Isles Scalp Blackhawks As Season Resumes

Tuesday (3/2) night was kind of a coming out party for Blake Comeau. He had been warming up as the Isles went into the Olympic break, with 3 goals in a two game span, but now really made his presence felt in a 5-3 win over Chicago.

The game started off in typical fashion, as the Blackhawks star-laden squad outworked and out shot the Isles by a 22-9 margin and a 2-1 goal difference. Comeau netted his first goal of the night at 12:16 to briefly tie the game, but nobody felt as if the Isles would be able to stay with Chicago, if judging by the first 20 minutes alone.

In the second frame it all changed. While Dwayne Roloson, the subject of trade rumors, made some nifty saves against Chicago's skilled forwards, scrappers like Comeau, Richard Park, and Jon Sim decided to go to work. Comeau once again supplied an equalizer at 2:27, then Jon Sim banked one past Antti Niemi 25 seconds later to put New York ahead.

Niemi was pulled after the Sim goal in favor of Cristobal Huet, but the barrage continued. Richard Park blasted a puck past Huet to put the Isles up 4-2, and Comeau sent the crowd into a frenzy with his hat trick goal at 19:42.

Instead of hats flying on the ice, hundreds of stuffed toys rained down on the Nassau Coliseum ice and delayed the game a bit. Apparently, it was a promotional giveaway evening, so while crews scrambled to clear the playing surface it gave Blake a little more time to soak the moment in.

"It's the best I've felt in a while," said Comeau, speaking of his hat trick after the game. "It felt awesome."

The four goal period felt great for the fans too, as they saw the Islanders lead 5-2 after two periods.

Chicago netted a mostly insignificant goal in the third period to complete the scoring, and the Isles skated away with a 5-3 win.

While Tuesday's win was important, Wednesday may prove to be an even bigger day for the Islanders. As most of you know, the NHL trading deadline occurs at 3 PM Eastern time, and it remains to be seen how General Manager Garth Snow will possibly reshape his team.

We at Okposo Net will be monitoring TSN's TradeCentre all day, and if any Isles-related news breaks we will post it immediately. We'll spare you the rumor-mongering that other sites dabble in and bring you the facts. So please make us part of your daily reading tomorrow afternoon and evening. Thank you as always.