Islanders move to 2-0 with a solid effort in a 3-2 win in the home opener.
Islanders website: Has the recap.
"You need your best players to be your best players and so far our best players have been exactly that," said head coach Ted Nolan. "Comrie wanted to be the go-to guy when he came in here and he's done that. And what can you say about Ricky, he made the save of the year last night and he's a big reason why we are, where we are."
"As long as we compete every night we know we have a chance to win," said Comrie. "There are still 80 games to go, so we haven't accomplished a lot, but we're going in the right direction."
NYI Fan Central Comments:
Tough game from start to finish and far different then the game in Buffalo. But this new group hung together well, did the work in the trenches while Comrie's skill combined with his line mates are finishing when they have to. Being shorthanded early took the club off it's offensive game but they had good energy again and did create some chances.
DiPietro again had to be very good and in the third had to face a lot of quality shots, defense had to be better and was for the most part. Campoli with a rocket for the first goal and making it impossible to take him out of the lineup with a lot of solid play on defense as well as Gervais. Sutton screened DiPietro on the first goal but had a better game tonight. Martinek again outstanding with several key plays to clear the puck. Witt got a bad break on the second Buffalo goal and his try at the empty net almost cost the club but the defense collapsed well around DiPietro and protected him under pressure.
Sim created two power plays and was a pest until he sprained his knee. One play he took about three or four whacks at Miller's pads which I have not seen an Islander do before a whistle for a long time. Islanders will miss his energy and he was a factor in the win.
Usual suspects showed up and were warriors, Hunter had some big hits and big defensive plays, Witt again blocked a shot that was painful to watch much less block.
Sillinger at both ends in the trenches does so many things that never appear on a score sheet to win a game. Fedotenko again looked like an impact player who belongs in a top six.
Islanders move to 2-0, next up Washington. If Islanders can stay with Buffalo's speed and skill and look faster themselves no reason they cannot keep it up against anyone. Sure they are going to face adversity and we'll see how they respond to losing but for this weekend against a good part of the club that won the President's Trophy a year ago and eliminated them Islanders looked like a team built for the long haul.
We'll see, for now we enjoy first place for at least one day.