Game recap: Hurricanes 3, Islanders 2 (OT)

Another day, another blown two-goal lead, this one coming apart with the Isles ahead by 2 with less than 17 minutes left in regulation.

I took my five-year-old son to the game, and he was getting antsy down the stretch, for reasons much different than mine. He wanted to get his free hockey stick (more on that in a later post) and go home. I just wanted to see the Islanders win.

OK, so there's not much you can do when a shot from the point ricochets a couple of times before finding the twine, which is what happened on Carolina's first goal. But then a shot from the point finds the five-hole (Was DiPietro screened? Tough to tell from Section 325) and suddenly the game is tied.

Just as I was explaining the concept of overtime to my son, Carolina scored. "That's a horrible loss," said my friend Jimmy Mac, seated in front of us with his wife and two young daughters. I'm sure he -- and plenty of other parents of young ones at the game -- wanted to vent a little more loudly and profanely at the turn of events, but we held our collective tongues in order to be good role models.

All this despite the return of Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt to the back line, and for two-plus periods -- particularly the second period -- all looked fine. Hilbert and Satan gave the Isles a two-goal cushion and the game seemed somewhat in hand. Another lesson for the young ones -- never let down.

Meanwhile, there was plenty to complain about regarding the officiating. Few penalties called all game, and then Martinek gets called for boarding (borderline in my eyes, but OK) -- but you're telling me Fedotenko WASN'T hammered by a cross check in front of the Carolina net in the final minutes? Where was that call? And then Sutton is called for a cross check in overtime? Horrible. Of course, the Hurricanes score to win. No home calls here, I guess.

So that's three in-conference points the Islanders have let slip through their fingers the last few days, with game two of the home-and-home at Carolina on Tuesday night.

SUFFOLK ALL-STARS RULE!

Sweet sassy molassy, did you see the final score of the Lighthouse Cup? Suffolk County romped to an 11-0 victory over the Nassau County stars, scoring eight goals in the second period to put the game away early. Read all about it here. Congrats, Suffolk!

Looking for the rebound on MLK Day

Full house, divisional opponent, up 3-1 after one period. You cannot lose that game. But that's what happened to the Islanders against the Flyers on Saturday.

Yes, the Isles are without three starting defensemen, and a likely result is some inconsistent play. Nothing against Freddy Meyer, Aaron Johnson and Andy Sutton, but any team that loses half of its regular blueliners is going to struggle.

Besides the fact that the loss came to the Flyers (who are to the Islanders what the Islanders are to the Devils, with three wins in three games), the loss was more frustrating because the Isles looked amazing in the first period after falling behind, 1-0.

The three goals were textbook. Berard's touchdown pass to Richard Park was perfect. Satan and Vasicek executed the 2-on-1 with precision. Then Guerin absolutely roofed a rebound of a Gervais shot on the power play, giving Biron no shot at a save.

But it was all downhill from there, and now the Isles will look to get one back against the Hurricanes in a rare afternoon game. Expect another big crowd and plenty of kids -- I'll be there with my son (looking forward to the free stick) in Section 325.

And stick around for the Lighthouse Cup at 5 p.m., the Suffolk high school all-stars taking on the best from Nassau County. Hockey all day -- what could be better?

Game recap: Islanders 4, Hurricanes 1

What a way to ring out the old.

The power play was the one thing that still hadn't looked good in the Isles' recent resurgence, but that changed in a big way Monday night as the Islanders scored on three straight man-up opportunities to beat the Hurricanes on the road, 4-1, for their fifth win in six games to close out 2007.

There's plenty to look forward to in the new year. Rick DiPietro should be returning to the lineup shortly, the goal-scoring drought seems to be becoming a memory, the team is getting nice offensive production from the d-line, and young players like Blake Comeau and Freddy Meyer are playing well with the prospect of Kyle Okposo joining the team in the second half of the season.

And while the Isles may be fifth in their own division, they're right in the thick of the playoff battle, just three points from the fourth seed in the conference standings.

Monday's win saw three goals in less than four minutes in the second period to give the Isles a 3-0 lead. Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bill Guerin scored on the power play, followed by a gate-crashing goal by Ruslan Fedotenko. Bergeron scored again on the power play late in the period, his third goal in two games.

Wade Dubielewicz made 28 saves in another solid start in relief of DiPietro. The Isles host the Panthers Thursday night before hitting the road for five straight, the first four against western conference foes.

Game recap: Hurricanes 8, Isles 3

Aaaaand, we're back. Sort of.

This is exactly what everyone was afraid of with this ridiculous schedule, having a week off between games while Carolina was playing its fourth game of the week.

Rusty? You could say that. Rick DiPietro stopped just seven of 13 shots and made a terrible mistake behind the net that led to Carolina's second goal, which was sandwiched between two power play goals, which gave the 'Canes a quick 3-0 lead. And just when you thought maybe the Islanders could reclaim the game with a fresh start in the second period, Carolina scores 77 seconds in to go up 4-0. Good night, folks.

Carolina's backup goalie, John Grahame, got the win. And of course it always great to see Peter Laviolette come back the Coliseum and win a game. Just a bad, bad night all around.

Any good news? Well, Marc-Andre Bergeron returned to the lineup and scored a power play goal. And it looks like Shawn Bates will be back on the ice soon; he has been sorely missed and will add a spark to the team with his tough play. Other than that, let's hope the Isles use the next FOUR DAYS OFF to figure things out before Thursday's game against the Lightning.