Strong Win

Now that the Yankees are gone (and words on them can probably take up at least 10 blog posts), it's time to enjoy our New York Islanders. And what perfect timing, as the Isles get a great win against the Rangers -- the "preordained" Atlantic Division champs.

Some quick thoughts from the third period (I imagine Ken will be in later with some thoughts on the full game and reaction from the Coliseum):

-- Strong penalty killing on the Rangers 5 on 3, thought it really took the Rangers out of the game for much of the period.

-- Terrible stoppage by the ref on Guerin's post shot, the puck was obviously still in play.

-- Maybe it was just my TV, but the sound quality made it seem like the Coliseum wasn't as rocking as it normally was for an Isles-Rangers game. I'm sure Ken can provide more details about the crowd, but this was an issue last year with Versus in terms of broadcast quality.

-- While you don't want to necessarily go down 6 on 4 at the end of the game, good penalty by Andy Sutton to help prevent a potential game-tying goal (and it doesn't hurt to have icing waved off for the last 20 seconds).

-- As long as DiPietro plays like this, the Isles will be playoff contenders -- several excellent saves considering the Rangers were starting to apply some serious pressure in the third.

Overall, a good night for the Isles and this team is looking strong (hey, as of this writing, they're in first place by 4 points!). Ken should be back later.

In the meantime, enjoy this link to a fun story about the Philadelphia Flyers. Question: what would Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber and Dave Schultz think about this? PG replies only, please.