Isles trade Comrie and Campoli; Get San Jose's first-rounder

Islanders Point Blank is reporting that Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli have been sent to Ottawa. The Isles also acquire veteran forward Dean McAmmond.

TSN reports that the first-rounder was acquired by the Senators last August. This figures to be a late-first round pick since the Sharks are kicking ass out West.

BILL'S TAKE: I agree with Chris Botta in the fact that I am surprised Garth Snow was able to get a first-rounder for Campoli and an expiring contract. Campoli goes home to Ontario and gets out of the dog house he was in with Scott Gordon. Does this move mean a playoff push for the Senators? Probably not. They'll probably tease their fans with a late run but I expect they'll be on the outside come April.

Isles 3 Senators 1

Well, what can we say after watching the best sixty minutes of hockey that the Islanders have put together so far this season?

What I liked: Josh Bailey. The kid looks to be a player. His assist on Kyle Okposo's goal did my heart some good. That is what we want to see out of the kids. Kyle had a bit of a tough go there for a while but he was always playing hard and trying to make something happen. It was great to see him get that power play goal.

As far as Bailey goes, all you can say is wow. He played a pretty darn effective thirteen minutes last night and has not looked out of place in either of the two games he's played. With Mike Comrie missing, playing Bailey to see what he could do at this level was a good move. I'm not sure he spends the entire year on Long island, but getting a chance to showcase himself for the coaches is never a bad thing.

Joey MacDonald: What the heck can you say about him? MacDonald came into camp as a question mark and now he is giving the Islanders the best chance to stay in games. Last night, MacDonald made 29 saves for the win and only gave up one goal against a powerful (yet struggling and discontented) Senators offense.

The Power Play: Yes, I said the power play. Our boys went 2-for-5 on the power play and had 12 shots. The whole team looked a hundred percent better than they did Tuesday afternoon.

Trent Hunter, Bill Guerin, and Doug Weight: Big games by the guys that are leading the kids. I have totally become a Doug Weight convert this season. I guess I just never saw enough of him while he was in the Western Conference to appreciate his smooth play with the puck. Plus, you gotta hand it to Weight and Guerin because when the cameras are on the bench, you can see them talking to and teaching their teammates. Nothing ever can go wrong when you are getting a little extra coaching up from a couple of guys who have been in the league for a very long time and have seen everything.

What I didn't like: Not much. The Isles still took too many penalties. I bet that drives Scott Gordon nuts.

Thomas Pock: That elbow on Ryan Shannon just can't happen. The Senators' announcers were right last night when they said it was as bad or worse than the elbow that got Jarko Ruutu suspended for two games. Expect disciplinary action on that one as Shannon was out on his feet after the collision.

Anyway, a good, solid effort last night. Overspeed is working in bursts. Last night, the guys played the press all night long and they got the win in an exciting game that was fun to watch. Hopefully they bring it to the Coliseum tomorrow night in the rematch.

Let's take a breath and regroup

Did you feel the same way I did? Did it feel like we were back to those days when the Senators whooped up on the Islanders just a little bit?

Not a lot of good comes out of a 5-2 game. Oh, sure, you can say that there was a late empty-netter so the score was really only 4-2, but who are you kidding? A game at home with clearly the best team in the conference and it didn't seem like the crowd or the Islanders were aware of the importance of the matchup.

Rick DiPietro, fresh off an All-Star game where he both shined and seemed to be having a heck of a lot of fun, played as a mere mortal. The defense was confused by the Senators forwards all night--a Senators team awash in turmoil (Google Ray Emery) and ravaged by injury to one of their top players, Dany Heatley.

Simply put, when the Islanders made mistakes, the Senators capitalized...no pun intended. Sure, by splitting the season series with Ottawa 2-2, it was an improvement over the usual series outcome with the Senators that we'd come to expect. But after last night's uneven, unemotional effort, the Islanders learned a lesson they already should have known: to beat the Sens, the Isles need to play as close to a perfect game as is possible. Ottawa simply has more talent out there than New York does. And with the playoff seeding being as it is, if the Isles are to squeeze into the eighth and final playoff spot in the east, guess who they're most likely going to play? Exactly.

Ottawa began with a confident jump and staked a 2-zip lead early in the first in a 35-second span. Goals by defensemen Andrej Meszaros and Chris Phillips came before most of the crowd had even settled in. Dean McAmmond added one on a pass from Mike Fisher at 6:38 of the second and it was 3-0, Ottawa.

The Isles did regroup to make it halfway interesting on goals by Sean Bergenheim and Bryan Berard. Shortly thereafter, another gift from Marc-Andre Bergeron--the Isles coughed it up 21 times last night--and Mike Fisher conversion and the game was all but sealed. Jason Spezza drove in the last spike with an empty-netter at the end.

If there is any good to come out of a loss--and I am of the Parcells-ian belief that there is something you can pull out of any situation--it's that we can hope that the Islanders players understand what it is going to take in this sprint to the playoffs. Effort is the key ingredient for this team that has to rely on hustle and being willing to make the sacrifices to win close games.

The Los Angeles Kings are in on Thursday night. They've got 43 points as of right now; statistically the worst team in the NHL. The Islanders need to take these two points.