What a night!

First off, we need to say that the Islanders know how to throw a party. Second, we need to say that all Islander fans had to be super-happy to see Miro knock home the game winner for Al Arbour's 1500th game as coach of the Islanders.

It seemed a little dusty at times in the old barn for Radar, and who could blame him. The event was classy and reverential right from the beginning. The fans were outstanding and I was very pleased to see many younger people in the stands who had a great grasp of what kind of coach Al Arbour had been for the organization even though many of these fans may not have even been born the last time the Isles won the Stanley Cup.

I don't know about the pre-game stuff on TV for FSNY because it's all blacked out for those with the Center Ice package, but I can tell you that on Hockey Night in Canada they aired an excellent feature with Coach Arbour and his wife, Claire. For those who don't know, Elliotte Friedman is a very good reporter who has a feature or interview before the HNIC broadcast and his interview with Arbour was just outstanding. "Radar" even got a bit choked up when Friedman told him that fellow HNIC staffer Kelly Hrudey told him that Al had been like a second father to him.
You no doubt have read the Newsday accounts of the game or watched it for yourselves. It was a super game. Anthony Reiber in Newsday is reporting that Rick DiPietro was examined after getting clipped in the eye (through his mask) by Sidney Crosby and that he has not suffered any major eye damage. It isn't know, however, whether he'll make the start Tuesday when the Isles host the Rangers. Dubie played well and made more than a handful of key stops after relieving Ricky in the second period.

Ben Walter made his Islanders debut wearing #29 and playing on the fourth line with Chris Simon and Aaron Johnson.