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Sabres-Islanders

Yep, you read right. This matchup was the early feature (read: free) game on Yahoo Sports this week. An interesting experience to see another struggling team (Islanders) playing a better team (Sabres). A classic scenario that is all too familiar to Columbus fans: the team carries the play through large stretches yet does not convert scoring chances. The Islanders seemed on pace to again squander a solid effort from MacDonald who had several great saves, including a magnificent kick save on a wide-open Vanek opportunity from inside the face-off circle. Ryan Miller was his solid self, but the Islanders imply failed to cash in opportunities that they earned through hard work. Sounds sickenly familiar, eh? However the story has an unexpected ending: the Islanders pull the goalie during a late power play to gain a two-man advantage. The trick pays off as they score. With two seconds left, Campoli wrists one top-shelf to send the game to overtime.

Love the anti-shootout comment by New York play-by-play man Howie Rose at the end of overtime. "After a vigouros game of hockey, it's time for Homerun Derby!" Miller stones the Islanders in the shootout, but New York escpaes with a point.

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Note to Safari and Firefox users: if you try to watch games at Yahoo and find the player stalls, then be sure to click the small link under the video box that says "Optimize your Hockey Night video experience here." Much better! After that small adjustment, the video worked great. If only the CBC site would stream better for me, I'd be thrilled.

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Luckily the Jackets did not follow the Islanders formula this night as they convincingly beat the Flyers 3-0 in Columbus. Despite their lackluster play as of late including that ugly shutout loss to Los Angeles, luckily they continue to play well at home. Goals by Hejda, Murray and Malhotra power a shuout by super rookie Mason, who earns another shutout (his third) by stopping all 20 Philadelpia shots. Best crowd of the season (18,402).