11/1/07 Islanders 4 - Lightning 0: Fun Night at the Old Barn

In my long awaited and triumphant (sort of) debut, I have the pleasure of reviewing the Islanders' impressive 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night at the Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders started off a little slow in the first period and did not put much pressure on Lightning goalie Marc Denis until 13:29 when Bill Guerin scored the first goal of the game. Mike Sillinger and Rick DiPietro got the assists after "DP" almost took the head off of Andy Hilbert while trying to make the pass. The Rick also made a few big saves including a nice glove save off of the stick of Jan Hlavac.

Sean Bergenheim had one good shift and then was missing for the rest of the game. He was called for an apparent boarding penalty that looked pretty innocent. He was then hit by Brad Lukowich who was then called for roughing. Bergie left the game with a mystery injury that coach Ted Nolan described as "one of those mysterious things that happen in a hockey game." I really hope that it was not a veiled attempt to hide his benching. My one knock on Ted Nolan is that he does not give the kids a chance to prove themselves. Bergenheim got very little ice time and he and his line had a good shift. I hope he is ok and this was not a benching.

Which brings me to the main motivation I have for writing this piece this morning. Let me start off by saying that I think Andy Hilbert is a decent young player. He plays a pretty good defensive game and is effective on the PK. However, how many times do we need to see him hitting the post? (that's if he even gets his shot anywhere close to the net.) Hilbert had quite a few opportunities, including one where he was 1 on 1 with a clear shot at the net and shot the puck over the net, almost clearing the glass. His supporters will say that he once scored 19 goals playing with Sidney Crosby. Jack the chimpanzee from MVP: Most Valuable Primate could have scored that much playing with Crosby. Hilbert hustles every shift and that is commendable but he shot not be getting that much ice time while Sean Bergenheim sits on the bench and Jeff Tambellini rots away in Bridgeport.

Enough of the ranting, let's end on a positive note....

The Islanders had a nice ceremony before the game commemorating Mike Sillinger's 1,000th NHL game. He was presented with a framed jersey with 1,000 on the back, along with a silver stick autographed by the team and matching Rolex watches for him and his wife.

The Isles played a good game and saluted the fans afterwards, because after all, We're All Islanders. It was a fun night at that old barn on Hempstead Turnpike.