Isles beat the Bolts in OT, 4-3

What I liked:

Trent Hunter. I think we may see more of the offensive spark from #7 this season that he showed in the years before Ted Nolan took the helm. Clutch play by a guy who used his instincts to get to the right spot so that Frans Nielsen could slide him the puck after Olaf Kolzig misplayed it. That leads us to another played we liked last night...

Frans Nielsen. In four games this year, Nielsen is proving that he belongs in the NHL. Two assists last night and man is it good to see him as he emerges as a fine playmaker.

The assertiveness of Freddy Meyer. Billy Jaffe said it best when he complimented Freddy on the fact that the kid just stands his ground in front of his own net even though he is often smaller and outweighed by the guys trying to screen our goalies.

Bruno Gervais. The overspeed pressure of Gordon's means that the defensemen are likely to jump into the play. Heck, we even saw Brendan Witt trying to make stuff happen in the offensive zone last night! Bruno looks more comfortable out there so far jumping into the play and using his skill in the offensive zone. I mean, the kid has three assists so far! Good job out there.

The Penalty Kill. OK, last year I bored my friends and family complaining about the PK. The guys always had two hands on their sticks in their own zone and not only does that limit your movement as a skater, it makes you smaller and opens up passing lanes. Duh.

Last night, I actually had to grab a stick to demonstrate to my (very patient and sweet-to-play-along) wife that when you use one hands on the stick, you eat up space in your own zone by playing "bigger" than you really are. It's common sense!

With apologies back to Ted Nolan: duh. I guess he was too busy not checking in with the kids and coaches in Bridgeport to notice that. Or maybe he was too busy not installing a decent game plan and style for the Sound Tigers to play so that when they got to the Island they'd be NHL-ready. But why nitpick?

What I didn't like:

Um, the penalties...and the power play. The first few PPs were good and there was decent pressure on Kolzig. Somehow, our boys need to go back to Iceworks and get that together.

As far as the penalties go, giving a team with names like Lecavalier and St-Louis seven chances is far too many, even if Tampa is struggling.

Saturday the soap opera continues with Rick DiPietro. Many are speculating that he'll make his season debut in Sunrise against the Panthers. We shall see. Coach Gordon has said that he doesn't like to tip his hand as to who he will start in net for any game, but all the talk is that DiPietro will get the call. Stay tuned.