Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Before tonight's game between the Penguins and Islanders, New York tough guy Zenon Kenopka told MSG that he was looking forward to tonight. He and his teammates knew it was going to physical thanks to what happened last time these two teams met, but at the same time, Kenopka talked about how the Isles had to be smart. They had to let the game dictate what would happen.
So when the Islanders jumped out to a huge 6-0 lead in the second period, the game dictated mayhem. Absolute mayhem that ended with at least 346 penalty minutes. The score sheet on NHL.com was still updating well after the game had ended.
This sucker punch from Matt Martin on an unaware Max Talbot was just the start.
Wait, but what did Talbot do?! The Isles' broadcast talked about payback for a Talbot hit on Blake Comeau in that previous meeting a week ago -- one that Comeau has yet to return from. Yep, there's no time for payback like when you have a 6-0 lead.
Oh, but that there was only the start.
It all started up again in the third when NYI's Trevor Gillies took a run at Eric Tangradi of the Penguins, who was called up today to replace the injured call-up Dustin Jeffrey.
Tangradi hit his head hard against the glass and seemed dazed as Gillies rained blows down upon him. All hell broke loose yet again.
Okay, let's try to make sense of that. Gillies hammers Tangradi and then everybody partners up. The only other fisticuffs that break out are between Talbot and Micheal Haley, who has 144 penalty minutes this season in the AHL. Haley obviously handled Talbot, and then decided he'd go after Brent Johnson. You know, payback for breaking Rick DiPietro's face.
And then, yes, you saw that correctly. Eric Godard jumped off the bench to assist his goaltender Johnson. Talbot and Jack Hillen come down the ice and get involved, but that's really the end of it there.
The fighting didn't completely stop at that point, but it certainly tailed off. Hell, the Penguins only had two players on their bench when all was said and done, so even if they wanted to keep at it, they didn't really have much of a choice. The four Islanders who remained on the bench poured off to congratulate Mikko Koskinen on his second NHL victory.
The final score was 9-3. (like that really matters). Here's a look at the final box score, which I'm hoping is finally updated now that the game has been over for 30 minutes. No guarantees, though, on a night like tonight.
Combine this mess with what we saw the last time these teams met and what we saw in Boston between the Canadiens and Bruins on Wednesday night and we have to ask ourselves: Who set the Delorean to 1975?
9 comments
Comments
A little one-sided eh?
Maybe a typo, and it doesn’t really matter, but the score was 9-3. Also, the article made it sound like the Pens were the aggressors. Not the case. Most of the time, it was NY.
by microsoft_blows on Feb 11, 2011 11:21 PM EST reply actions
How so? The first two things Travis talks about are Isles going after Pens?
G, the second coming of Foppa.
by JerseyDriver on Feb 12, 2011 12:01 AM EST up reply actions
I'll stand by Matt Martin
That wasn’t a cheapshot. He was yapping at him the whole time and Talbot was refusing to fight.
If he wanted to cheapshot him he wouldn’t have said anything or tried to turn around Talbot before throwing the first punch.
Also if you haven’t seen the other Islander games on the year, The Pens and Cooke especially have made it part of their game to Run Islander goalies after the whistle. This has been brewing for a bit and everything was going to blow up after last week.
"Milbury approached being GM of the Isles the way he stormed the stands at MSG, which is exactly the opposite of useful in that job." ~ Mikb
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by Mark D on Feb 11, 2011 11:56 PM EST reply actions
Refusing to fight means you should be sucker punched?
Real exciting hockey in the eastern conference.
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by kentcheesehead on Feb 12, 2011 12:26 AM EST up reply actions
Talbot knew the Isles were going to be looking for him for his cheap shot last week, or for the many occasions in which he ran DiPietro during the season. When someone is yelling at you and grabs you before he throws a punch, I hardly call it a cheap shot or a sucker punch.
I don’t even think Martin was throwing a full strength punch, he was just trying to force him to fight.
"Milbury approached being GM of the Isles the way he stormed the stands at MSG, which is exactly the opposite of useful in that job." ~ Mikb
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
by Mark D on Feb 12, 2011 3:30 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I’m going to go ahead and say that’s a cheapshot. If a guy refuses to fight but gets punched in the face anyway, that’s a cheapshot.
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by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 12, 2011 12:29 AM EST up reply actions
this is outrageous. Pittsburgh had a too many men on the ice penalty in the 1st. Not a good display of team composure at all
by sodonis on Feb 12, 2011 1:37 AM EST reply actions
Just glad this game didn’t beat the record for most penalties in a game held by the Flyes and Senators. Not sure how it didn’t though. Sure seemed like it should have.
This was some old school hockey. The Isles never left Talbot alone all night. There is one shot of him standing at the bench with this “Uh oh, I am in trouble tonight” look on his face. Gillies’ elbow was terrible and he’ll deserve the suspension, as will Godard for jumping off the bench. A smart move by him though, to protect his goalie. It was probably worth the eventual suspension. As for all the other Islanders facing possible suspension, I’d say what they did tonight will also be well worth the repercussions. They sent out a message tonight that they won’t be walked on by teams. After tonight, I’d say the team morale on Long Island is looking pretty good.
As a fan of neither of these teams, this game was fantastically entertaining!
For those looking for all the rough stuff in one video, click here. (s/t to Justin F.)
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by Mitchell Green on Feb 12, 2011 8:38 AM EST reply actions
Oh, and I guess I should provide a warning on the video. It is the FSN feed with Steigerwald and Errey. They do provide some ridiculously idiotic comments that are great to laugh at, but otherwise, it is painful most of the time.
Formerly known as "flyrsfrk05"
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by Mitchell Green on Feb 12, 2011 8:46 AM EST up reply actions
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