I must have been crazy to think the Isles were going to have problems scoring. Not only did the newly former “Free Agent Line” play a great game, the other lines looked pretty strong out there as well.

Overall, I really liked the way the team came out and played last night. They had some energy and were banging bodies. For those who have been coming to this site for a while, you know I’m a North American hockey fan and I want to see some hits, so last night was definitely a fun game to watch for me. Guys like Trent Hunter, Ruslan Fedotenko and Jon Sim were working really hard in the corners, while Mike Comrie, Richard Park and Miro Satan were skating hard and picking up defenders, which opened space for their teammates.

However, what I was surprised most about was the play of Andy Hilbert.

Throughout the second and third period, he was buzzing all over the ice and drawing double teams. This gave his linemates, Josef Vasicek and Satan plenty of room on the ice and created several scoring chances. If he can keep up that kind of “Energizer Bunny” play all season, he’ll not only have a Bob Nystrom Award at the end of the season, he’ll shake all the doubters [including myself at times] that he shouldn’t be on the second line, or even on the team in the first place.

Away from the offense, the defense was okay, but they weren’t as solid as they needed to be. The pairing of Andy Sutton and Marc-Andre Bergeron is a funny one to me, because they’ve both been known to take naps on defense. Last night, they both got caught sleeping a few times and it’ll be interesting to see what the defense combinations look like once Berard joins the team.

Aside from all of that however, if you’re a fan of this team, you have to love the grit and resolve they displayed last night. Down 2-1 early, they could have just phoned in the rest of the game and the rest of the NHL wouldn’t have even cared. This team however, knows it has something to prove and behind the dominance of their first line and two guys like Comrie and Fedotenko, who know they have a once in a lifetime opportunity this season, the Isles took advantage of Buffalo’s mistakes and came out victorious.

Can they keep it up again tonight?

If the defense steps up their play and the “Free Agent Line” continues to skate the way they did last night, I don’t think the Isles will have a problem at all. However, considering the fact that my first prediction fell on its face as if it was punched in the face by Clark Gillies, I guess we’ll be in wait and see mode.

Posted under Post Game Rants