Nassau Coliseum - New York Islanders

Trip Notes: Took a Friday night Jet Blue red eye flight into JFK. Went strait to my hotel, after I arrived sometime after 5am on Saturday. The hotel was within walking distance to most everything in upper Manhattan. Walked to Penn Station, about a mile, to hop on a bus to go to the Continental Airlines Center (New Jersey Devils) for an afternoon game. Later that night, I took a stroll around upper Manhattan visiting the area around Rockefeller Center, Radio City, and the theatre district. It was a fairly warm evening so the Rockefeller ice rink was a bit slushy from what I could tell. I didn’t have my skates so I didn’t have a chance to skate. Lots of people were out and about so I didn’t feel the least bit worried about walking around the city by myself. Next came a night out on the town. Met up with a friend for a few beers. I can’t remember the names of the bars, but I do remember having an amazing time. Had one too many Guinness’. We ended up closing down the bars. Definitely a fun city! Sunday evening I went to an early game at Madison Square Gardens (New York Rangers). It’s right next to Penn Station so it was close to the same walk that I made yesterday. Monday morning I got on the subway and took a train to Long Island where I would be going to my last game of the trip…Nassau Coliseum (New York Islanders). After taking a taxi from the train station, I checked into the Marriott Long Island hotel. The hotel was literally located in the parking lot of the arena. It was great having that short of a walk. After the game I went down to the sports bar in the hotel and had a shake to sooth my soar throat. Ended up sitting next to two nice guys who were in town for a teacher’s conference. Caught a cab back to the airport Tuesday morning and headed back home. Overall….the trip was a blast. I’d go back to NY in a heart beat!

Arena Notes: The arena is located in a convenient area for travelers with the hotel right there. Sat near the top close to center ice. Great seats. The arena was more full than the NJ game, but still not full. Even though the arena wasn't full, the crowd was one of the loudest I've heard. The arena was alright...a bit outdated. Nothing real bad or good about it. Other than being located near the hotel and the Champions Sports bar that's in the hotel, there really wasn't much else around. Nassau was opened in 1972 and holds 16,000 hockey fans. Their mascot is Sparky the Dragon.

Game Notes: Alexei Yashin is the only Islanders player who was around the last time the Ottawa Senators lost at Nassau Coliseum.
And that night, he was on the visiting team.
Yashin scored late in the third period Monday night to secure New York's 6-3 victory, the Islanders' first at home against the Senators in nearly eight years.
"What's most important is we got two points," said Yashin, Ottawa's career leader with 218 goals.
Jason Wiemer, Mariusz Czerkawski and Oleg Kvasha scored in the second period, and Trent Hunter and Shawn Bates added goals for the Islanders, who hadn't defeated the Senators at home since Jan. 6, 1996.
"In the past they had the edge on us," Czerkawski said. "We had to prove it that that was not the case now."
Ottawa was 13-0-4 on Long Island since, including two wins during a five-game playoff victory last season en route to the Eastern Conference finals. The Senators are 25-4-7 against the Islanders since their previous Long Island loss.
"Sure it's a nice thing to get off our backs, but that's not why we're here," defenseman Adrian Aucoin said.
Rick DiPietro made 29 saves for New York, 5-1 at home this season.
"That's one of the teams we're gunning for," Aucoin said. "We can still get better."
Peter Schaefer, Zdeno Chara, and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa, which got 20 saves from a sometimes shaky Patrick Lalime.
Czerkawski made it 2-1 with his ninth goal, scored 55 seconds into the second. New York had a three-on-two rush, and Kvasha made a backhanded pass to the trailing Czerkawski for the goal.
Lalime then was beaten by Wiemer's drive, shot while the forward was still on the big Islanders logo. It hit Lalime and skipped by to give New York a 3-1 lead at 7:05.
A frustrated Lalime went for a long skate over to the boards as the Islanders celebrated with high-fives on the bench.
"There were a few bad goals. I didn't do it purpose," Lalime said. "It wasn't one of my best nights, that's for sure. I've got to bounce back."
Chara brought Ottawa back within a goal 2:11 later when he stole the puck and beat DiPietro from the right circle.
But the Islanders needed just 1:18 to make it 4-2.
Kvasha stole the puck behind the Senators' net, curled in front and forced a shot in at 10:34.
Yashin made it 5-3 with a power-play goal with 4:02 left, and Bates punctuated the win by scoring into an empty net as the final horn sounded.
"It was a great challenge and the team responded well," Yashin said. "When we were up 4-2 and they scored, we didn't panic. We stayed with the game plan."
Ottawa couldn't dent the Islanders' power play in six chances. New York has killed 54 of 58 penalties this season and ranks first in the NHL.
But the Senators drew to 4-3 with 1:49 left in the second period, 33 seconds after Islanders captain Michael Peca left the penalty box.
Alfredsson scored on a shot from between the circles, through a maze of players and past DiPietro. Alfredsson, already the Senators' career leader in points, raised his total to 500.
Radek Bonk, who had at least one point in Ottawa's first nine games, was scoreless.
Alfredsson and Bonk also played in Ottawa's last Long Island loss.
"This was probably the worst ice I've ever seen in this building," Alfredsson said. "The puck was bouncing all the time.
"Before we haven't beaten ourselves like we did tonight. This is the kind of game you have to forget."
Schaefer gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 7:50 of the first. Hunter tied it with 1:02 left in the period with his fourth goal in four games.
Other Game notes: Islanders RW Arron Asham didn't play because of a neck strain. He is day-to-day. ... Alfredsson is first in Senators' history with 562 games played and 306 assists. His 194 goals rank second. ... Islanders C Jason Blake was knocked out with a sprained right knee in the first period. ... Ottawa wasn't whistled for a penalty until Martin Havlat went off 5:58 into the third.
(*Game notes taken from espn.com*)