By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com
Swish…
No, that’s not the sound of a basketball going through a hoop. Rather, it’s the sound of NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal and the NY Islanders striking a deal to have the former’s new Big Chicken chain restaurant represented inside UBS Arena.
That’s right, the world of the NBA has collided with the world of the NHL to bring fans a tasty chicken sandwich. And this deal would not be complete without a little Long Island flavor mixed in as Blue Line Deli & Bagels is providing the bread that houses the chicken. After all, New York does have the best bagels.
Thursday, Veterans Day, saw the man dubbed Shaq officially unveil his new sandwich to a mass of media; with the help of Blue Line Deli’s Donald Rosner. After the media sampled this money-making chicken, Shaq met with reporters to discuss his new venture.
Among the highlights were O’Neal telling reporters he’s been in the restaurant business for approximately 20-years and that he loves it. He also admitted that while he doesn’t know much about hockey in terms of the rules, he does enjoy it when a couple players get together and drop the gloves. Of course, he also made sure to express his new found fandom of the Islanders by stating he certainly intends to be back at UBS Arena during the season. However, he won’t be suiting up to play if the team should ask.
The missed opportunity of seeing Shaq on skates aside, team Co-Owner Jon Ledecky was welcoming to O’Neal and to the veterans in attendance for Veterans Day. Ledecky went on to dedicate a POW-MIA Chair as part of the proceedings and to announce that should any Veteran ever want to attend an Isles game or concert at UBS, they are welcome and are part of the Islanders’ family.
After the niceties of the afternoon subsided, the Islanders ventured to New Jersey to take on the Devils and the result was a 4-0 victory for the Garden Staters. New Jersey’s win was fueled by a shutout from Mackenzie Blackwood, solid special teams play and a long-sought goal from Tomas Tatar.
After the game, Tatar, Janne Kuokkanen, Blackwood and Head Coach Lindy Ruff all referenced how nice it was for Tatar’s hard work to pay off.
“He’s just such a great leader. We are so happy for him,” Kuokkanen said.
The game started with good news for the Devils as Dougie Hamilton returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, Yegor Sharangovich remained on the sidelines as a healthy scratch as the 23-year-old center has struggled in the early going of the season; accumulating just three-points (all assists) in 10-games.
On the other side of the ice, former Devils defenseman, Andy Greene, now with the Islanders, suited up for his 999th career game; 923 coming during his time with New Jersey. And speaking of milestones, Isles center Mathew Barzal played in his 300th career game.
Ilya Sorokin opposed Mackenzie Blackwood in net and it was the latter who was tested early as Zdeno Chara teed up a shot that was just tipped wide by Casey Cizikas in the opening couple minutes of play.
The Islanders continued to buzz moments later when Barzal was sprung for a breakaway from the Devils’ blue line. Barzal was stopped cold by Blackwood but he carried the momentum into his next few shifts as he had a strong showing in all three zones for much of the first period.
A strong forecheck by Zach Parise soon followed and Blackwood made a rare miscue when he misplayed the puck and sent it spinning towards his vacated net. Lucky for the Devils the puck caromed off the near post and spun out of harm’s way.
Next it was Sorokin’s turn to come up big for his team as the young Russian netminder stopped Alexander Holtz off a two-on-one odd-man rush to keep the game scoreless and bail out his teammates.
Several moments later, Sorokin stoned Dawson Mercer on a partial breakaway as he flashed the form that has made him one of the NHL’s top goaltenders this season.
Unlike Blackwood, Sorokin’s luck then ran out when Jesper Bratt was sent to the box for holding Brock Nelson’s stick at 11:23 of the first period. On the ensuing power-play, the Isles turned the puck over along the boards and the little rubber disc shot out towards the slot. The Devils charged and after an initial save from Sorokin, Janne Kuokkanen fired the puck into the vacated net and put New Jersey up 1-0, 12:12 into the game.
That was it for the scoring in the opening period. However, Zach Parise committed a high-sticking penalty with 1:46 left in the period to put the Isles on the penalty-kill. New York opened the second period with approximately 14-seconds left on the penalty-kill and swiftly finished off the successful kill before getting their second power-play opportunity of the night when Jonas Siegenthaler was sent to the box for slashing Parise during a potential breakaway.
The Islanders’ power-play units didn’t generate much during the man-advantage and soon the second period settled into a steady stream of good offensive chances, followed by sound defense from both teams.
That flow of chances was punctuated by Anthony Beauvillier firing the puck at Blackwood from the left side and Palmieri quickly following up with a couple whacks at the loose puck as Blackwood tried to regain his position. New Jersey’s netminder stood tall with just 5:25 left in the second period and the ensuing scrum saw Palmieri and Damon Severson each sent to their respective boxes for roughing.
Even though the teams skated four-aside, neither could muster a goal. That soon changed though as a flurry of penalties tilted the action. First, Tomas Tatar went off for hooking with 3:20 to go in the middle period. Then, Oliver Wahlstrom ended the Isles’ third power-play two-seconds early courtesy of a tripping penalty with 1:22 remaining in the period.
32-seconds into New Jersey’s second power-play of the evening, Tatar broke in alone on Sorokin and lost the puck while attempting to deke the young netminder. However, Tatar came right back and deflected a Dougie Hamilton shot from the point past Sorokin for the power-play goal, giving the Devils a 2-0 lead with 50-seconds to go in the middle period.
On to the third period and the Islanders came out hot but were unable to beat Blackwood, who entered the final period with 30-saves already in his pocket.
Moments later, Andreas Johnsson sprung Dawson Mercer on a pretty play up the ice and Mercer bore down on Sorokin with only a goal on his mind. Mercer’s shot trickled off Sorokin and carried into the net to increase New Jersey’s lead to 3-0, 5:46 into the third period.
Sorokin did his best to keep the deficit to three-goals but with 3:27 left in the game Dougie Hamilton went five-hole on the young goalie to bring New Jersey’s tally to 4-0. That was more than enough support for Blackwood as he finished off the 42-save shutout; his first ever against the Islanders.