It was caught in its infancy, so Kyle Okposo took a flight to Raleigh – surprising just about everyone.
Coach Gordon and the rest of the team were real glad he did.
Grabbing an errant pass, Okposo muscled the backchecking of Joni Pitkanen to get the puck through Manny Legace to give the Isles a 4-3 win.
It should not have been that close. Three goals, and two by John Tavares gave the Isles a 3-0 lead, and it sounded like a disaster, according to Chuck Kaiton – the voice of the Hurricanes.
The second period, however, it was a different story.
Two goals in a little over two minutes midway through the second stanza, brought the Canes back. The pressure was mounting – in the waining moments of the game, Tim Gleason, the Canes defensemen that received a double minor early in the game, that led to two Islander goals, got a shot through the 5 hole of Biron – to get the game equalized.
Then – after back and forth gesturing in OT, Richard Park won a big face off from Rod Brind’Amour, and after the puck was brought in deep in the Canes Zone, Bryan Rodney’s pass to getthe puck out of the zone was thwarted by Okposo.
7-7-6.
Off to Florida!
FanSided
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Two points are two points, so in that respect, I’m personally happy. However, the boys have to learn the importance of consistency. It’s probably a point beaten to death, but when you are in the driver’s seat on a team that has lost 14 in a row, you Have to maintain control and keep them from gaining Any life. We should have cruised to victory and, perhaps, ran up the GF total. However, once again, lapses and sloppy play nearly cost us what should have been a relatively “easy” win.
I was absolutely surprised to find Kyle in the lineup. I had believed, from what I read, that he wasn’t going to be back for a week. I’m glad he made the trip on his own and rejoined the guys. I believe Okposo is truly one of the leaders on this team, and that’s the sort of action that demonstrates his commitment to the team and the game (my opinion only, of course).