Battle Of Hudson

Maybe I shouldn’t be as annoyed about last night’s 3-2 home loss to Colorado as I am…after all, the Devils dominated in terms of shots (43-22) and scoring chances. Plus, our bevy of rookies led by defensemen Matt Taormina, Matthew Corrente, Alexander Urbom and teen center Jacob Josefson in his NHL debut all gave encouraging accounts of themselves. Especially Taormina, who is looking more and more like this season’s Andy Greene – the undersized puck-moving defenseman we develop out of nowhere that becomes a key.

Facts are facts though, not only are we 1-3-1 and tied for last in the division, but our $40 million cap dollars spent on forwards have given us less than two goals a game so far. Yep, nine goals in five games – and two of those came in the first seven minutes of the season – for a team with two thirds of its cap tied up in forwards that have underachieved to this point. Sure, Ilya Kovalchuk has two goals and two assists but really last night’s third-period goal was more on Avs goalie Craig Anderson, who allowed a weak wrister on one of the rare shots where we didn’t hit his equipment. And eventually you have to figure Zach Parise (one goal so far) will pick it up.

Most of the other forwards are starting to concern me though. Patrik Elias had about the worst game I’ve seen from him since 2003 with his indecision, perimeter play and obsessive hail mary passes. Not to mention holding the puck for at least ten seconds with time running down late in the third period, as if he was protecting a lead instead of trying to tie the game. Jamie Langenbrunner hasn’t scored yet, and other than some secondary assists has picked right up where he left off last year. David Clarkson might permanently have to change his name to Meathead, like Archie Bunker’s son-in-law. Sure, he’ll compete and I believe wants to do well but he needs to see the wizard to acquire a brain. He thinks he can score goals by skill first and grit second when really it has to be the other way around, he has to go to the net and do the dirty work, which he hasn’t done to this point.

And Danius Zubrus, oh boy…he looks like the Little Engine That Couldn’t. Not only did he clang one off the post on a wraparound attempt where he beat Anderson in front, but he flubbed a two-on-the goalie chance in the second period which should have been an automatic goal with him and Clarkson skating unimpeded on Anderson. Inexplicably, Zubrus kept the puck, went to his backhand in the middle of the net and missed it. Other than Brian Rolston (lolz) who’s on IR for the forseeable future, all the forwards I named basically make up a ton of cap space that we don’t have. With two offensive coaches in Johnny MacLean and Adam Oates behind the bench, this simply cannot continue.

Sure, Martin Brodeur had a bad game last night allowing two short-side goals including a softie midway through the first period to Cody McLeod while we were outshooting Colorado 17-3 in the period, which included a futile FIVE-minute power play after the same McLeod got himself ejected for a major boarding penalty on the next shift after his goal. But what, exactly was the offense doing on said power play when they played perimeter hockey for the whole duration? I know they had a couple of chances early in the power play but when you don’t have anyone getting closer to the net than the faceoff dots, you’re going to have a big problem scoring – especially against a good goalie like Anderson.

It took till about the middle of the second period for anyone to even breathe on the Avs goalie, and by that time we were down 2-0…but when we finally went to the net a little, voila – Parise provided a screen in front for Taormina’s first NHL goal that got us back in the game. Speaking of which, it’s a pretty bad sign when an undrafted FA defenseman who wasn’t even on most people’s radar as far as making the team has been better offensively than just about all of our high-priced forwards.

Of course it doesn’t help when Johnny Mac was one of the top graduates of the Jacques Lemaire school of changing our forward lines every five minutes. Most of these guys haven’t played together much, between Kovy’s 27 games last year and the new additions of Jason Arnott and now Josefson…can we give them a chance to gel with our holdovers here at least? Or at least play the same positions? After the balleyhooed switch of Kovy to RW, in this game Kovy was back at his LW slot with Parise at RW, a position he’s never played, even in practice. You couldn’t blame a short roster for the confusion last night, since we dressed twenty for the first time since last weekend.

Granted, I don’t mind using the first ten games or so to get a look at players and our great regular seasons in the past have amounted to nothing but after a summer of upheaval, can we at least try to calm the waters here for a while before we wind up in a struggle to even make the playoffs? Especially now that we know what the roster will look like for the next several weeks at least. Not to mention having a six-game road trip of death looming on the horizon. If we don’t watch it we’ll bury ourselves early a la Carolina last season.

One thing’s for sure, the expected marketing value of Kovy hasn’t materialized one bit in the first three games, with a dissapointing crowd of just over 12,000 last night. We were having 13,000 crowds for preseason games! Of course, there’s a big difference between counting voucher giveaways and actual tickets sold. I do expect tonight’s crowd to be much better, since weekend games usually are – in spite of having a Yankee playoff game tonight as well – but man, if Jeff Vanderbeek is going to get $100 million worth out of Kovy it better come on the ice with playoff revenue.

Like the old football coach Jim Mora though, I don’t want to talk about playoffs right now. I just want to win a game.

We’re a week into the new season. For the Rangers, they finally play their home opener tonight against the hot Maple Leafs who haven’t lost yet. It’s only Game No.3 for John Tortorella’s club. The usual for a team that always gets screwed schedule wise late due to so little action this early. Thank the Knicks, who at least should be competitive with Amare Stoudemire. So, we can’t make any Knick jokes this time around.

How will Tort’s bunch react to a three day layoff following the disappointing 6-4 Islander loss on Columbus Day? Why does it feel longer? Funny how everything seems to have slowed down. Guess that’s good but when you’re itching for your hockey team to play, not so much. So, it’ll be exciting to see what they come up with against Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Co. later at what’s sure to be a pumped Garden. Will it be soldout? Seriously. They’ve been advertising season subscriptions all month. Embarrassing. Guess Dolan gets what he deserves. Just wait till the renovation’s complete. For one night at least, I’ll be there with the fam and friend taking it in from our usual Section 411 Row D seats. Love that section. Let the chaos commence!

So, what can be expected as they honor the franchise’s 85th Anniversary with those cool patches? Well, there should be more offense if the first two games are any indication plus exhibition. It’s nice to score goals but the D has been dreadful. An issue which could haunt this club all season long. Unless Marc Staal and Dan Girardi play like their new contracts, there won’t be much to talk about defensively. Michal Rozsival is the third blueliner who logs important minutes. He was good in the win over Buffalo but struggled on Long Island. With partner Mike Del Zotto still very green in his end, it’s imperative for Rozy to be strong this year. Especially with our coach insisting on keeping traffic cone/new booing target Steve Eminger in the lineup over Mike Sauer with Matt Gilroy getting his first game. Can anyone on the face of the earth explain what they see in this guy?!?!?!?!?! Anyone. Please. Quoting The Honeymooner’s Ralph Kramden:

“To the moon Alice or in this case Tort/Slats!“

There’s a reason why 33rd and Seventh is the land of confusion as I channel a little Phil Collins Genesis. Between the insistence on this two bit scrub continuing to play when Sauer’s done nothing wrong and the organization dumbfounding the twitter blogosphere by keeping Todd White’s heftier contract over Tim Kennedy, it’s enough to make one wonder if they’ll ever get it right. At least Derek Stepan hasn’t gotten scratched yet. Chris Drury returns tonight for his ’10-11 debut. I’m asking all Garden Faithful to cheer our captain, who’s always willing to play hurt and sacrifice for the good of the team. It’s easy to forget that Dru was good his first two years. One bad year doesn’t mean the guy sucks. Let’s support the do everything center who always brings his hard hat to the rink. It doesn’t excuse what he makes. Place the blame where it belongs. On management. I for one am happy he gets a shot with Marian Gaborik and Alex Frolov with Erik Christensen expected out. Here’s hoping he scores.

Fans are already excited about Stepan, who also was strong in the second game generating chances around the net. The puck always seems to find him. Glad he’s playing with Sean Avery and Ruslan Fedotenko. We should also like the second line of Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan who are all off to good starts. That line will be vital. Curious to see what kind of reception Derek Boogaard gets. Will he even get to fight Colton Orr after Orr was TKO’d the other night by Pitt’s Deryk Engelland? If not, uh oh.

Finally, it’s only the third game but Henrik Lundqvist needs to be better. By his own admission, he’s let in a few softies. And please for the love of God, don’t handle the puck. Well, can’t wait to be in our seats and bs with our friends. If you’re around, don’t hesitate to stop by.

It wasn’t pretty but the Devils will take it. Ilya Kovalchuk’s first goal of the season 53 seconds into overtime made a winner of new coach John MacLean. His first win behind the bench. Martin Brodeur stopped all 24 shots as New Jersey prevailed over Buffalo 1-0. It was Brodeur’s record 111th shutout- third career against the Sabres, including a 0-0 tie over a decade ago when he and Dominik Hasek shared the game puck.

The victory was the Devs’ first in four tries, pulling out the win despite using only 16 skaters. One better than their 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh Monday. Former Sabre Adam Mair signed for one year, $500,000- debuting yesterday in a familiar setting against the club he spent the past seven years with. The gritty fourth line center replaced Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, who cleared waivers. He wasn’t the only one to have a successful return to Western New York with former Sabre defenseman Henrik Tallinder putting forth his best effort thus far. It helped the shorthanded team earn the ‘W.’

“We’ve had a lot of changes, we’ve had injuries, and we’ve played with 15 players, and now 16 players,” Brodeur said. “It’s been chaotic a little bit. So for us to finally get one under our belt, now we can start playing our season.”

With Brian Rolston diagnosed with a sports hernia which could keep him out six weeks, the veteran center was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve, clearing space for Lou Lamoriello to recall reinforcements from Albany for tomorrow’s home game against the Avs. Maybe the NHLPA can investigate that as well.

Predictably, the two clubs played a tight checking low-scoring affair which emulated last year’s season series. With the Devils still short two, it favored them. You have to wonder why Lindy Ruff’s club didn’t try to open it up until late in the third when they had quite a few chances to pull it out in regulation.

“We’re four games in, and there isn’t anything to freak out about,” second-year defenseman Tyler Myers said. “We had a lot of chances, we just didn’t put them in.”

A couple of point blank rebounds went wide, pushing the contest to OT. In it, all it took was one mistake when Devil rookie Matt Taormina recovered Andrej Sekera’s turnover and dished across for an isolated Kovalchuk, who buried it past Miller off the post and in giving his team a much needed win. In a nice gesture, captain Jamie Langenbrunner rewarded Taormina with the game puck for his first NHL career point.

“I didn’t like the play with us coming back in the zone,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff lamented. “We could have at least competed harder.”

Brodeur credited MacLean for igniting a fire after sending the Devils off the ice after just 20 minutes of practice during the morning skate, fuming following an errant Zach Parise pass.

“It was almost like Mark Messier,” he joked. “We have to be prepared to play a certain way and act a certain way. He wants us to act like a professional and do what we need to do to get ourselves ready, and he wasn’t happy about what was going on at the morning skate.”

“I think they woke themselves up, too. I’ve always said we have a good hockey team here and we’re going through growing pains early, but they put the effort in for 60 minutes, which is what they were looking for and they did a nice job. It was great from Marty all the way out. They played very well,” praised MacLean.

For Buffalo, it’s back to the drawing board after dropping a third straight on home ice. The first time they’ve done that since 1993. They haven’t won since an opening season 2-1 victory at Ottawa. Their next chance comes tomorrow when northern enemy Montreal pays a visit to HSBC Arena for the final game of a four-game homestand. The Habs should be in a foul mood following a bitter 4-3 overtime defeat to Tampa Bay in their home opener.

Meanwhile, the Devils get Colorado and Boston at The Rock this weekend. They’ll do so with a full roster following Rolston’s successful hernia surgery, which freed up $5 million in cap space. The club recalled centers Tim Sestito, Jacob Josefson and defenseman Matt Corrente. It was also determined that defenseman Mark Fraser sustained a broken hand stemming from a fight with Buffalo’s Cody McCormick last night.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Ryan Miller, Sabres (34 saves incl.15/15 in 1st)
2nd Star-Ilya Kovalchuk, Devils (OT winner-1st of season)
1st Star-Matt Taormina, Devils (primary assist-1st career NHL point)

Two years ago today, the hockey world lost talented Russian teenager Alexei Cherepanov. The electrifying right wing who the Rangers selected 17th overall in 2007 was only 19 when he collapsed on the bench next to Avangard Omsk teammate Jaromir Jagr in a KHL game versus Vityaz Chekov. The rest is a tragic tale of a young man who died too soon due to a faulty defribillator and a late ambulance. Though they were able to revive his heart five times before he collapsed and died at the hospital. To this day, the cause of death remains debatable with a Russian investigator saying he suffered from chronic ischemia while other medical experts concluded that it was caused by hypertrophic cardiomyapathy (HCM). It was later determined that Cherepanov suffered from myocarditis (heart inflammation) and shouldn’t have even been playing hockey. Hard to fathom since he passed his predraft medical exam. Regardless, a very gifted player who set a KHL record with a nine-game goal streak was gone way too soon and never got to fulfill his NHL dream and play for the Rangers. The KHL still honors him with its Rookie Of The Year Award named for him. In ’06-07, Cherepanov set a rookie record with 18 goals and 11 assists for 29 points while also contributing three goals and five helpers in the playoffs. Today, we remember him. Say a prayer for his family.

It was a busy Tuesday for the NHL. Not only did they take thrifty action against James Wisniewski but also banned Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson two games as well for this dangerous hit on Sabre right wing Jason Pominville that gave him a concussion. Pommer was taken off the ice on a stretcher in a game Buffalo lost 4-3 Monday night.

Is the suspension enough for what looked like a blindside hit just before Pominville had the puck? Legendary Sabre announcer Rick Jeanneret thought it was a hit from behind but it came more from the side. The thing is Pominville never had a chance and it was a severe hit on impact that crushed him into the boards. A scary sight. These are the kind of hits the league wants to eliminate. So, why only two games? Hjalmarsson doesn’t have a track record for being a dirty player. It’s his first suspension. It should also be noted that he was given a boarding major and game misconduct for his actions.

Still, it’s awfully hard to agree with the punishment. He got the same ban as Wisniewski. Since when is a risky hit that causes severe injury the same as a silly gesture that’s plain offensive? It doesn’t make sense. No wonder Pominville’s teammate Ryan Miller sounded off yesterday. Via Puck Daddy, here’s what the rating Vezina winner had to say on Hjalmarsson’s hit and blindside hits in general:

“No matter how badly Hjalmarsson feels, it’s still an illegal hit. It still out our guy out and it’s still suspendable in my mind. So absolutely needs to be punished. I don’t care if it’s unintentional. That’s what we have to get away from hockey right now, is the culture of it; of I was trying to make a play, so therefore it’s not my fault.‘

“The hockey hit is to separate a man from the puck. Not anticipating the puck getting there and hitting him from behind and driving him into the boards. You have two things right there: The puck wasn’t clearly there, there was anticipation of it, there’s no separation, and he was hit from behind.

“I don’t know if there was enough made of it, because Jason is walking out with just stitches. What if Jason had a fractured neck? We don’t even know what kind of impact it’s going to have with a concussion. So no matter how badly he feels, no matter if it’s unintentional, we have to change the culture of it if we’re ever going to change the situations we’re seeing, which is guys on the ice bleeding and missing time with concussions. It’s completely an unnecessary play. … More people should be a little more outraged.

“God, when he left the ice, he was surprised he got kicked out. It’s like, ‘Are you serious?’ I would have started skating towards the locker room if I were him. I’m glad he admitted to it, that he didn’t mean to do it. But you have to change the culture sometime. I hope the league wakes up and sets a precedent for the year.”

Miller makes some solid points about the way this league operates. He also criticized them for instituting the new blindside rule right before the playoffs, labeling it as ‘PR.’ Furthermore, he mentioned that it’s Colin Campbell’s job to make these tough rulings. The League Deputy who’s been inconsistent leaving the NHL open to criticism.

Most notably, the eloquent Sabre netminder made sure to include Matt Cooke’s dirty cheapshot of Bruins’ star center Marc Savard that still has him out with concussion symptoms. He might not play at all this season. When it comes to concussions, you’re dealing with the unknown. Who knows? It could be his career. Imagine that Cooke- who has a history with pushing the envelope- wasn’t even suspended. What if Savard never returns? How bad would that look?

It’s why we can’t agree with Puck Daddy chief Greg Wyshynski on Hjalmarsson’s suspension. Even if he infers that it wouldn’t have even gotten anything if not for the stretcher, the fact was it was a dangerous check. The kind that need to be eliminated. Sure. Hjalmarsson didn’t mean to injure Pominville. But nothing good was going to come out of that play. He just needs to be smarter. I doubt Jason had enough time to see him. Should it really depend on how hurt a player is? There’s too much of an assertion. If they’re serious about making hockey a safer sport, then any suspension on such scary hits must be more than what the Blackhawk defenseman got. Reputation withstanding.

This is exactly what’s wrong. If anything, usually Campbell goes tougher when serious injury is caused. A five-game ban would’ve at least sent a message. Miller’s right. Is this the year the league finally gets it right or will it take a life threatening incident for appropriate action to be taken. We certainly hope not.

Yesterday, the NHL came down on Islander defenseman James Wisniewski for his bush league move during their 6-4 win over the Rangers on Columbus Day. He was suspended two games for a silly post-whistle stunt which wasn’t appropriate. Especially with plenty of kids at the holiday game.

During a scrum in which frequent target Sean Avery gave Rick DiPietro a snowshower, the newest Islander came over and stuck up for his goalie which was fine. Unfortunately, the 26 year-old Canton, Michigan native went overboard by making a profane gesture at the Ranger bad boy. The league has a zero tolerance policy for any kind of stuff that doesn’t have a place in our sport. With players sometimes doing gang signs these days and sometimes losing their heads when things heat up, this is an area Gary Bettman Inc. have gotten right. So, the Islanders lose their most important blueliner for two games because he couldn’t control himself. Granted. It was Avery and there probably was an exchange of words. But Wiz needed to show better control.

Starting tonight, Wisniewski will miss a pair of games against two of the East’s best with Scott Gordon’s club traveling to Washington and Pittsburgh to play Alexander Ovechkin’s Caps and Sidney Crosby’s Pens. Not exactly the teams you want your big minute logger out for. In the club’s first two games, he was off to a good start with a goal and two helpers along with seven hits.

There’s a reason The Wiz is on his third roster in two and a half years. Despite being a very capable player who can contribute in all facets, he has developed a bad reputation for not always using his thinking cap, which has gotten him in trouble. Most notably, he was banned eight games for this cheapshot on former Hawk teammate Brent Seabrook. This is the fifth time Wisniewski has been suspended in two years. At least the former Chicago ’02 fifth round pick who was part of Team USA’s World Junior Championship 2003 squad took responsibility for his actions.

“A lot of actions on the ice are regrettable,” Wisniewski said in a statement. “I’ve been given a suspension from the league, and I’m going to accept it and move on from here.”

As for Avery whose mouth off the ice once got him in huge trouble with Dallas earning a six-game ban and counseling for anger management, he took exception.

“Can you imagine if I did that?” he said. “They sent me to rehab the last time I did something. It’s crazy.”

Oddly enough, that was the only instance in which he’s been suspended with the Stars throwing him off the team, setting up his Broadway sequel for the only team who will have him. Avery has also been fined twice by the NHL. But that’s it. Go figure.

The Islanders will need someone else to step up in place of Wisniewski, which could mean more minutes for Mark Eaton, Radek Martinek and surprise contributor Mike Mottau. Figure Andy MacDonald to also see a hike while Jack Hillen likely makes his season debut tonight as the Isles (1-0-1) look to remain unbeaten in regulation.

Even the Devils’ favorite opponent wasn’t the elixir for their inauspicious start. Perhaps facing former teammate Paul Martin had something to do with it in yesterday’s 3-1 loss at The Rock. He was predictably booed by fans that attended the Columbus Day late matinee that followed the Islanders’ comeback win over the Rangers. The less than sellout crowd (12,880) didn’t have much to cheer for as their team struggled to find twine against Pen backup Brent Johnson, who came up large late en route to 30 saves.

In a game notorious for New Jersey dressing only 15 skaters with John MacLean down to nine forwards due to their tumultuous cap/injury situation (no Rolston or Volchenkov), his team didn’t muster much the first two periods. Held to 16 shots (8 each), they fell behind the Penguins on goals by Alex Goligoski (high glove slapper) and Mark Letestu (PPG rebound). Amazingly, that made it eight straight goals allowed since the Cap debacle. Somewhat unexpected considering the firepower they now possess. If company man Ilya Kovalchuk has more scraps than goals thus far, then his turnover that led to a late Goligoski first period tally sure didn’t help the cause. Halfway through, MacLean tinkered his lines sending Kovalchuk out with lone goalscorer Patrik Elias and Jason Arnott while reforming ZZ Popp. It nearly paid off.

With the crowd dead, the Devils finally came to life when Arnott won a faceoff clean back to Elias, whose one-timer finally solved Johnson at 8:20 of the third. Despite being three short on the bench, MacLean didn’t make any excuses. His club certainly tried their best to get it tied, finally taking it to the Pens. However, a razor sharp Johnson wouldn’t allow them to force overtime- coming up with nine saves in the final nine minutes including a sparkler on an Andy Greene laser thru traffic. He also denied David Clarkson from in tight and got a piece of Kovalchuk’s putback near the right post keeping it out.

The closest they came to tying it was a great individual effort by top center Travis Zajac, who went around a defenseman and then nearly tucked the puck in with a sprawled Johnson calmly pushing the puck behind the net with help from Craig Adams. He turned aside 14 of 15 during the Devil barrage to help Pittsburgh dp something they didn’t last season. Come away with a win in this rivalry. They got the two points despite Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin being held off the scoresheet. Paying greater attention to detail, the more defensive minded Pens did a good job coming back. On a roster minus injured Jordan Staal without many scoring threats for Sid and Geno to get the puck to, that’s how Dan Byslma’s club must play.

It helped to have the steady Martin on their side. He picked up an assist on Letestu’s power play goal that put them ahead 2-zip in the second. Then sealed it by lugging the puck out and scoring into an empty net at 19:49. A good return for a player who rarely shows emotion but did crack a smile on the bench afterwards.

The Devils only had two power plays compared to the Pens’ six, which MacLean’s penalty killing unit did a respectable job on aside from Letestu’s rebound tally that may have caromed off Henrik Tallinder. They even killed off a five-on-three in which their opponent was far too predictable. It gave them a chance to comeback. Something they’d done against this team in the past. Perhaps that’s why Byslma went with Johnson instead of Marc-Andre Fleury, who the Devs owned. In relief last year, the former Blue who once got his name into the record books due to three consecutive shutouts for his first three wins one postseason (2002), was steadier than the No.1 starter. No shock that he stifled the Devil attack and was named No.1 star.

As for the NHLPA making a big stick over Lou Lamoriello listing only 15 skaters in yesterday’s lineup, come on. Both Brian Rolston and Anton Volchenkov got hurt and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond lost his head and a place on the roster after getting suspended for a fight he instigated. He was placed on waivers Monday. What choice did the Devs have here? They’re up against it. Until the Devil architecht can find a way to free up space- something he did by waiving Leblond for the possible Adam Mair signing, it’s going to be an uphill climb.

Still, a team that boasts a front six of Kovalchuk, Zajac, Zach Parise, Arnott, Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner shouldn’t have issues scoring. Since leading Dallas 2-0 in their home opener, they’ve been outscored 14-4. It’s added up to the club’s worst start since ’01-02. It should be noted that they nearly began ’09-10 similarly until a frantic rally over the Lightning got them going. The difference is that team didn’t face the expectations this one has. There’s a lot more pressure this time. Maybe they’re squeezing their sticks. All it will take is one explosion to get it righted. It probably won’t get easier when they visit Buffalo tomorrow.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Patrik Elias, NJD (1st of season, 3 SOG in 18:47)
2nd Star-Paul Martin, Pit (ENG-1st as Pen, assist 2 SOG, takeaway, blocked shot in 26:41)
1st Star-Brent Johnson, Pit (30 saves incl.14/15 in 3rd)

As we said yesterday, expect the unexpected when the Rangers and Islanders meet. Well, that one of the game’s best rivalries would combine for 10 goals along with plenty of momentum swings typifies what Rangers-Islanders is all about. On Columbus Day here in America, the Long Island hosts used a couple of late power play goals from P.A. Parenteau and hero Blake Comeau to rally past their enemy for an exciting 6-4 win at a less than capacity Nassau Coliseum.

Instead of focusing on such a great game not coming close to selling out (11,748), we’ll keep it on the rambunctious, firewagon hockey that saw the Islanders earn their first win. The traditional Islander matinee featured one entertaining scrap between Brandon Prust and Zenon Konopka along with a missed Marian Gaborik penalty shot and five lead changes. There also was Rick DiPietro back in net for the second time in three days, earning the victory against a team he always gets up for. DP finished with 29 saves in recording his first win over the Rangers since November 7, 2007. Good for him. Not so good for counterpart Henrik Lundqvist, who saw too many pucks go by- permitting five on 31 shots which left him shaking his head en route to the locker room.

It was that kind of day for the club from Manhattan, who just couldn’t match the Long Island hosts’ work ethic. A common theme whenever these teams meet. One thing about Scott Gordon’s club. No matter who’s playing in these games, they always bring it. No surprise that early on, it was the Islanders who got the puck in deep and carried the play- forcing Lundqvist to make some tough saves. Prust and Konopka went off a draw, battling to a lengthy draw. Not long after during an Islander power play, it was Gaborik who made a strong defensive play to get by a falling Doug Weight. But the veteran Islander captain pulled him down forcing a penalty shot. On it, he tried to go low but DiPietro snuffed it out to cheers.

With some momentum, the Islanders got on the board first when Comeau took full advantage of a dreadful Mike Del Zotto turnover. Fumbling the puck, the second-year defenseman watched the pesky Isle get two whacks before converting his second in two games. It was a bad omen as he had a forgetful afternoon. Following a great sweep check by Mark Eaton denying Gaborik, the new addition took a delay of game minor. Only 23 seconds later, Brandon Dubinsky converted his own rebound for his third in two games. The seesaw period continued when Josh Bailey beat Del Zotto to a loose puck in front for his first. Comeau, who always kills us, netted an assist. Despite picking it up, the Blueshirts trailed after one.

An undisciplined Islander bench minor got them into trouble again. Working the puck around, Del Zotto fired an innocent looking point shot that caromed off an Islander past DiPietro tying it 8:28 into the second. Some excellent work by Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov earned them helpers. This time, the Rangers picked it up drawing another power play. Though they didn’t convert, the puck was in the Islander zone a long time. Not surprisingly, it paid off when Dan Girardi took an Alex Frolov cross-ice feed and ripped one thru a Ryan Callahan screen to give the guests their first lead. They nearly went up two but a review confirmed a wraparound never went in. A big momentum swing came when Lundqvist foolishly misplayed a Trent Hunter attempt right to Matt Moulson, who buried the freebie to tie it 3-3 with 21 seconds left in the stanza. Why Lundqvist, who couldn’t handle a beachball insists on playing pucks we’ll never grasp. Just a bad read on his part.

In the third, as often happens in this heated rivalry, one team scored and looked like they’d win. When Anisimov took a nifty Gaborik backhand feed and surprised DiPietro for his first with 7:14 remaining, the Rangers had their second lead. But they lost discipline. Even if Callahan’s phantom trip on an already falling Mike Mottau infuriated John Tortorella, there was no excuse for Marc Staal getting his stick up on Comeau to hand the Islanders a two-man advantage. Boy, did they capitalize. As fate would have it, one-time Ranger P.A. Parenteau knotted it when he got a James Wisniewski shot that deflected off a Ranger right to him for a gimme. Moulson added a secondary assist. Still on the power play, the Isles did it again when Bailey made an amazing blind backhand pass to a wide open Comeau, who buried his second of the contest for the winner with 3:26 to go.

Just like that, the guys in more traditional home white, bright orange and blue tallied twice in a 58 second span, seizing in front. This time, they wouldn’t allow the Rangers to force overtime. Frans Nielsen salted it away with an empty netter with 19 ticks left, making it a fun day for the Islanders.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Artem Anisimov, NYR (1st of season, assist, 4 SOG, 14-7 on draws in 17:52)
2nd Star-Josh Bailey, NYI (1st of season, assist, 5 SOG in 21:27)
1st Star-Blake Comeau, NYI (2 goals-2nd, 3rd incl. GW, assist, 4 SOG, 3 hits, 3 takeaways, +3 in 20:27)

On a football Sunday with little puck being played, it’s a good time to review the first couple of days for the Battle clubs. But before we do, Happy Thanksgiving to our brotherly neighbors up north. Wishing every Canadian a great Turkey Day. There’s something cool about having the best holiday a month earlier. I just can’t explain it. Maybe I should relocate. 😛

Instead of just rambling uncontrollably, we’re going to look at each club in this entry. Of course, it’s hard to gauge too much off one or two games. But we’ll just give a little synopsis based on what we’ve caught. Last night, the crew had a get together at my buddy John’s new house in South River. It was a good night for the Ranger fans. Not so much for our notorious Sabre blogger, who was DVRing a forgettable home opener and even called us while heading home from work in Cali. He was in rare form. Let’s just leave it at that. Since we referenced Buffalo, we’ll start with the guys in Western New York.

Buffalo Sabres-Things started out well for Lindy Ruff’s guys Friday with a hard fought 2-1 road win over nemesis Ottawa. Derek Roy tallied twice including the power play winner late in the third to give the Sabres the ‘W.’ The No.1 center also scored last night in the 6-3 loss to the Rangers, giving him three goals already. An excellent start for last year’s scoring leader. Rating Vezina winner Ryan Miller showed his ’09-10 form by making 25 stops, including all 14 Sen shots in the third to get the victory. Also of note, rookie Tyler Ennis assisted on both Roy tallies. Keep an eye on the little rascal. Saturday’s home opener was a nightmare for Miller who too often was left to fend for himself. The Rangers easily could’ve doubled their output. In particular, sophomore defender Tyler Myers had an atrocious night that began with bad luck when a Derek Stepan redirect caromed off his skate past his own goalie. He also was victimized on the second goal when he lost his footing and got beat on another as well. Buffalo looked like a tired club that while their more rested opponents took full advantage. There weren’t many bright spots but new blueliner Jordan Leopold tallied twice, including on the power play while also setting up Roy’s third. The vet’s been shaky defensively but is being asked to pick up the slack. It won’t get any easier for Ruff’s team when an angry Blackhawk bunch pay a visit tomorrow without a win. Starting with three in four ain’t no picnic.

New Jersey Devils-Where to begin? A disappointing season opener saw them blow two leads before falling to coincidental ’00 Cup victim Dallas in Jason Arnott’s return which he scored a goal. Or yesterday’s D.C. debacle in which two more leads went by the wayside as the Alex Ovechkin Caps scored six unanswered in a humiliating 7-2 defeat that even saw the two-time league MVP beat Martin Brodeur on a penalty shot. Something that hadn’t occurred since ’99. Hell. MB30 hasn’t been sharp, allowing two or three questionable goals including one to Jersey native John Carlson from 50 feet out. Still, there was little he could do on Loui Eriksson’s overtime winner. Marty was pulled after permitting five on 20 shots Saturday. Reliever Johan Hedberg came in and gave up a pair. Nothing positive could be said. Especially when company man Ilya Kovalchuk wrestled with Mike Green leading to more chaos, including Pierre-Luc Letourneau Leblond picking a fight that got him tossed and earned him an automatic one-game suspension, which could also cost new coach John MacLean $10,000. Playing a more run n’ gun style based on the top two lines, the former Devil great has seen his team allow 11 goals in both losses. Sure. They got a point, Arnott’s scored in both and the Dream Line looked scary in Game No.1. But where’s the D? Henrik Tallinder struggled mightily and Anton Volchenkov took a Nicklas Backstrom shot which broke his nose. The winless Pens visit The Rock in a must watch. The Devs didn’t lose to them last year. So, it should be interesting.

New York Islanders-Rarely can a first game potentially crush a team in an 82-game schedule. But if franchise John Tavares’ mild concussion keeps the super soph sidelined a while, yikes. Scott Gordon’s club is already minus top defender Mark Streit and power forward Kyle Okposo. Now, they’ll have to play at least starting in tomorrow’s traditional Columbus Day game versus the hated Rangers without their best player. Despite losing JT91, Gordon’s bunch showed tremendous heart fighting back from a pair of two-goal deficits thanks to a hot power play which converted three-of-eight including on Stephane Robidas’ first delay of game minor, which saw 30-goalscorer Matt Moulson tie it late- sending Nassau Coliseum into a frenzy. But they couldn’t cash Robidas’ second boneheaded delay, forcing OT. An exciting game that saw them rally with key pieces Blake Comeau (goal), James Wisniewski (PPG, A), captain Doug Weight (G, A) and Josh Bailey (assist) eventually went to a shootout where Star ace Mike Ribeiro deked Rick DiPietro out of his pads for a forehand winner in Round Three. Gordon tried former Ranger wiz P.A. Parenteau but he hit the post. Even though they lost, the third-year coach had to like what he saw with his club showing the same spunk that kept them afloat much of last season. That will be essential. DP’s return to net wasn’t great with him allowing four on 22 shots, including a couple of klunkers but he got through it. You have to believe they’ll work him in slowly. It’d be shocking if Dwayne Roloson doesn’t get the call against the Rangers in the 1 ET start. If you got off, don’t miss it.

New York Rangers-A day later, people are still talking about Derek Stepan’s historic debut that saw the rookie pivot become just the fourth player to ever record a hat trick in his first game- joining Montreal’s Alex Smart (’43), Quebec’s Real Cloutier (’79) and Dallas’ Fabian Brunnstrom (10/15/08). The trick for the poised 20 year-old Minnesota native who had his Mom, sister and stepdad in attendance is not to try duplicating that great feat but to continue demonstrating the work ethic he’s shown since Day One of camp. There’s a reason his line of unlikely duo Sean Avery and Ruslan Fedotenko works. Because the trio have chemistry and feed off each other. As Avery put it, D-Step might not be the fastest skater but he always puts himself in good position. After the game, he quipped that he choked about missing No.4. Sophomore center Artem Anisimov’s (assist) line with Ryan Callahan (A) and Brandon Dubinsky (2 goals) was also very good, doing solid work in the Buffalo end. The best aspect was that only one of the half dozen came from Marian Gaborik’s unit with the Big Ticket neatly setting up Erik Christensen. Alexander Frolov was not visible. Henrik Lundqvist looked shaky and the D struggled at times. So, it wasn’t a virtuoso performance by John Tortorella’s chargers. He may have been pleased with Steve Eminger’s aggressiveness but what did Matt Gilroy do to lose the job? Hobey would certainly be a boost on the man-advantage which didn’t carry over it’s preseason success. Rangers/Islanders is always interesting. Especially off The Meadowbrook. Expect the unexpected.