ISLANDERS 4, FLAMES 2
Numerous penalties, some on-ice brawls and Jon Sim’s two point evening capped the night for the New York Islanders as they won their first NHL pre-season game of the season in Saskatoon, beating the Calgary Flames 4-2.
After a scoreless opening ten minutes of the first period at Credit Union Centre, Islanders winger Jon Sim banged in a goal on a second shot attempt after hitting the post on the first.
Trent Hunter was credited with the assist on Sim’s second goal of the preseason.
Matt Martin widened the Islanders margin and netted his team’s second goal with 5:54 remaining.
Bruno Gervais and Hunter had the assists to up the Islanders lead to 2-0. Momentum was definitely on New York’s side heading into the second period.
Goaltender
Dwayne Roloson was pressured after a couple close Calgary scoring chances in the early minutes of the middle frame. Roloson looked phenomenal, but Islanders head coach Scott Gordon split the net-minding duties, inserting
Kevin Poulin at the halfway mark of the contest.
A scrum between the Islanders Tim Jackman and the Flames Garth Murray ensued with 16:34 remaining in the second period and saw more pulling and tugging than punches thrown. Roloson continued to prevent the Flames from igniting any momentum and backstopped a flurry of Calgary power play goal scoring attempts with 12:14 remaining.
The Flames Jamie Lundmark capitalized on a centering pass from Carsen Germyn, to beat Poulin on the short side, cutting the Islanders lead to 2-1. As time ticked down in the second period, Calgary’s Kris Chucko knotted the score at 2-2 with less than a minute remaining in the period. Lundmark and Germyn. assisted on the Chucko’s first goal of the preseason.
With 13:07 remaining in the third period, the Islanders took advantage of a Flame power-play on Greg Moore's first tally of the preseason. Sim caused a turnover behind the Calgary net and centered the puck to Moore, who one-timed a shot past Keetley. The Calgary goalie, who replaced McElhinney at the start of the third period, had little chance on the top-shelf blast from Moore.
Hope of a Calgary comeback was extinguished with seconds remaining in the third period with an empty net goal from Sim, his second of the evening, as the Islanders’ put the Flames away for their first victory of the 2009-10 season.
“It was a great play by everyone on our line,” Sim said. “Hunter turned the play over, got it to the defensemen, I got the rebound. It was an all-around good goal.”
The Islanders go back to grind against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday at Credit Union Centre when the club finishes up its Training Camp in Saskatoon before leaving the prairies and returning home to New York.
3 Stars
1. Jon Sim - Scores a goal and an assist
2.
Matt Martin - Scores two goals
3.
Dwayne Roloson - Posts a shutout through the first half of the game
Honorable Mention: Greg Moore - Tallies the game-winning goal
Moore Offense: Greg Moore, who had been punishing the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers the past few seasons with the Hartford Wolf Pack, finally tallied his first goal in an Islander uniform.
Serious Possibilities: The Islanders have a serious prospect in forward
Matt Martin. The 6'2, 192 pound winger punished several Flame defensemen with his fore-checking and tallied two goals, both the first of his pro career. Martin will bring the power-forward role back to the Islanders line-up.
Waving: The Credit Union Centre was packed to the rafters tonight to watch the Islanders and Flames battle in their second preseason game of the year. The announced attendance of 12,833 was the first sell-out for a hockey game at the Credit Union Centre in the arena's history. One of the best scenes of the night was when a group of fans began the wave and before you knew it, all 12,833 fans were partaking.
Lineups
ISLANDERS
Forwards
17 Jeremy Reich - 11 Nate Thompson - 28 Tim Jackman
16 Jon Sim - 27 Greg Moore - 58
Jesse Joensuu
46
Matt Martin - 54
Tony Romano - 7
Trent Hunter
59
Micheal Haley - 45 Tyler Haskins - 40 Joel Rechlicz
Defensemen
44 Freddy Meyer - 25 Andy Sutton
38
Jack Hillen - 4 Mark Flood
56
Dustin Kohn - 8
Bruno Gervais
Goalies
30
Dwayne Roloson
60
Kevin Poulin
FLAMES
Forwards
23 Eric Nystrom - 16 Dustin Boyd - 20 Curtis Glencross
33 Brandon Prust - 40 Riley Armstrong - 38 Jason Jaffray
39 Carson Germyn - 45 Jamie Lundmark - 47 Kyle Greentree
62 Kris Chucko - 43 Ketih Seabrook - 41 Garth Murray
Defensemen
7 Adam Pardy - 6 Cory Sarich
8 Staffan Kronwall - 32 Colin Stuart
67 Gord Baldwin - 56 Matt Pelech
Goalies
1 Curtis McElhinney
36 Matt Keetley
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