Goaltender Rick DiPietro’s shutout performance against Atlanta Saturday night got lost in the shuffle because of the Alexei Zhitnik trade and the return from the injured list of captain Alexei Yashin. But under the circumstances, it was a terrific effort.
Although DiPietro downplayed it, he certainly had added incentive because his low moment of the season came six weeks earlier in a home loss to the Thrashers when he had three giveaways, one of which wound up in the net, was booed by the home fans and then heard them chant for backup Mike Dunham. In addition, he was coming off a game in Pittsburgh in which he gave up five goals in the two periods he played, the last four of which were the result of bad breaks or bad defensive plays in front of him.
Don’t think the previous Atlanta game wasn’t on his mind before the game. “We talked about that before the game,” coach Ted Nolan said. “The last time Atlanta was here, they did certain things to us, and we tried to keep the puck away from areas where they capitalized on us. [We] really executed very well. The communication between Ricky and our defense was on top of its game, and the way Ricky rebounded certainly shows what kind of guy he is.”
The second time around against the Thrashers, DiPietro handled the puck only when necessary, was totally squared up to every shot, didn’t go down too soon, didn’t give up many rebounds and protected both posts solidly when the rush reached the crease. In short, he never gave the Thrashers any reason to believe they had a chance.
When asked if the Zhitnik trade was needed to improve the Isles’ speed on defense, DiPietro said, “No, I think we just hit a spot where we started to struggle a little bit with the ups and downs of a season. But it’s how you rebound and bounce back. I thought [the win over Atlanta] was a good indication that we’re starting to be able to respond to controversy.”
Maybe he was talking about himself a little bit, too.
YASHIN’S HEROES: Alexei Yashin is 33 years old, has scored 330 NHL goals and has played on the Russian national team in international play for years, but he’s not too big a star in his own right to indulge in a little hero worship of his own. While I was chatting with him Friday night in Pittsburgh about his comeback from a sprained knee, Yashin mentioned he had met Penguins part-owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the first time that morning.
Yashin was smiling like a little kid who got everything he wanted for Christmas. “I played against him many times, but this is the first time I really met him,” Yashin said. “It was exciting because he was someone I watched for a long time. We talked just for a little while. I got him to autograph a stick. Once before I tried to get him to sign a stick but he had to go someplace and couldn’t do it. Now, I have sticks in my collection from the three players I used to watch, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.”
For a guy who has been the target of unbelievably harsh criticism at times in his career, Yashin really is quite passionate about his sport and very professional in his approach. We talked about the difference between being fit to play and being 100 percent. “It’s two different things,” Yashin said.
He could have been out up to four weeks, but Yashin came back in three. He knew the team needed him, and fortunately, the schedule is favorable in terms of recovery time this week. Give the captain credit for acting like one.
Comments (21)
The defense has really suffered without Yashin, something that's easy to overlook because of his obvious contributions to the offense. He's provided great leadership, and is awesome on the forecheck.
It's somehow fitting that his first night back was a shut-out. Great to have Yashin back. Looking forward to getting Hunter back, too.
And, of course, for another push for 1st place, starting tonight at MSG.
LET'S GO ISLANDERS!!!
I think we may be seeing this team turning the corner.
Great Story about a guy who is playing with alot of heart and guts. Great leader and as as Isles fan(and season ticket holder), couldnt be more proud to have Yashin as the Captain.
Lordie!--no Isles on TV vs Rangers last night; had to listen to the Rangers' TV crew. They said Yashin was having a lousy year. Morons didn't even know he missed 8 games. And that 600-goal celebration--it's like the Mets celebrating the 400 HRs Carlos Delgado hit for Toronto. What a cheap trick by a diseased team--and it fell flat. Rangers ate crap again; ISLANDERS RULE!
Don't know if you guys have seen it yet but we swindled Philly again.
Mike York went for Randy Robitaille (who has 17 points this year to York's 12) and a 5th rounder in 2008. Snow is definitely up to something; either a big trade or maybe a signing like Jason Allison or, gulp, Brian Leetch
I don't know how good of a trade this is yet. York has been collecting 40-50pts a year the past few years and is 3 years younger. Robitaille only hit 40pts once but I seem to remember him being good at face-offs, something we need since Sillinger can't take them all. We also got a 5th round pick and trimmed some salary (Robitaille is makig around $600k, York $2.85 million). Maybe Snow has something bigger up his sleeve, or maybe he's just creating some breathing room just in case he needs it in February.
Like I said, I'm not sure if I like it. We got an older guy who scores less (yes, I know Robitaille has 5 more points in 5 less games) and lost a guy who didn't mind throwing the body around.
I like the trade of York. In my opinion he didn't adequately live up to the trade that sent Peca to Edmonton. York has never had a good plus/minus and was underperforming this year. That said, hopefully Snow will use this cap space to grab a player for the stretch run. It's only a matter of time before St. Louis starts to let go their high priced vets like Guerin, Tkachuk and Weight.
I also want to say that Yashin has been great this year. Definately the MVP of the team.
Keep it up Isles!
What do we think about signing Jason Allison as #2 center? Great size, good playmaking skills, and it only costs money to get him. Could be like Cliff Ronning was a couple years back, eh?
Not so sure I want see Allison around. Howabout the potential for Lecavier or St.Louis. These are two guys on the market according to the NHL on XM Radio. Also Greg L. after hearing the sad news in Pittsburgh could we please get an update on the Islanders new arena plans. Relocation is something nobody who is an Islanders fans want to even think about. Thanks and keep up the good work
Allison is so slow, he makes Brett Lindros look like a good skater.
No to Allison.
After winning at Msg in front of a lot of our fans and being in solid contention for a playoff spot:
No Islander article in the times.
No Islander article in the daily news.
No Islander article in the Post.
Even or less than even coverage than the Rangers in Newsday. And Zipay's blogs updated several times daily with Dellapina writing like he get's paid by the word.
We need more space and more coverage, we need you to do more. Your all we have right now, please step up and fight for more space for our team. And give us the story with Botte not covering us or the Post not assigning anyone to replace Grossman.
This is not how you sell hockey in New York, it's how you kill it.
Please help.
Wow! "Please read this Mr. Logan." is dead on, but the answer to the problem is the same circular reasoning: "If more people watch and attend games the Papers will put the hockey on the back cover, however, we need more press coverage to get people in the seats."
Personally, I think with the new cap space the Islanders need to get a big name to center the line of Hunter and Satan (i.e. Forsberg or Nagy). It will grab the attention of the public, fill seats, and put the Isles on the back cover
How 'bout all of this BS of the Rangers having a depleted team to compete with last night? From my count the Rangers had at least two future HOF'ers in their lineup as compared to zero for the Isles. The Rangers simply are just not that good and it's starting to show. Go Isles!
To "please read this," I'm sure that Logan is fighting for more space. It's not like a writer wants fewer bylines or fewer columns. The team needs to keep it together. If they do, winning drives the coverage.
yeah i agree on the coverage deal but its been that way for years now. Thanks for a great blog Greg!
I'm really sorry to see York go especially for Robatille though I do like the saving money either for the deadline or next summer * as long all the money isn't blown on giving Blake too much cash/too many years, the Islanders need a real offense force to build the team around which we really don't have right now.
I don't know if this will be of much help, but I read this Islanders blog on TheDriveForFive.com every day, pretty interesting stuff. The guy that writes it is young [I read his about page] but he's got a decent resume and really cares about covering the team. He's actually pretty funny too.
It makes me sick that the isles are an AP story in the Post!!! The devils were no story now all of a sudden the Newark thing comes up and they get a beat writer. What a joke!! These trades make me wonder if Wang is being cheap or something is coming ? lets keep winning go Isles!!
Two great moves by Snow. Clears the way for perhaps a second line player who can score. What happens when Meyer is healthy?
Dump yashin,the isles unfortunately will never go anywhere with that ape on the team.He plays unmotivated,soft,uninspired and in the playoffs hes a better magician then david blaine.He disappears of the face of the earth.
Does anyone know when and where Rick DiPietro will be signing autographs again in the near future? I would love to get 2 for my son and grandson for their birthdays. Since they moved to Michigan, they are not on LI too frequently to get his autograph.