out a loose puck and found his teammate in the slot for a wrister which beat Dwayne Roloson at 13:35 of the first. The Isles did get chances but weren't able to solve Quick, who also got help from his best friend the goalpost on a Tavares shot early in the second. Late in the stanza, the rookie had another glorious chance denied when his backhand was shutdown by the sprawling Kings' netminder. It was that kind of night.

“We had some glorious opportunities, but they got the best of us,”a disappointed former King and leading Islander finisher Matt Moulson expressed. “One big mistake cost us the game.”

Roloson, who played a stellar game himself turning aside 25 of 26, thwarted Jarrett Stoll's shorthanded bid to keep it a one-goal deficit with under 16 minutes remaining. It wasn't a good night for the Islander power play which fired blanks in four chances against a hot PK that's now killed 24 straight.

“The penalty kill is just really about work and execution,” LA captain Dustin Brown said. “We’ve kind of gotten into a groove with short shifts.”

For New York, it would come down to the wire with Gordon pulling Roloson for an extra skater with over a minute to go. The Kings killed most of it with stellar work in the neutral zone. However, finally a Mark Streit dump with under 35 ticks left gave his teammates a chance to recover the puck along the right wall. A great hustle play by Richard Park kept it alive where Tavares got the biscuit behind the net and quickly threaded a no-look backhand feed to Okposo. But Friday's multi-goal scorer couldn't beat Quick, who was in perfect position to snuff out the dangerous opportunity.

Needing to win the draw for one last shot, the Isles couldn't as LA won the puck and cleared the zone as time wound down- dealing them another hard defeat. Now, they become spectators and will have to hope for help from the Rangers until they meet Wednesday. Insanity.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brad Richardson, LA (game-winner-11th of season, 0 goals in '09-10)
2nd Star-Dwayne Roloson, NYI (25 saves in 45th start of season)
1st Star-Jon Quick, LA (26 saves for 4th SHO of season-8th career)

Les Habitants edge Devils to take over East lead

All season long, the Canadiens have been proving critics like myself wrong. That didn't change one iota last night where they used a Andrei Kostistyn power play tally with 5:43 left to get past the Devils 2-1 up in Montreal, taking over first in the Eastern Conference.

The difference was the lethal No.1 ranked Habs' power play which connected twice in six opportunities while the Devs took a collar for a second consecutive night to drop their third straight. After picking up points in nine straight, they're 0-2-1 in their last three and haven't been finding the back of the net with any regularity. Something which top netminder Marty Brodeur eluded to afterwards:

“They didn’t give us much, we barely had three or four really good scoring
chances on [Carey] Price. We’re just having problems scoring goals and creating
chances of late, and it was the same thing tonight."

It was also the second game in a row his team permitted two power play goals against. Something which can't become a common occurrence if the Devs are to come out on top down the stretch.

Rookie goalie Carey Price outdueled Brodeur in net finishing with 31 saves. The well spoken 35 year-old Montreal native turned aside 23 of 25 but just didn't get much support in dropping to 34-14-5 for his brilliant career against the hometown Les Habitants.

The Devs outshot the Habs 13-8 in the opening stanza but the contest remained scoreless until Montreal double threat Mark Streit got to a loose puck in front steering one home on the backhand past Brodeur for his 12th 6:11 into the second. Montreal captain Saku Koivu and leading scorer Alex Kovalev notched assists.

But New Jersey drew even 7:26 later thanks to resurgent sniper Brian Gionta, who got to a loose rebound in front and stuffed one into an open side for his 18th (5th in last 10). Defensemen Mike Mottau and Colin White added helpers.

Then it would be the goalies who stood tall to keep the contest knotted. First, a sprawling Price robbed Patrik Elias on a one-timer which was labeled. Then Brodeur kicked out the right pad to deny Kovalev's 35-foot right wing wrister late in the second. He also thwarted checking center Maxim Lapierre's pointblank rebound early in the final stanza. Another big glove save from in close kept the Habs off the board with less than eight minutes left.

However, the Canadiens would finally go back in front thanks to some nice passing down low. During a five-on-four man-advantage which Chris Higgins just kept on-side, Tomas Plekanec was setup in front but missed. A hustling Andrei Kostistyn got to the loose puck behind the net and beat Brodeur with a wraparound for the deciding tally. It was his 20th of the season.

The Devils did generate a couple of chances in the final five minutes but Price stood tall denying Jamie Langenbrunner's rebound try from in close. He also got a glove on a Karel Rachunek blast to preserve the win- pushing the no longer surprising Canadiens a point ahead of both NJ and Ottawa (5-4 winners over the Pens) for tops in the conference.

"It is a pleasant surprise for us and for a lot of people,” a pleased Koivu pointed out afterwards.

“There were some question marks for this team because of the young players
coming from the minors, but those guys have done an excellent job coming in here
and wanting a big role, not being happy just to be in the lineup.”

The loss was another opportunity lost by the Devils to increase their division lead with the Pens losing despite three more points from NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin.

With the Flyers going into Long Island and posting a 4-1 win thanks in large part to a crushing shorthanded goal by Jeff Carter, suddenly the Atlanta is extremely tight. Seven total points separates the first place Devs from fourth place Philly which makes today's early 12:30 matinee at the Rangers even larger. Especially with both teams making up their extra game.

Essentially, the winner will pick up a couple of points and get even closer to the idle Devs. Meanwhile, the second place Pens could pull ahead with a home win over the Thrashers.

Both the Rangers and Flyers are aiming for their fourth straight wins. So it should be quite a battle at the Garden in what's an NBC game.

As for the Islanders, they really hurt themselves by falling to the Flyers because a regulation win would've put them in a three-way tie with Philly and Buffalo for the eighth spot. Instead, they're four behind the suddenly resurgent Flyers and trail the Sabres by a couple of points which makes the upcoming home-and-home against the rival Rangers huge. It could possibly make or break their season.

There's a lot more puck today. So I should be around to update everything accordingly.

Enjoy the games along with what's a fun and unpredictable playoff race.

Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole

I was trying to come up with a title for the Habs' amazing five-goal comeback to win 6-5 in a shootout over the shell shocked Rangers before an energized home crowd. This was the best I could do.

I mean what can you really say. History was made up north as neither the Blueshirts nor the Habs had ever been part of something so crazy before. When MSG flashed the note that the Original Six club had never lost after leading by five, you just knew it wasn't a good sign. Likewise, Les Habitants had never ever comeback to win from five back in their rich history.

Normally, I'd be upset about the Rangers somehow failing to pickup what seemed to be a sure two points but I'm just not mad about it for some reason. There's more important things to not be happy about than some silly wacky game. That's really all it is in the grand scheme of things.

Let's credit the Canadiens for showing as much heart as I've ever seen in never giving up and actually believing they could still comeback and pull that out after three quick Ranger goals chased rookie Carey Price.

I've been on this team for a while and nothing I saw tonight changed my mind. Truth be told, that's the best club in the entire conference. They skate better than anyone. Have the deepest crop of forwards and a very active D which can make life a nightmare when for defenses pinning the opposition in with an aggressive forecheck.

Does anyone boast a better fourth line than these Habs? I haven't seen it. When you can send out the ever dangerous Michael Ryder (10 healthy scratches and still the best forward on this night with two goals sparking the comeback), two-way threat Mark Streit (goal, two helpers) and the gritty Maxim Lapierre, it's going to be a huge advantage. That trio along with the banging of energizer Steve Begin and underrated defender Mike Komisarek changed the game as did the fans.

Most teams fall behind by five and pack it in. Never have I seen such a vocal crowd influence their home players the way these Habs responded. Those Canadien supporters believed their team could still comeback and win even when Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury made it 5-0 28 seconds apart early in the second.

What they got was the kind of inspired comeback which could make their team believe it can win the whole thing. Why the heck not? They have two solid goalies. Cristobal Huet was fantastic in relief of Price, who really was victimized by a lackluster start by his teammates.

The Rangers didn't exactly let up when they got to five. They easily could've had a couple of more if not for a couple of very timely stops by Huet, who steadied to make 20 saves giving his more desperate team a chance.

For as great as the Blueshirts played the first 25 minutes was as brutal and lost as they looked the rest of the night. Bruised and battered all over the ice by a more physical and faster team, they paid the price for not putting a pesky opponent away. Did I really just say that?!?!?!?!?!

The key sequence in this contest was two consecutive lightning Montreal strikes only nine seconds apart which sliced the deficit to 5-4 with still 13:08 left in regulation. Their leader Alex Kovalev connected one-timing a hard Andrei Markov pass just through Henrik Lundqvist over the goal line. If there was one King Henrik would've liked back, it was that one.

That the Habs could then basically skate in untouched with Ryder's seeing eye shot getting a piece of Streit's leg to ricochet past a stunned Lundqvist was a crusher. Tom Renney had already taken their timeout when Ryder tallied twice 4:24 apart in the second to make it a three-goal contest.

The Rangers just couldn't hang on and were done in by a mistimed Marek Malik hooking penalty which led to a scintillating Kovalev equalizer with 4:22 remaining. Somehow, off a broken play, he got a powerful one-timer off an Andrei Kostistyn setup in the left slot for his 29th sending the Montreal crowd into a frenzy.

It was a period earlier where these same cuckoo fans tossed debris on the ice. Some sort of ridiculous giveaway which was tossed cause they didn't like a legitimate high sticking call on Komisarek.

The OT was mostly Montreal as they pressed for the winner but Lundqvist denied all five shots to force a shootout. In it, the difference was a brilliant move two deke move and smooth forehand finish by Montreal captain Saku Koivu. When Jaromir Jagr's backhand deke wouldn't go, it was over.

The impressive comeback was complete and the Habs had somehow managed to stay even with the Sens (also shootout winners over Philly) for the conference's most points (75).

So, how do the Rangers explain this one? They can't. They just got beat by a better and deeper team. It's ashame too cause some of their best offense came in the same game with Jagr netting four assists and Brandon Dubinsky recording a Gordie Howe hat trick. He got pounded by Komisarek but took his licks and got a couple in. The kid has guts. He might want to learn how to throw'em and pick his spots though.

Maybe if this team had a real fourth line like the one we saw from Montreal, they might've not wilted.

I don't believe any other Eastern team could've comeback from five to win that. It was about as impressive as can be.

I've said this is the most talented team the Canadiens have had since that 1993 team which was the last Canadian team to hoist Lord Stanley. I think they have a legit shot to do the same. They've got it. Skating. Skill. Finesse. Grit. Physicality. Goaltending. And mental toughness which was on display tonight. They sent a pretty loud message to the rest of the conference.

This was one of those crazy games which was a ton of fun to watch. Even if the Rangers only wound up with a point, I'm not complaining.

They have only themselves to blame. Now they wait until Friday for a rematch at Buffalo. We'll see how they respond.


Just an update on the conference race. With the Pens coming back from two down to win 3-2 over the Panthers and the Devils winning the day before 5-1 over the Canes, here's how close it is:


1.Senators 75 Pts 35 Wins 22 GR
2.Devils 73 34 Wins 22 GR
3.Canes 65 30 Wins 19 GR
4.Habs 75 33 Wins 21 GR
5.Pens 73 34 Wins 22 GR
6.Rangers 68 30 Wins 20 GR
7.Bruins 66 30 Wins 23 GR
8.Flyers 66 30 Wins 22 GR
9.Sabres 64 28 Wins 23 GR
10.Isles 63 28 Wins 22 GR
11.Caps 62 28 Wins 22 GR
12.Thrashers 62 29 Wins 21 GR
13.Panthers 60 27 Wins 20 GR
14.Leafs 59 25 Wins 21 GR
15.Bolts 56 25 Wins 23 GR