Home Opener: Isles 5 Blues 2

What I liked:

--Well, the whole first period. The way the guys were crashing the net and moving without the puck kept the Blues back on their collective heels for most of the night. When the forecheck is working, it is a beautiful thing to watch.

--Joey MacDonald. The guy made what Billy Jaffe called a "sick" save in the second period with a lunge across his crease to deflect a sure Blues goal with his catching glove. He also stopped T-Chuck on a breakaway. The fans were into it for sure, chanting "Jo-ey!" in the same cadence they cheer for DP. Stellar.

--Sean Bergenheim played breakneck and got a goal. Trent Hunter also scored with a nice wrister from just above the circles. The Isles are going to need improved offense from these two to be successful this year. If Trent rediscovers his nose for the net and Bergie buries just half of the chances he seems to have all the time, both guys are going to have good offensive numbers.

--Scott Gordon, who got his first NHL win last night in the home opener.

What I didn't like:

--Radek Martinek went down behind his net again with an apparent shoulder injury. I love Radek as a player and there is no denying that he and Brendan Witt are the team's best pairing but we need to find a way to keep Martinek on the ice. He sure misses a lot of games and he is important to the team.

--The "Somewhere in California" commercial that they play EVERY FREAKING BREAK on the Center Ice package.

--TSN.ca speculated (without giving a source, by the way) that DP was going to be out for a while and was spotted with an ice pack on his knee after the game the other night. Yeesh. These guys really like kicking the can of conspiracy and always like to dig at our boys. If Rick was truly hurt, would they risk putting him on the bench as the backup goalie when he may have to get into a game? What in the name of Bob McKenzie is going on up there?

--Newsday reports that coach Gordon says that Blake Comeau's conditioning is not up to his overspeed standards.

--Josh Bailey is also reported to be out two- to four-weeks with an injury.