Another Day, Another Disappointment.

Flyers 4: Islanders 3 (OT)

I just don't know where to begin.

Today's been a frustrating day overall. Though I had no classes and no work (thankfully), I spent most of the day cleaning and dealing with some issues. I won't talk about those issues here, though. Instead, I'll project all of my anger onto this loss.

I knew things were going to end up badly when Rick DiPietro allowed a goal 18 seconds in. I mean, no sooner had Howie and Butch said "this game will be broadcast in high-definition" than the Flyers were celebrating. The score, however, did not stay 1-0 for long, thanks to one Kyle Okposo.

Yes, you read that right.

Okposo scored to make it 1-1, and then he scored again at 10:37 to make it 2-1. He also assisted on Michael Grabner's sixth of the year late in the first. Yes, the same Kyle Okposo who had posted only three points prior to tonight, scored three points in the first period ALONE- and had a monster of a game overall, getting shots, forechecking and backchecking.

Clearly, the time off watching in the press box helped him immensely. And it helped him earn the first star despite the Islanders giving up a 3-1 lead he helped forge and then losing in OT. Even with all of that, tonight Okposo showed everyone the form and work ethic that had gotten him his five-year contract to begin with.

Also on the scoresheet for three points was Grabner, who assisted on both of Okposo's goals. The sophomore speedster had another slow start to his season, but still has six goals to speak for (two behind leader John Tavares) and worked extremely well with Okposo and Frans Nielsen. Overall, that line played very well, as did the team in general, at least for the first and most of the second period. Sitting Marty Reasoner and Brian Rolston seemed to help speed up the younger players, as well. (You have to admit, those two have done very little on the ice- at least, Reasoner hasn't, and he was supposed to be a step up from Zenon Konopka. Can we please have ZK back now?)

And then, it all fell apart, thanks to Daniel Briere and some mistakes by DiPietro. Now, I don't like Daniel Briere in the least. I liked him a lot more when he was in Buffalo, but for some reason, the black and orange tends to make me dislike players I used to adore. I can't deny, though, that he's a good player, and he's sneaky with his shots. After Scott Hartnell cut the lead to 3-2 in the second, Briere took advantage of a weird bounce off the glass just to the left of DiPietro's short side. DP took a swipe at the puck as it dribbled in front of him, but couldn't grab onto it, and Briere was able to corral it and put it right past Rick's left shoulder. Then came overtime (which Gamecenter Live mercifully stopped working for), and Briere put it away with a nasty shot from just inside the blueline.

Frustrating? You bet, especially when the Isles had put up a tremendous effort as compared to their last two losses.

That's the issue with this team. Though they played very physically and generated a lot of chances tonight, they cannot hold onto a lead for very long, and DiPietro's shakiness in net late in the game didn't help. I hate pinning blame on goalies, but he had to be a lot sharper than that in order for the Isles to win, and he has been in earlier games. Tonight just was not his night, and it was unfortunate, especially with Grabner and Okposo being so good. You could sense that he knew it too, as he was taking a few risks, coming out of the net and trying to do a bit too much. Stay calm, Ricky. You have to if you want to be a winning goalie.

Oh, and after all the commotion, Micheal Haley only saw about 5 minutes of ice time in his season debut, in which he was pretty much tossed around for one sequence like a rag doll between two Flyers. Well, it wasn't that severe, but. I was a bit disappointed. I would have liked to have seen him get a bit more ice time than that, at any rate.

*sigh*. Well. Not much more to say here. I was excited about finally (maybe) winning and having some good luck bestowed on the Isles' third jerseys, which they wore last night (and all I have to say is, can we PLEASE get some black helmets to match, because those blue ones look dumb). But what's done is done, and there's no redoing it. Time for some turkey and looking forward to Friday and Saturday's home-and-home with New Jersey. Here's hoping Zach Parise doesn't do to us what he did tonight against Columbus... that shootout goal was sick-nasty (and if you haven't seen it, go to nhl.com and look for Zig-Zach. Yes, Zig-Zach.).

Until next time.