O'Byrne's oopsie

by James Mirtle on Nov 24, 2008 10:34 PM CST Comment 9 comments

Ryan O’Byrne put the puck in his own net on a delayed penalty to send the game into overtime, and Bill Guerin scored the shootout clincher for the New York Islanders in a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.

Guerin was credited with the tying goal on O’Byrne’s gaffe. Richard Park and Trent Hunter also scored for the surging Islanders, who won for the fifth time in six games.

— Associated Press

I'm not sure what's more surprising: That this goal happened or that the Islanders are on such a roll. Full credit to coach Scott Gordon for getting the most out of this group.

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It’s a toss up, but I’m going with “that this goal happened” as the bigger surprise.

Recently the Islanders have started to get some injured guys back and round into form as that underskilled/hard-working team that can surprise clubs who are not ready. Agree all credit goes to Gordon.

That said, now they’re without Nielsen and Okposo, and the Canadiens pretty soundly controlled play last night. The Islanders blocked a lot of shots, but if the Habs would have converted the ample PP chances they set up, O’Byrne wouldn’t have been able to change the game.

SBN now has a NY Islanders blog at LighthouseHockey.com.

by Dominik on Nov 25, 2008 11:00 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I knew you’d say that Dominik. :-)

by James Mirtle on Nov 25, 2008 1:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I had to represent!

SBN now has a NY Islanders blog at LighthouseHockey.com.

by Dominik on Nov 25, 2008 1:45 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I thought Price was in the net

Montreal wouldn’t be having PP problems if Gainey and Carbonneau weren’t so arrogant and dismissive about Mark Streit’s abilities. Hey, it’s better to have a ham-handed fool like O’Byrne taking a regular shift or the immortal Patrice Brisebois. Streit even admitted he would have stayed in Montreal had they offered him between $2 to $2.5 million per year and a role as a regular defense. Gainey gets way too much leeway from the Montreal media for past accomplishments. Despite his alleged status as a respected GM he’s been able to convince ZERO impact free agents to sign there. I don’t count refurbished players like Kovalev or Hamrlik as impact free agents either. He’s got himself a big problem now and no ability to solve it. Going to be a long season fighting for eighth place in Montreal.

by Exit716 on Nov 25, 2008 12:41 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It has been strange how Carbonneau has talked about Streit. I’ve just caught quotes filtered in through Long Island press, but it seems like he’s going out of his way to get shots in, whereas Streit has been fairly matter-of-fact about his decision and subsequent happiness with it. I didn’t know if Guy was reacting to reporters trying to get a rise out of him or what, but I’d think you’d be happy for a former player or at least let it go.

SBN now has a NY Islanders blog at LighthouseHockey.com.

by Dominik on Nov 25, 2008 1:45 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The choice was Tanguay and the pursuit of Sundin over Streit. I think a lot of GM’s would’ve made the same decision. Gainey admitted he tried to re-sign Streit about a year ago, but things didn’t work out. It wasn’t arrogance, it was a matter of allocating resources. Gainey would rather have Alex Tanguay than Mark Streit, and I don’t blame him.

Gainey drafted Mark Streit. He should get credit for finding a good player as much as you’re criticizing him for letting him go. I liked Streit, and would’ve liked to have kept him, but it’s ridiculous to pine over it when you consider how well Tanguay has fit in.

Roman Hamrlik has been the best UFA signing in Montreal that I can ever remember. He immediately stabilized the defensive depth, and allows the team to break in a young project like O’Byrne. Before Hamrlik, the Habs had one good defenisve pairing. When healthy, now they have 3 solid ones.

No ability to solve the PP problem? Okay…

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Nov 25, 2008 3:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

They’ve also got some cap space to bring in a defenceman if needed.

by James Mirtle on Nov 25, 2008 6:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Cap space?

Come on James. Boivin already has been whining about the falling dollar.
They need that extra money so they can book some more dog and pony shows for the Bell Centre so that the ice can be atrocious every home game.

by Exit716 on Nov 25, 2008 7:38 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Come on...

Not a big Habs fan are you? Or a bitter fan?
Last year there was an ESPN survey to NHL players in which they stated the Bell Centre ice was second best in the NHL, which is consistent with whatever you’ll find if you google it. So get some sort of facts before you spew inane comments like this.

by Habs on Nov 26, 2008 11:44 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs