Islanders-Avalanche: Jesses Joensuu Scores in Debut as New York wins 4-2

Jesse Joensuu made his NHL debut tonight and scored a goal as the New York Islanders defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in front of roughly seven thousand people who braved the elements tonight at Nassau Coliseum.

It was also the Isles' second-consecutive win playing a forward short the entire game.  This time it was Trent Hunter who skated in warmups and disappeared before the start of the game.

There was a buzz among the people in attendance that Hunter may have been traded.  Some were angered by the possibility. Not to worry though (sort of).  Hunter has a lower body injury, and tried to go in warmups, and was unable to play. There was no word on how long he is expected to miss.

Dean Mcammond started off the scoring at 13:15 of the first period by netting a wrister that Avs goalie Andrew Raycroft couldn't squeeze between the pads.  It was Mcammond's fifth of the year, and second as an Islander. 

A penalty by Jon Sim towards the end of the first gave the Avs a power play chance to tie the game.  Former Islander Ryan Smyth, who was booed every time he touched the puck, capitalized with a power play goal, his 22nd of the year, 33 seconds into the second period. 

Joensuu would score less then two minutes later to put the Isles back up 2-1.  Joensuu crashed the net and put home a rebound—just the type of goal you can expect to see a lot of from this guy in the future. 

Defenseman Joe Callahan assisted on this goal, and it was also Callahan's first career NHL point.

The Isles spent much of the second period attacking the Avs in their own zone.  They kept the pressure on the Avs, and defenseman Bruno Gervais capitalized on a semi-two- on-one break with Jon Sim to score his first of the year.

Sim fired a shot that Raycroft saved with his right pad, but that sent a big rebound out to the front of the net. Gervais was crashing the net and put home the rebound. Sim picked up his third assist of the night on this goal.

Ryan Smyth struck again a minute into the third by poking the puck between Isles goalie Yann Danis pad's for his second of the game, and 23rd on the year.  This goal cut the Isles' lead to 3-2.

Earlier in the season, this would have left the Isles reeling, as they blew many multi-goal leads in the third period.  Most of the time they would be playing back on their heels, but this team has come a long way since then.

The Isles continued to play cool, calm, and collected, and Jeff Tambillini snapped a quick wrist shot that beat Raycroft to restore the Isles' two-goal lead at 4-2.  It was Tamby's third on the year.

The Isles shut down the Avs for the rest of the third, and most of the game for that matter. They limited the Avs to 22 shots on goal, and most of those shots were from the perimeter. Yann Danis was not challenged by many high-quality scoring chances.

Not bad for a team playing three rookie defenseman, and one of them playing in only his second NHL game.

The Isles continue to play hard, spirited hockey.  No team should overlook these guys, as there are a lot of young players who are fighting for roster spots next season.

They are also continuing to play well at home, as the Isles moved to 6-1-3 in their last 10 games at the Coliseum, and also moved over .500 for the year at home.

Stat of the game:  Jesse Joensuu had a goal in eleven minutes of ice time. It will be interesting to see if he is still with the Isles for Thursday night, or if he's back at the Bridge.  My guess is he will be in the lineup Thursday night.

Next up for the Isles:  a couple days off, then a matchup Thursday night against their biggest rival, The New York Rangers. The Isles have lost four of five to the Rangers, including both games at the Coliseum. All the games have been close, should be a good one as the Isles try to keep the Rangers free-falling down the standings.