New York Islanders Defeat Ottawa 3-2

And we’re off.  The Islanders began and ended the scoring en route to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland.  Jack Skille took a pretty feed from Casey Cizikas in the slot and beat Senators goalie Andrew Hammond to give the Islanders the 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

“It was a great play by Casey there and fortunately it went in,” Skille told the Islanders’ website. “I liked my line [with Cizikas and Harry Zolnierczyk] and we were rolling pretty good there. When you’re doing that, the momentum swings in your favor.”

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The most important take away from today’s game was that everyone finished healthy, and it seemed as if the Isles were consistent in their defensive system.  Chad Johnson, signed on July 1 to backup Jaroslav Halak, also had a solid game.  Johnson played until about the 10 minute mark of the second period and stopped 12 of 13 shots he faced.

He was replaced by David Leggio who made a game saving glove save with less than 2 minutes to go and the game tied at 2.  Sebastian Collberg deflected a shot from the point by Kevin Czuczman to give the Isles a 2-1 lead in the second period.  The Islanders opened the scoring on a rebound put home by Brock Nelson just 46 seconds into the game.

The game was only available on the Ottawa Senators radio broadcast, but even the opposing announcers couldn’t help talk about some of the skill on the ice for New York.  Michael Dal Colle had a few chances in this game that left the Senators analysts wondering if he could actually make the team out of camp.  There is one more game to play in Newfoundland tonight, then the Islanders will head home to take on the Carolina Hurricanes at the Coliseum on Wednesday and the New Jersey Devils at the Barclays Center on Friday.

Stay with eyesonisles.com for all your New York Islanders news all season long.