Isles 1 – Kings 1
For the third time in the last week, the Islanders came up with a tie against a Western Conference opponent. Yesterday afternoon, they returned to the Coliseum after a three-game road trip, nearly lost the game and came frighteningly close to losing the best player they have right now.
The Islanders escaped a Presidents’ Day matinee with a 1-1 draw with the Kings and overwhelming relief that a filthy knee-on-knee hit against Trent Hunter went without serious injury.
Hunter was knocked out with 8:40 remaining in regulation after Los Angeles defenseman Brad Norton stuck his leg out in a blatant attempt to injure the Calder candidate for Rookie of the Year. Hunter missed eight minutes of the third, favoring his right knee as he was helped off the ice, but returned to a huge ovation with 3:34 left in overtime.
“It was pretty scary when it first happened,” said Hunter, who finished with 14:41 of ice time and an assist on the Isles’ lone goal.
Norton got two minutes in the box and could face a suspension after league review. But you could say he already got his when he was crumpled by a final-second slap shot while the Islanders were trying to win it in regulation.
Their late-game pep might not have been needed had the Isles showed more life in the early stages of the game, which Steve Stirling called “very lethargic, at best.”
Arron Asham took Mariusz Czerkawski’s place on the left side of the Oleg Kvasha-Hunter line midway through the game and one-timed his tenth of the season past Kings backup Cristobal Huet 50 seconds into the third period.
Asham’s goal tied it after Trent Klatt beat Rick DiPietro (29 saves) off a fat rebound 1:30 into the second period. It was just the latest example of the Islanders not getting off to the most desirable starts recently. They’ve allowed the first goal in each of their last six games, a span in which they are 2-1-3.
With all these recent ties, No. 9 Buffalo – the Isles’ opponents twice in the next two weeks – has inched to within four points of the final playoff spot in the East.
