It shouldn’t have been this difficult. It shouldn’t have been one for the NHL record books. But that’s how it turned out. With all the focus on the John Tavares homecoming game all day long, you would have thought this game between the Islanders and the Leafs was as big as the Super Bowl. Well it turned into the Dwayne Roloson shooting gallery as he made 58 saves after facing 61 shots for an NHL season high. Yikes! Not bad for a 40 year old NHLer.

The game started off looking like a full period Maple Leaf power play as the Islanders were handed three penalties in the first period, with one coming only 39 seconds into the period. Kyle Okposo was called for hooking and then for tripping. Jack Hillen was visibly upset and vocal when he was called for holding at 11:36 of the first. But once again, the Islanders penalty kill kept the Leafs off the score sheet and both teams headed to the locker room scoreless.

The second period was different. It was the Leafs who ended up taking two early penalties and the Islanders decided to show up and play. Richard Park came dangerously close to getting another shorthanded goal. Jon Sim had two really good scoring chances, and my husband still dislikes him. Trent Hunter banged one off a post.

Old habits die hard and when Jason Blake took off on a break-away I started to cheer him on. Then I noticed which end of the ice he was racing toward. Blake was denied and within a few moments, it was Jiffy Jeff Tambellini racing toward Toskala. Jeff went in on him all alone as if it was a shoot out and lifted one right over the goalie’s shoulder for Jeff’s seventh goal of the season. The scoring blitz began.

A little over a minute later, Mighty Matt Moulson scored his 11th with assists from Jack Hillen and Trent Hunter. But at 12:43 of the second, Andy Sutton was called for holding and the tired Islanders penalty kill had to do it all over again. But this time, it was Sean Bergenheim that potted a short handed goal, unassisted, for his third of the season. Could this finally be the Sean Bergenheim we’ve all been waiting for?

With a score of 3 – 0 Nate Thompson was ignoring attempts to get him to fight and 19,000 fans in the ACC were eerily quiet. But the euphoria didn’t last long as Phil Kessel scored easily with only a few minutes left to make it 3 – 1 and John Tavares didn’t look very happy.
Mysteriously Toskala left the net left with 4:16 left in the second and the Monster faced the Islanders. The puck was bouncing wildly and all of a sudden, all the action was in the Islanders end of the ice.

At the start of the third, Islesblogger Mike tweeted something that was prophetic, but not unheard of. “You are now entering the Third Period, The Collapse Zone.” Truer words were never tweeted.

The Leafs made it 3 – 2 on a Wayne Primeau goal at 2:10 of the third, and once again it was clear the Islanders couldn’t hold a lead. The Leafs were outshoot the Islanders in double digits and Roloson kept coming up big.

He almost didn’t at 12:30 of the 3rd when he lost his stick and there were bodies all over him in the crease with the puck dancing dangerously just outside the paint. No one noticed. The amount of rubber Roloson faced was ridiculous.

And then Mike’s prophecy came to fruition. Freddy Meyer couldn’t fend off the Leafs Hagman who tied the game at 3 at 9:18 of the third. Roloson managed to keep his focus only seconds after that tying goal making a huge glove save on Kessler. He is so dangerous on the ice. Of the 61 shots Rolson, Kessel had 11 on goal and one blocked shot.

The goals by John Tavares never came for the home town crowd of 100 that were there for him. He had a great chance, but nothing. As the game clock wound down the game heated up on the ice and Rolson ended up having to face six attackers while there was a delayed penalty called on the Islanders that seemed to have lasted forever. I’m sure that’s how Roloson felt. He finally covered the puck to take possession and have the whistle blown after he got whacked in the neck or shoulder with the puck. The Ref gave him a little time to shake it off and make sure he was ready to continue before Nate Thompson was sent to the box.

There was 2:37 left in the third and each team was hungry to get that winning goal. Jack Hillen played over his head in this game and the penalty to Thompson was killed off and once again the Islanders were guaranteed a point and headed into overtime.
It’s almost December now and the two things that seem to be a common thread are Overtime games and 3rd period crumbles. Why?

How Roloson made a huge glove save within a half a minute of the Overtime period starting, I don’t know. Hillen, in the best game of his NHL career so far, managed to keep Grabovski from winning the game. He stayed with him all the way and kept his stick down. No Penalty meant no Leafs Power Play.

And then it happened. Just as I was thinking to myself that Josh Bailey didn’t get that much ice time, he suddenly became highly visible as Leaf’s White was down on the ice, Bergenheim held up patiently drawing Gustavsson to commit and then passing to Bailey who shot the winning goal from one knee into a virtually open net.

Bruno, who had a very strong game along with a really good Chicken recipe, had a two point night along with Bergenhiem. Brendan Witt who played his first game back with the team played a little over 15 minutes and was (not surprisingly) a -3.

When Rob Carlin spoke with Scott Gordon after the game he had nothing but accolades for his goaltender who stole the game for them. Islesblogger Mike also said if it was last year, that score would have been 17 – 0 with that shot count. I think he’s right.

“We were never able to get ourselves going on the forecheck.” Is that the reason for the third period collapses, Scott?

When it came to Jack Hillen, Scott said “Jack gets better every game. “ They’re thrilled with his development, his poise and his skating. I think he skates funny, but he sure gets the job done.

Gordon also made me smile taking about Sean Bergenheim. “I can’t say enough about his game. He was the best forward tonight and it was good to see. He’s turning the corner.”

Yes!
John Tavares thanked Dwayne Roloson for the win and the great ending to the road trip. But when they asked Roloson his thoughts on the game and the amazing amount of shots he faced, Rolie seemed to dismiss the media. “Tonight was no different than any other night.”

What? But he did say the team gave him the opportunity to actually SEE the puck. So if they can learn to do that for Marty Biron, maybe we’d have even MORE of a winning record.
After tonight, the Islanders stand at 25 points along with the Rangers, Tampa, and the Flyers and are just barely over that .500 mark. They’ll take it.

Back to the barn on Wednesday and if you’re coming to the game, please bring canned food for Island Harvest for their food drive. Let’s make this a Happy Thanksgiving for everyone.

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