ISLANDERS 5, WASHINGTON 2
Guerin's hat trick gives Islanders the road victory

Bill Guerin didn't just score his first goal as an Islander, he scored his first three, to lead the Islanders past the Washington Capitals 5-2, Thursday night at the Verizon Center.

The Islanders, who raised their record to 4-3-0, capitalized on three power play chances and bounced back after relinquishing a two-goal third period lead. Bryan Berard contributed a goal and two assists, while Chris Campoli added four assists. Rick DiPietro stopped 27 of 29 shots and all six Washington power plays.

"We bent a little bit in the third period, but Ricky made some big saves when they needed to be made," said head coach Ted Nolan. "Hopefully, we'll get going now." 

It was 2-0 through two periods, and appeared to be 3-0 early in the third, but Ruslan Fedotenko's goal was waived off. Video replays showed that the puck deflected off of his shoulder as he tried to keep the puck from his face, but it was waived off immediately and confirmed by the off-ice officials, who said it was swiped in.

The Capitals then rallied for two quick goals, but the Islanders scored the next three, including two while on the power play.

"The great thing about an experienced hockey club, with guys like Sillinger, Witt and Guerin is that they don't get fazed at all," said Nolan. "Then we got a big power play goal."

Sean Bergenheim scored his first goal of the season to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead with 4:38 left in the first period. Josef Vasicek and Miroslav Satan worked down low to get the puck to Bergenheim, who scooped it over a fallen Olaf Kolzig, who made 16 saves in the game.

"It's always special to score in the NHL," said Bergenheim. "Hopefully it's one of many to come. The line has clicked and everyone got involved on that goal. We're working well together."

Guerin was the next Islander to score his first goal of the season. While skating 5-on-3, the captain ripped a slapshot through the pads of Kolzig at 7:38 of the second period.

Alex Ovechkin was all over the ice tonight and took advantage of the Islanders' disallowed goal to cut the lead in half off a one-timer from Joe Motzko, early in the third period.

The Capitals then made it 2-2 at 6:14 of the third period when Tomas Fleischman scored on DiPietro off a feed from Nicklas Backstrom, who was behind the net

Berard regained the lead for the Islanders with a power play goal. With 9:39 gone by in the third period, Berard's low slapshot went through Kolzig with Trent Hunter camped in front.

Guerin tallied his second of the game on the power play, sneaking a puck through Kolzig from the right point. Berard and Chris Campoli earned assists on the goal that came at 14:08 of the third period. Campoli drew the power play after going end-to-end.

"I like jumping into the play, and the coaches are encouraging it, as long as we do it at the right time," said Campoli.

The captain completed his hat trick in the final two minutes of the third period. Mike Comrie deliberately carried the puck into the offensive zone, backing up the defense. He found a streaking Guerin, who roofed it just under the crossbar for his third goal of the game.

"It's definitely nice to get the monkey off my back," said Guerin. "I just wanted to play my game. Berard's goal was huge. Being able to come back from adversity is something we need to do to be successful."

The Islanders return home on Saturday to play the New Jersey Devils for Firefighter Appreciation Night.


Five Stars of the Game:
1. Bill Guerin: Went from setup man to goal scorer
2. Chris Campoli: Jumped into the play beautifully
3. Rick DiPietro: Came up huge early and with the team reeling in the 3rd
4. Radek Martinek: Played an effective game against Ovechkin
5. Bryan Berard: Mr. Power Play struck again

Stat of the game: The Islanders went 3-for-5 on the power play

Slapshots: This is only the second time in 16 starts Olaf Kolzig lost to the Islanders at home in his career…Washington failed to score on 52 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play…The Islanders have allowed only four power play goals in 40 shorthanded situations....It was Bill Guerin's ninth career hat trick.


ISLANDERS
Goaltender
39 Rick DiPietro
34 Wade Dubielewicz

Defensemen
32 Brendan Witt – 24 Radek Martinek
25 Andy Sutton – 4   Bryan Berard
14 Chris Campoli – 8 Bruno Gervais

Forwards
11 Andy Hilbert – 18 Mike Sillinger – 13 Bill Guerin
20 Sean Bergenheim – 63 Josef Vasicek – 81 Miroslav Satan
26 Ruslan Fedotenko – 89 Mike Comrie – 7 Trent Hunter
12 Chris Simon – 10 Richard Park – 2 Aaron Johnson


WASHINGTON
Goaltenders
37 Olie Kolzig
1   Brent Johnson

Defensemen
3   Tom Poti - 52 Mike Green
23 Milan Jurcina - 26 Shaone Morrisonn
2   Brian Pothier – 55 Jeff Schultz

Forwards
18 Matt Pettinger - 21 Brooks Laich - 17 Chris Clark 
19 Nicklas Backstrom - 92 Michael Nylander - 43 Tomas Fleischmann
8   Alex Ovechkin - 25 Viktor Kozlov – 50 Joe Motzko
87 Donald Brashear - 39 David Steckel - 10 Matt Bradley


Check out the Islanders TV Game Day tab for complete coverage of tonight's game.