Casey Cizikas was drenched as he spoke to Shannon Hogan after the first period. They're fast" he told her. The way they would beat them would be to play smart and 'take it to them.' Anderson, who originally was said not to be playing tonight (never trust the Canadian media) robbed Ryan Strome of a tying goal. The Isles were outshooting the Sens, but it didn't matter as they went to the locker room down by one.


Calvin deHaan showed off his Hockey IQ by setting up some excellent plays, but the likes of Kyle Okposo still cannot buy a goal and midway through the second the Isles were still down by one.


I held my breath a little after everyone noticed Cal Clutterbuck had left the bench to head to the dressing room and Frans Nielsen was doubled over on the bench talking to the trainer. NO!!! Garth Snow said today on SiriusXM that staying healthy would be the difference maker of keeping this team winning. Let's not lose anyone tonight shall we?

While some games are decided by the referees, this game had hardly a whistle. Until there was an icing 3:17 left of the second period. It wasn't until then that the crowd could be heard chanting "Let's Go Islanders."


With 1:34 left of the second Brock Nelson capitalized on a turnover passed by Okposo backhand and then he skated in on Anderson all alone. Bang. In the net. With only 52.4 seconds left, the Isles had their first power play as Kyle Turris was called for slashing. But at the 21.3 second mark Leddy was called for tripping and the teams would skate four on four.

Casey Cizikas heard the horn go off as the puck went in the net. Did it count? Video review showed Zeeker was robbed by like 100th of a second.


Brock Nelson stood with Shannon's microphone in his face after the second period. "We tried to get more bodies in front. Create more havoc in front of Anderson. It changed the tide in our favor. It was a fortunate bounce off a skate." Even though Cizikas' goal didn't count, there was some momentum. "We'll just try to carry it with us. We'll get back to work and hopefully get another one."

They did. Ryan Strome would not be denied during the four-on-four that began the third period. Anderson was preoccupied on one side of the net and Strome just slid the puck over the line and the Isles took the lead 2 - 1.

Cal Clutterbuck took a short shift to start the third but didn't stay on the ice long. Travis Hamonic was taken down and his head and shoulder hit the dashers but there was no call. Eventually he managed to get up and the refs were 'saluted' by the crowd. Hamonic walked to the dressing room on his own -- along with Clutterbuck. There was lots of extra elbow room on the bench.

Hamonic did return to the ice. He's amazing.


Well, one bad turnover follows another and the Isles turned over the puck and MacArthur tied the game for the Sens with a little over eight minutes to go in the third. It figures. It's never easy.

Tavares missed the net and an opportunity to put them ahead again. Most of the play was in the Isles zone and Halak had to do everything he could to keep the puck out of his net. During the commercial break, Travis left the bench again. Is it his shoulder? Is it bad?

For the final minutes, the Sens were playing like a Stanley Cup team. The game would go to overtime -- AGAIN. It was back to and four-on-four action until Hickey tried a wrap-around move from behind the net that wouldn't have gone in had it not gone off Senator Ceci's skate and into the net. Isles win 3 - 2 in Overtime.

Brock Nelson was the second star of the game and with the game winner Thomas Hickey was the first star of the game. Another win at the barn in front of 13,888 fans on a rainy Tuesday. Not bad!

Halak won another game for the Isles to continue breaking records. He now has as many consecutive wins as Billy Smith. During the first intermission, MSG gathered some player quotes regarding Halak being named the NHL star of the week:

"Great goalie, proven himself in this league." "When you've won as many games as he has in a row, as a goalie that's all you can ask for. We hope he has a few more up his sleeve." "He's made all the saves he should and some he shouldn't."


BUT... as good as this win is, and as great as it is to say "These guys just keep getting it done," we have to wonder and worry how long they can keep it up if the Defense is going to keep getting injured. As good as the depth chart is, they can't hold it all together for too long without the key components.

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