| ESPN Network: ESPN.com | NFL.com | NBA.com | NASCAR | NHL.com | WNBA.com | ABCSports | EXPN | FANTASY | INSIDER |
|
| |
Tuesday, Oct. 31 7:30pm ET
Islanders enjoy best October in eight years | |||||
|
| ||||||
|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- The New York Islanders withstood all the Boston Bruins had to give and then fired back. After getting through a 16-shot first period onslaught from the Boston Bruins and coming out scoreless, Kenny Jonsson scored and added an assist as the Islanders took two points with a 4-2 victory on Tuesday night. "We survived the first period, and the name of the game is survival," said goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, who stopped 32 shots overall. "You have to appreciate getting away with a period like that when you're not at your best." The Islanders only fired four shots at rookie goalie, Andrew Raycroft, but Vanbiesbrouck was busy turning aside four shots from Joe Thornton, including a low bullet 40 seconds into the game with a flick of his left leg. Islanders forward Dave Scatchard, who netted the eventual game-winning goal, said that Vanbiesbrouck's legs were the only ones working in the opening 20 minutes. "For some reason, it took us the entire first period to get our legs going," Scatchard said. "The last two games, we came out with a lot of early jump, so this was a bit surprising. But tonight, when we messed up, Beezer was there to cover up for us." Jonsson scored New York's first power-play goal at home this season at 3:11 of the second period. He snapped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle over Raycroft's shoulder. Just 88 seconds later, Oleg Kvasha gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead when he outbattled defenseman Samuel Pahlsson at the left crease and slammed home Mark Parrish's cross-ice feed. Scatchard scored his third goal of the season at 14:57 when on a harmless looking rush down the right wing, he beat Raycroft from the right circle with a wrist shot between his legs. "I saw Mats (Lindgren) going down the other wing, but I didn't think I had enough clearance to pass," Scatchard said. "I was looking to shoot, and (Raycroft) was leaning a bit for a pass. He left a little opening, and I found it." Scatchard has three of the four game-winning goals for the Islanders this season. Sergei Samsonov scored 25 seconds into the final period on a clear break-in, faking Vanbiesbrouck down with a forehand move and roofing a backhander. Thornton made it interesting with a goal with 67 seconds left and Raycroft pulled when his backhander somehow slid under Vanbiesbrouck. But Brad Isbister sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 32.3 seconds left. New York finished with just 13 shots on goal, two in the final period. Those numbers gave coach Butch Goring's vocal cords a workout. "You can hear how hoarse my voice is from yelling `Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!' all night," Goring said. "Maybe you (media) guys can tell them when you talk to them." The win increased New York's winning streak to three games and unbeaten streak to five (4-0-1-0). With a 4-3-2-0 record after nine games, the Islanders finished the month of October over .500 for the first time since 1992 (6-5-1). Goring said that the numbers didn't impress him as much as finishing on the positive side. "The only thing that matters is that we finished the month plus (.500)," Goring said. "And I believe that if we finish a plus every month, we will make the playoffs." Game notesThe game drew only 6,418 fans to the Nassau Coliseum. ... Boston coach Mike Keenan is 1-3-0-1 since taking over for the fired Pat Burns on Oct. 25. ... The Islanders have won seven of the last nine meetings with the Bruins. ... The Islanders face Florida on Wednesday night, and might see former goalie Roberto Luongo in the Panthers net. ... Vanbiesbrouck earned star-of-the-game honors in consecutive home games. He stopped 37 shots in a 2-1 win last Friday against Montreal. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse NY Islanders Clubhouse Islanders' owners buy Arena League's Iowa Barnstormers
RECAPS Carolina 6 Tampa Bay 5
NY Islanders 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   The Islanders' Dave Scatchard fires the shot past the Bruins goalie for the Islander goal.avi: 427 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||