Saturday, November 3, 2007

The Banner Is Changed

The Isles came away with a hard-fought 3-2 comeback win to give Coach Al Arbour his 740th win in his 1,500th game, and just a short while ago, a new banner with "1500" was hung to the rafters of the Coliseum. The postgame ceremony was really a class effort all around by the Islanders organization, bringing in Islander legends such as Bossy, Trottier and Gillies, as well as newer Isles favorites such as Benoit Hogue, Steve Webb and Eric Cairns to help Coach Arbour raise the banner. Ken will hopefully be in later with reaction from this great evening at the Coliseum, including hopefully some reaction from Coaches Arbour and Nolan.

As for the game, it was a fun one all around with several exciting flourishes by both the Isles and Penguins during the game, and a very strong second half of the game by the Isles in coming back from a 2-0 deficit. After a plodding first 10 minutes of the second period, the Isles pretty much controlled the rest of the way, leading to an almost storybook ending. Strong efforts especially from Miro Satan with 2 goals and Wade Dubielewicz in relief of an injured Rick DiPietro (sticked unintentionally around the eye by Sidney Crosby in the second period, no word on his condition other than he is headed to the hospital for evaluation).

The win puts the Isles at 7-4 on the season and they must be feeling good about having truly put the 8-3 Carolina abomination behind them (and lord, was that awful). With a stretch of seven straight division games that began tonight, the Isles have a chance to put the rest of the division and league on notice.

In the meantime, in honor of Al Arbour Night, please enjoy a classic Islanders moment.

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