Hunter's Goal Salvages a Win for the Islanders in Over time
With leads of 3-0 and 4-3 and Bobby Holik's goal with 1:22 remaining, the NY Islanders almost found themselves in a third straight loss at Philips Arena. Even their own coach referred to it as a bad hockey game. With 3 straight goals the Thrashers scored in the 2nd period to tie the game at 3 things seemed to be falling apart. Fortunately, they found a way to get the 2 points.
The Islanders aren't the best team for 4-on-4 play in overtime. However, forwards Josef Vasicek and Trent Hunter found a way to make it work. Vasicek lost a faceoff to Holik but still got the puck on the back wall and passed out front to Hunter, whose goal with 1:09 gone in overtime gave the Islanders a 5-4 win. Vasicek struggled against Holik all night on faceoffs, but when Holik drew this one back to defenseman Ken Klee, Vasicek anticipated a pass behind the net and got on it. Hunter called for it and let Vasicek know he was open.
It was a rough night for goalies. The Islanders jumped to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period when Mike Comrie put one under Lehtonen and then Hunter intercepted the puck from the Thrashers' goalie and passed in front to Vasicek for the shot. A beautiful play from Bill Guerin to Bryan Berard coming up the right side to Andy Hilbert for the deflection at the left post made it 3-0 at 1:02 of the 2ndperiod.
Berard's turnover with the Islanders on the power play led to a breakaway by Craig Perrin, and Berard hauled him down to give him a penalty shot. Perrin scored the twelfth shorthanded goal against the Islanders this season. Then Klee came down the middle on a 3-on-2 rush and slid a shot through goaltender Rick DiPietro's pads at 13:46, and former Islander Alexei Zhitnik tied it with a shot at 15:00 of the second.
The Islanders responded in the 3rd period when Berard kept a clearing pass in the offensive zone and slid it to Comrie in the high slot. He made a shot at 3:17 for his 2nd goal of the game and team-high 20th of the season for a 4-3 lead. However, Holik's goal deflected off Islanders defender Rob Davison and left DiPietro doubled over in pain. Luckily, Vasicek and Hunter made it happen for the Islanders in overtime.
by Ken Johnson, staff writer for i-Sportsbook.com and CasinoUnreal.com
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