NY Islanders: Top 5 Electrifying Goals 2000-2010

1. Shawn Bates Penalty Shot

Even with all these electrifying moments on this list that almost brought the roof down on the barn, no moment may have been louder in the Coliseum's history than when Shawn Bates got called to skate in from center-ice against the Maple Leafs all the way back in 2002.

This playoff series came right in the middle of the two dead zones for Islanders playoff hockey. This iteration of the Isles made it for three straight years starting with this one, but never ended up making it past the first round. The Islanders were led by a young first-year head coach in Peter Laviolette, who would go on to win a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes after his stint on the Island, along with names such as Yashin, Kenny Jönsson, Michael Peca, newly acquired goalie Chris Osgood that had his fair share of winning experience, and of course, Shawn Bates.

Bates had his best year in his career during this season. Along with being a strong forechecker and penalty killer, he scored 17 goals, with four of them being shorthanded, and finished fourth on the team in scoring with 52 points. A breakout season to say the least for Bates, considering this was his first with the Islanders and also the first where he wasn't jumping up and down from the minors. His coach during his time within the Boston Bruins pipeline was none other than Laviolette, so Bates was recruited when he left to coach on Long Island.

""He's the most talented player I saw come through the AHL when I was there. He has speed and he has ability that I don't think has been tapped yet.""

- Laviolette on Acquiring Bates

Bates got his true moment to shine in the playoffs this season. Late in a game where both teams traded goals back and forth, he had a chance to break the tie on a breakaway until former Islanders captain and Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe took his legs out from under him. The referee points to center-ice signaling the so-called "most exciting play in hockey," a penalty shot with 2:30 to go in the third. Bates skated in with purpose and ripped an absolute rocket upstairs on goaltender Curtis Joseph. The crowd ignited into absolute anarchy knowing that this likely sealed the Leafs' fate that night.

The Islanders would hold on for two and a half minutes to tie the series at two games a piece. The Leafs and Islanders would go the distance to seven games, with the home team winning every game in the series. Unfortunately for the Isles, they were the away team in game seven and would go on to lose 4-2. They may not have had great postseason success during this three year era, but this moment still lives on as one of the loudest, memorable, and most electrifying moments in Islanders history.