Edition: U.S. / Global

N.H.L.: LAST NIGHT; Ugly Tie For Artful Losers

Published: March 19, 1998


The Islanders have become familiar with losing. This one wasn't officially a loss, but it felt worse.

With their playoff hopes hanging by a piece of dental floss, the Islanders outdid themselves tonight, blowing a four-goal third-period lead in just over 11 minutes en route to a crushing 4-4 tie with the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Center.

With the tie, the Islanders sit 11 points back of the eighth-place Senators in the battle for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot. The Isles didn't do any favors for the Rangers, who picked up a point on the Senators but still sit 4 points back.

The Islanders finished the season 0-3-1 against the Senators. They are also without a victory in their last 10 games against Ottawa.

''We needed the 2 points,'' said Coach Mike Milbury, who saw his record fall to 0-2-1 in his latest stint behind the Islanders' bench. ''Eleven points is a lot to make up. This stinks.''

He won't get any argument from his players.

''We gave it away tonight,'' Trevor Linden, the captain, said. ''Right now it's tough. There's not a lot of continuity here.''

Paced by the goaltending of Wade Flaherty and a series of gift goals, the Islanders opened a 4-0 lead early in the third period on Tom Chorske's second goal of the game. Flaherty, who was gunning for the second shutout of his six-year career and making his first start since Jan. 20, was caught out of the net on Magnus Arvedson's goal with just over 11 minutes left in the period.

And, from that point, the Islanders folded like a road map.

Wade Redden and Shawn McEachern beat Flaherty before Sergei Zholtok tied the score with just 88 seconds left in regulation on a power play.

Ottawa's Bruce Gardiner had the best chance of overtime but misfired on an open net.

''If I had a howitzer I would have aimed it at Wade,'' Milbury said of Flaherty, regarding the first Ottawa goal. ''He had a good game going until that. They weren't in the game until that first goal.''

Flaherty said: ''I made a mistake, but we still had a 4-1 lead. Then they started to come back. I don't know what happened after that. It's not often you blow a 4-0 lead.''

Then again, it's not often the Islanders get a 4-0 lead. In the game's first 23 minutes, the Isles perforated Senator goalie Damian Rhodes for 3 goals on their first 10 shots. Rhodes was removed for Ron Tugnutt after the third Islander goal.

For the Islanders, Claude Lapointe scored on a short-handed breakaway and Kenny Jonsson scored twice in addition to Chorske's two goals.


BRYAN BERARD got the worse end of a first-period collision with Ottawa's DANIEL ALFREDSSON. The Islander defenseman played a few more shifts in the period before he was taken to a hospital for X-rays in his hockey gear. He returned to action in the second period. The X-rays were negative. ... The Islanders called up JASON HOLLAND from their American Hockey League affiliate in Kentucky. Holland replaced SCOTT LACHANCE, who was out with an abdominal strain. ... ZIGGY PALFFY's 12-game point-scoring streak, the league's longest this season, was snapped.