There wasn’t a shower of Champagne, but the mood in the locker room after the Islanders 3 – 1 win over their cross town rivals was decidedly more upbeat than it had been since the start of the season. There were no high-fives and back slaps to be seen but sometimes a sense of relief is even more gratifying than jubilation. They finally had a regulation win, a full two points and a dominant showing.

Finally over battling the swine flu, Doug Weight was in the far left corner holding court with the MSM in quiet, deliberate tones. “We all looked in the mirror, and decided to make those ugly plays, put some pucks in good areas. If it takes a hit to get the puck out of our zone or get the puck in the zone – that’s what good teams do.”

Next to him, Nate Thompson was dancing while undressing. There was a crowd around John Tavares, as there always is. I turned to big Tim Jackman and interrupted his post game rituals to ask how it felt to get the first regulation win.

With a toothless smile he said “It’s great! It’s a great start for us and it’s a great rivalry. It was FUN to win that game.” I asked what was said on the bench with the final time out to keep them from a late third period collapse. “Just make sure you take care of the puck.
Getting it in and getting it out. Just do the right things out there.”

That sounds so simple, but it just hasn’t been easy. But the truth of the matter is that even with the Islanders record of 2 – 4 – 5, there was truly only one game where the Islanders weren’t completely “in” it. (A sentiment echoed by Mike Brophy in his latest article.) This was a fact that was pointed out to me when I had a chance to sit in the 213 with my friend Steve Carlson during the first period. Having had those arguments over “the system,” I asked his opinion of the Isles play and he agreed the system works when they play within it. So many close games were simply lost with bad turn-overs or indecisiveness with the puck. But all but one game have been painfully close.

I asked Tim what having Doug Weight back in the line up was like “It’s great. He’s our leader. He makes great plays out there. You could see that tonight. It’s always nice to have our Captain in the line up.”

Dwayne Roloson seems to be getting better with each game and he was more relaxed when the camera lights turned on last night. “It’s the best we’ve played for 60 minutes. I don’t think we ever lacked confidence in our play. We were just trying too hard. Now we just have to hit rewind and go again Friday night.”

Scott Gordon reacted to the win the same way he has reacted to the losses, with stark technical details. However, this time he could praise the players for certain details instead of condemning them. “Big saves by Rollie, and a big play by Marty at the goal line there. Our guys kept pushing pace and a think they did a good job.“ Okay, maybe praise is too strong of a word here, but at least he was content with their play.

Brad Kurtzberg from Inside Hockey asked Scott Gordon what he said during the time out and once again, we got a technical answer. “Well, it was an icing so it was an opportunity to give the guys a chance to catch their breath. They had been out there for at least 30 or 40 seconds. So, I figured it was a good opportunity. I knew there was a time out coming and sometimes you hold off on your time outs because you know that the time outs are coming and that was a situation where I knew there was another time out coming and I figured it would be two opportunities to give our team a break.”

Um, huh? Yes, this is word for word. I don’t know what Brad got out of the answer but I got less out of that than I did out of asking Tim Jackman. I started to wonder what John Tortorella’s press conference sounded like and wished I could hear.

Scott did say “Rollie was excellent. He was tracking the puck really well. He did a great job of controlling his rebounds. I sensed that since that Buffalo game he’s been coming around. Just in practice and he’s getting a little better every game. It was good to see.”
He also talked about what Doug Weight brought to the power play with his “years of experience.” Yes, Dough Weight does make a difference on the ice and off. And although his recent “illness” caused some chatter about the “C” being given to the wrong man, I think it only confirmed him as the right choice. Rather than risking infecting everyone else when he didn’t quite know what he had, he stayed in quarantine to protect them. The flu can decimate a locker room and cause considerable damage to a team’s standing. The CAPATAIN didn’t take that risk.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the impressive play of Jack Hillen and his two assist points as well as the importance of face-off wins. The Islanders continue to dominate in that statistic.

As I walked out of press room 6, still smiling from the win, I saw GM Garth Snow walking through the crowded hallway. He seemed to be 8 feet tall as he towered over everyone in the hall. His quiet confidence had returned and it’s good to see. Almost better than hearing Glen Sather mumble after the loss.

It’s the little things that mean so much to me.

Islanders face the Washington Capitols on Friday and the Sabres on Halloween. Like Roloson said, it’s time to hit the rewind button and do it again.

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