Thursday May 7 and Friday 8

We continue to try and catch up here at Former Islander Watch and are now setting our sights to Thursday May 7 and Friday May 8. FIs helped out in the 2 Thursday night matchups but only 1 of the 2 Friday night pairings. Here is a brief look:

Thursday

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo played well but the Canucks fell fate to a timely Chicago goal as the host Blackhawks edged the 'Nucks 2-1 in OT. The series is now even at 2 wins apiece. After winning 5 straight to start the postseason Lu has now dropped 2 of his last 3 games for a 6-2 record.




Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood played well stopping 25 of 28 shots as the Red Wings crushed the host Anaheim Ducks to even their series at 2-2. Ozzie is now 6-2 on the postseason snapping a 2 game losing streak that gave the Ducks a short-lived series lead.




Friday

A trio of FIs helped out the Penguins as Pittsburgh got past the visiting Washington Capitals 5-3 to even their series as 2-2. The highlight of the night, however, was the return to the boxscore of winger Miroslav Satan who was playing in only his 4th game this postseason after spending the last 17 games on the NHL regular season in the minors at the Pens' AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre Penguins. Satan last scored a point on March 1 snapping a 4 game point-less stretch. He also snapped a 3 game playoff point-less streak dating back to April 20, 2007 when the Isles played in the first round against the Buffalo Sabres. Satan received the primary assist on the game winning goal just over 4 minutes into the 3rd Period. Receiving the 2nd assist was fellow Isles teammate Bill Guerin who also added a goal earlier in the contest. Billy G has done well, not great, scoring 3 goals and adding 4 assists for 7 points on 10 games. The final FI in the group was Ruslan Fedotenko who scored a goal and added a helper on the insurance goal. Fedo has 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) over the last 2 games and now has 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points on 10 games.

Check in soon for more updates and highlights as the Conference Finals loom just over the hill.

Tuesday May 5 and Wednesday May 6

We are way behind on the times here at Former Islander Watch. We will try to catch up by doubling the days. Here is a look at Tuesday May 5 and Wednesday May 6. FIs were involved in both games on Tuesday and 1 of the 2 games on Wednesday. Here is a peek:

Tuesday

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 23 of 24 shots as the Canucks downed the host Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. Lu has been an impressive 6-1 in his first 7 games in the playoffs surrendering only 14 goals in that span.





Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood looked good but the offense failed him as the Red Wings fell 2-1 to the host Anaheim Ducks. With the victory the Ducks grabbed a 2-1 series lead. Ozzie stopped 21 of 23 shots faced but lost for the 2nd straight games as Anaheim is stunning the defending champions in a lackluster offensive performance all around. After winning 5 straight to start the playoffs Osgood is now 5-2 with only 13 goals finding their way past him.

Wednesday

Pittsburgh winger Ruslan Fedotenko scored his team's first goal as the Penguins pulled out a 3-2 OT win over the visiting Washington Capitals. The win cut the Caps' series lead to 2-1. Fedo now has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the first 9 games of the playoffs. A Stanley Cup ring wearer, Fedotenko can be an immense help to his teams. When Fedo has notched a point in this playoff the Pens have a 2-1 record.

Check back soon with FIW for more updates and recaps.

Monday May 4

Oh, it was a classic in Washington as the Capitals edged the Penguins 4-3 and the two top superstars, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, each netted their first career playoff hat tricks. Add to that the fact that 2 Former Islanders helped out and right there you have a beautiful picture. Here is a look at the contest:

With the victory the Caps now lead Pittsburgh 2-0 as the squads head to Steel City for Game 3. Washington center Viktor Kozlov assisted on Ovie's 1st and 3rd goals, the final one the game winner, to help support the winger. With 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) over the last 4 games Koz now has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) on 9 games this postseason. Pittsburgh winger Bill Guerin assisted on Crosby's 2nd goal midway through the 2nd Period. Guerin has one assist in each of the last 3 games and now has 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) on 8 games. The last time Billy G had points in 3 or more consecutive postseason games was between April 18-25, 2002 when he had 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) in 4 games while with the Boston Bruins as they faced off against the Montreal Canadiens.

Check in soon with FIW for more updates and highlights.

Sunday May 3

There were 2 more games on Sunday as the playoffs chug along. With every second round series now started it is now time for the meat of the competition. There was only 1 Former Islander happening of note. Here is a look:

Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood's win streak came to end over 101 minutes into the game as the Anaheim Ducks edged the host Red Wings in 3OT 4-3 to even their series at 1-1. Ozzie stopped 42 of 46 shots including 16 of the 17 he faced in the 3 overtimes but it was the one off of the stick of Todd Marchant only 1:15 into OT #3 that got past him. Ozzie never even saw the puck. He is now 5-1 on the playoffs with a 1.95 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. This is definitely a different Osgood than the one who struggled with consistency throughout the regular season. This is Playoff Osgood-Man.

Check back with us soon for more updates at FIW.

p.s. Paging Zdeno Chara. Looking for Zdeno Chara.

Saturday May 2

There were a pair of games on Saturday and a pair of Former Islander happenings. Lovely how that works. Here is a look at the (mis)deeds of the FIs:

Pittsburgh winger Bill Guerin assisted on his team's first goal only 4:09 into play as the Penguins were edged by the host Washington Capitals 3-2. The Caps quickly grabbed a 1-0 series lead with the victory. Billy G has had assists in back-to-back games after going scoreless in his last 3 games and now has 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points on 7 contests.



Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo got torn up for 5 goals on 31 shots as the Chicago Blackhawks crushed the host Canucks 6-3 to even the series at a win apiece. Lu had his worst performance in exactly a month previously surrendering 5 goals in a game on April 2. Due to the performance Lu's numbers fell off a little bit with his goals against average rising to 2.06 and his save percentage dropping to .933.

Check in soon for more recaps and playoff antics at FIW.

Friday May 1

There were 2 games on tap on Friday night as the second round series continue to kickoff. There was 1 Former Islander accomplishment of note. Let us take a look:

Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood stopped 22 of 24 shots faced to improve to 5-0 on the postseason as the Red Wings edged the visiting Anaheim Ducks 3-2. The Wings grabbed a quick 1-0 series lead with the victory. Detroit walked away with this one having scored with only 50 seconds remaining in regulation in what was a tight tilt. Over those 5 games Ozzie has let in only 9 goals for a 1.80 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. In other news, Osgood received the secondary assist on Detroit's first goal, a powerplay tally. The helper was the 4th of Osgood's playoff career coming in his 110th postseason game. During the regular season Ozzie averages one assist per every 39.44 games but in the playoffs that number drops to one helper per every 27.50 games.

Check in soon for more playoff highlights at FIW.

Thursday April 30

The second round of the 2009 NHL playoffs kicked off with a battle between the well-rested Canucks and the spry Blackhawks. Here is a look at the Former Islander effort in that game:

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 28 of 31 shots to improve to 5-0 on the playoffs as the host Canucks overcame a 3 goal collapse to pull off a 5-3 win. Vancouver now leads Chicago 1-0 in their series. The 3 goals were the most Lu has surrendered so far this postseason. The goalie has managed to surrender only 8 goals over this 5 game span. To go along with the 5 straight playoff wins Luongo has won 8 overall dating back to April 7 of the regular season.

Check back soon for more updates and recaps at FIW.