To quote the late, great Bob Murphy "The game's over. They win the damned thing!" It wasn't easy by any means and with the Islanders it never is but they notched their first victory of the season 4-3 in a shootout over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Isles again were unable to put 60 minutes of consistent hockey together. They took a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period thanks to the first goals of the season for D Andy Sutton and W Tim Jackman, plus another goal for team leader Matt Moulson.
The 3rd period again proved to be a nightmare and nearly was catastrophic as John Tavares was hit into the boards (late and dirty in my opinion) by Andrew Alberts and did not get up until play had stopped. Andy Sutton came to JT's aid but the lack of an NHL level enforcer on this team again nearly proved costly for Johnny T. Then again, that's a blog for another day for sure.
The Canes tied it up on goals by Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen, but Johnny Hockey would put the finishing touches on the victory with his first career shootout goal. Tavares was all over the puck tonight and you could certainly see the Carolina defense keying in on him and trying to limit his space. A win is a win, but if the poor play of Doug Weight and Josh Bailey continues then it will become even tougher for Tavares to avoid the D's attention.
Isles head to Montreal tomorrow.
Game Stats:
-1/ 17:50 TOI/ 6SOG/ Faceoffs 10-6
Goal:
Highlights:
Post Game Interview:
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