Isles win in OT; Yashin featured in the New York Times

Trent Hunter saved the Isles' bacon last night with the winning goal in OT after our boys had squandered a three-goal lead.

In the second period, the Islanders looked to be coasting along 3-0. Soon it was tied at 3 after a penalty shot score by Eric Perrin and tallies by Ken Klee and former Islander Alexei Zhitnik.

Mike Comrie had two goals and Josef Vasicek and Trent Hunter each made the scoresheet with a goal and an assist. The newest Islander, Rob Davison, added his first point as an Islander on a two-line pass that sprung Comrie in the first period.

Holik had tied the game at four with a little more than a minute left in the third after Comrie had reclaimed the lead early in the period. Hunter capped the game after Josef Vasicek intercepted Klee's pass and whipped the puck in front to Hunter, who made no mistake for his ninth of the season at 1:09 of the overtime.

The Islanders website reports that Frans Nielsen will be re-examined later today. He left the game in the second with a shoulder injury. Also, Brendan Witt traveled with the team and may be ready to come back Saturday for Fan Appreciation Day in a matinee with the Flyers.

As of the time I write this, with all precincts reporting, the Isles are in tenth place in the race for the playoffs. Every game counts here on out. The Sabres are in eighth with 71 points in 64 games and the Isles are 4 points behind them.

The New York Times has what I consider some strange comments about Russian hockey in an article by Michael Schwirtz. Mr . Schwirtz maintains that the NHL is losing some of the better Russian players to the Russian leagues who are trying to reclaim some of the home-grown talent. While that fact is undeniable, Yashin tried and tried to get an NHL contract for this season after the Islanders bought him out but he couldn't find anyone who wanted to meet his price, so he went back to Russia to play.

The article also touches on the planned European Superleague that is in the planning stages. Overall, an interesting read. You can find it here: www.nytimes.com