In game blogging. 10/18/07

I'll be doing the once around of ingame blogging tonight, so here's what we learned in the first period.

How weird was it seeing the first good play of the game come as a result of effort by Thomas Fleischmann? I must say it was nice

The PK seems to be fine with Pettinger out there, as he has a monster shift, killing a large portion of the penalty on Brashear all by himself.

The defense looked good, but Backstrom failed to pick up his man as he skated towards the net, and that allowed the back-door goal on Kolzig, to make our end of the first period score 1-0.




The best word to describe the second period is 'frustration.' Frustration with the officiating, with the power play, with the defense, but most importantly, with Joe Motzko. I don't care how banged up a team is, why is Joe Motzko allowed to play on the top line with Kozlov and Ovechkin, and constantly turn the puck over, while Chris Clark is slaving away on the third line? Why is Motzko allowed to turn the puck over on the PP repeatedly when Mike Green doesn't see the ice on the PP? Is it that hard to send Motzko back to Hershey, dress Sutherby on the fourth line, put Laich on the third line with a combination of Pettinger, Bradley, or Steckel, and move Clark up top? I don't understand why the coach insists on demoting a 30 goal scorer to give guys that can't do anything third and fourth chances.

Elsewhere in the period, David Steckel had a turnover 4 consecutive times he touched the puck. That's got to be some kind of record. Add him to the list of guys that should not be ahead of Sutherby on the depth chart.

You've got to give credit to the Islanders for taking chances where they get them, and it's 2-0 after 2.

I <3 New York

I felt kind of bad yesterday, picking on the New York Rangers. Not about attacking Jaromir Jagr, short of killing someone, he represents everything I hate in sports. But the Rangers as an organization have made a few steps forward this season, and haven't been too offensive compared to some of the crap they've pulled in the past.


Ok, I'm lying. I never feel bad about picking on the Rangers. And stories like the one reported in Newsday show why I think it's a no-class organization from top to bottom. Apparently during the Islanders/Rangers tilt on Tuesday, the affectionately known "Rag fags" tried to take out their frustrations with their manhood on the Ice Girls of the Islanders.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist declined to move and used his stick to whack the squeegee Kelli Higgins, 23, was using to push the snow into a pile during the first TV timeout, knocking the butt end of the squeegee stick into her stomach.

It's nice to know "King Henrik" is still the King of douchebaggery. During the next timeout, more trouble ensued . . .

Benson skated near the boards in front of both benches, which are separated only by a panel of glass located at the center red line."All of a sudden, my back got wet," said Benson, who was wearing a standard outfit of pants and top that leaves the midriff area exposed. "I believe one of the Rangers players who was sitting along the wall spit on my back. It had to be on purpose because I wasn't directly in front of anyone to spit and not realize I was there."

The worst part about this? It made Chanel Benson cry. That's right, the acts by the Rangers players were so despicable it made a poor girl CRY.

I'm sorry the Rangers were all jerks to you, Snow Hoes of the New York Islanders. If you need someone to comfort you, I'll be on the next train up.

And for those of you stuck at work, here's some eye candy to help you get through the day.

The New York Islanders Ice Girls