Game recap: Flyers 4, Islanders 1

Call this one 'Afternoon Debacle.'

It's funny that when the Islanders were winning six in a row, Ted Nolan talk about how the bounces were suddenly going the team's way, unlike the previous couple of weeks. Well, where are those bounces now? Going in for the opposition.

Take the Flyers, who a week ago were sinking like the FedEx plane in "Cast Away," but are now winners of three straight. Mike Knuble's fluke deflection midway through the third gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead and that was that.

Bill Guerin scored the Isles' only goal, his 20th of the season. He became only the second player in NHL history to score 20 or more goals for six different teams. Even he said, "I don't know if it's good or bad."

The Isles have now lost three of four, the only break a 5-4 OT win over the Thrashers on Thursday night. Sure, two points on the road are huge, especially given the logjam that exists for the final playoff spot, but you can't like blowing a three-goal lead. That's never good. But you had to like the two goals from Comrie and the OT winner by Trent Hunter, after Josef Vasicek capitalized on a Thrasher defensive error with a nice assist.

Meanwhile, on the injury front, Brendan Witt is back, but Frans Nielsen is out 2-4 weeks with a bad shoulder. We'll take that trade. Witt will be sorely needed down the stretch.

But the stretch of what? The Isles are now four points behind the Flyers for the last playoff spot, and Philly has a game in hand.

Condolences, by the way, to Rick DiPietro, whose grandmother passed away this week. He'll miss Sunday afternoon's game against Florida after starting 14 straight. Hello, Dubie.

Game recap: Islanders 6, Hurricanes 3

So let me get this straight: The Islanders actually have the advantage when they're shorthanded, and they win more often when they're outshot. Make sense? Not really, but a win is a win.

Tuesday night's 6-3 win over the Hurricanes was the Isles' fourth straight road win (which dovetails fittingly with the team's four-game home losing streak) and got the two points back that they gave away the night before. Unfortunately, any good feelings generated by the win were tempered mightily by the news that Chris Campoli needs shoulder surgery and will be lost for the season.

It's a huge blow to the defense as Campoli has been a real asset so far this season, despite the occasional youthful mistake. The loss of Campoli means Freddy Meyer will continue to get a regular turn, and his solid play has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension.

Back to the game, and what more can you say about a penalty kill that scores three times? How messed up is this -- the first four goals of the game were scored with Carolina on the power play, and three of the goals were for the Islanders. Think Peter Laviolette had a few choice words for his club after the game?

Mike Sillinger had two of the shorties while Richard Park had the third on a beautiful breakaway triggered by Martinek flipping the puck high off the glass and out of the Islanders' zone. Park picked the puck up at center ice and did the rest.

Up 4-1, the Islanders let the Canes back into it; Matt Cullen somehow found some space between the left post and Wade Dubielewicz's pads to make it 4-3. But Dubie stood tall against a withering Hurricane attack in the third and finished with 44 saves. Brendan Witt scored the clincher off a nice drop pass by Blake Comeau, whose empty netter polished off the win.

The Isles visit Beantown Thursday night and get four days off for the All-Star Break (everyone but D.P., that is) before hosting the Senators on Jan. 29.

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!

Isles lose Simon, lose to Sabres, but gain Okposo

While it may seem hard to believe that Chris Simon got an NHL-record 30-game suspension for what he did to Jarkko Ruutu, I can't argue with the decision by Colin Campbell. This is the new NHL, after all, and you have to take into account a player's past transgressions, and Simon is currently one of the league's worst offenders and should not -- cannot -- be on the ice.

Simon's seventh career suspension in 15 seasons was his second in nine months, coming on the heels of the 25-gamer for whacking Ryan Hollweg in the face. I thought that suspension was a bit harsh considering the circumstances, but the league has a zero-tolerance policy now and all the players know it. And while tripping Ruutu and then stepping on his foot isn't nearly as bad as the fouls committed by Jesse Boulerice or Steve Downie, or the cowardly hit by Dale Hunter on Pierre Turgeon, or Todd Bertuzzi's sucker punch of Steve Moore, it's still, in Campbell's words, "repugnant and totally unacceptable."

It's good to see that Simon will undergo counseling "at the behest of Charles Wang" according to Newsday, and everyone who knows the Islanders knows Simon is well-liked and respected by his teammates. Here's hoping he can resolve whatever issues he has, but his time on the Islanders is very close to an end.

Regarding Campbell's comment that Simon would meet with "drug and alcohol doctors," that's typical Campbell. The guy seems to be a few cents short of a dollar, and Ted Nolan was right on the money for calling Campbell's comment "idiotic" as well as racially insensitive. But we're not surprised.

Meanwhile, the Isles fell to .500 with a 2-1 loss to the Sabres at the Coliseum Wednesday night, despite outshooting Buffalo, 43-17. Credit Ryan Miller for making several big stops, but it's the quality of chances that count, not the quantity. The power play lost its recent momentum, going 0-for-5. Brendan Witt, of all people, scored the only goal with a great screen by Sean Bergenheim, who has really played well lately.

All those shots couldn't get the Isles the lead, and then Maxim Afinogenov provided the backbreaker with a backhander with 2:17 left in the third. A 6-on-4 with DiPietro pulled came up empty, and now the Islanders have only won two of their last 10 games. The offensive problems are really taking their toll now.

But help COULD be on the way in the form of Kyle Okposo, which is making our pal Ken at Okposo Net a happy man - even moving him to compose poetry! The seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft was struggling in his sophomore year at Minnesota after a fine freshman year, and decided to call it quits and go pro. Unhappy playing center for coach Don Lucia (and with the Golden Gophers playing like, well, gophers) Okposo will represent the U.S. at the Under-20 World Juniors next week in the Czech Republic and could be an Islander (or at least a Sound Tiger) in January, if they can work out a deal - which they should.

The 19-year-old Okposo is a stud, a guy who can really help on the right wing, and the Isles could use some new blood up front. With Freddy Meyer and Blake Comeau playing against Buffalo, is a major shakeup coming? Probably not, but some change is needed to snap this team out of the goal-scoring doldrums.

Just one last note on the attendance Wednesday - just over 10,000. Not horrible, but the pattern of sparse weekday crowds and big weekend crowds at the Coliseum was not lost on Mike and the Mad Dog, who opened last Friday's show -- believe it or not -- talking about the Islanders. Francesa actually watched some of the game against the Coyotes, and - admitting he knows almost nothing about the Islanders - had praise for, as he put it, "number 28." Told it was Tim Jackman, Francesa said he liked what he saw from him, but didn't have much to say about anyone else.

Thanks for the insight, Mikey.

Russo harped on the attendance, noting that it was terrible weather against a Western Conference opponent, but he still didn't think those were reasons enough for so many empty seats. He has a point - you would like to see more fans and it's something I've noticed - but the weather combined with the who-are-these-guys Coyotes PLUS the way the Isles have been playing lately doesn't add up to a sellout, no matter how you slice it.

So should we be happy that M&MD took some time to talk Islanders hockey? Or should they stick to football, tennis and horse racing?