HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM MY COUCH

The text message came over my phone at 1:40 am this morning. No game day skate this morning, so no chance of me getting to talk to anyone today. I really should turn the damn thing off when I go to bed.

I opted to stay home with the family this Halloween. Too bad the family is on a ball field out east. For the first time I actually miss my little (4" taller than I am) brat. Especially seeing all the little kids coming to my door dressed in costume. Brings back a lot of memories of Halloweens past.

This year my teenager is dressed as a 3rd baseman for Halloween and I'm dressed as a very disappointed Isles blogger with a Witch hat. Let's hope my other "kids" don't disappoint me too.

Marty Biron will get the game start tonight and hopefully a win. Dwayne Roloson already has two to his name, Marty needs one of his own. It would be his 200th according to Billy Jaffe. Maybe we need a little Halloween magic for him. Let's start lighting some candles and chanting.

So one goal for Richard Park and one huge missed opportunity for Sean Bergenheim. I think that kid is snake bitten right now. But then again, how many games did Billy & Howie say that it took Park to score? Sixteen?

Yes, I know. The attendance police will be out in force. The Coliseum is very light, about 7,000 and so is the press box.

Wow! That was Scott Gordon LAUGHING with Dwayne Rolloson! NICE!

And Tamby makes it TWO with Park and Bergenheim getting the assists. And Miller looks surprised.

Ryan Miller, Team USA's best hope in goal was just chased out of the net by Jeff Tambellini and his second goal of the night. This is not the Jeff Tambellini we've known. This is the one we were waiting for. OH! And another Wendy's Free Chili game, so remember to stop by a Wendy's tomorrow and say "I want my free Chili. Let's Go Islanders!"

Do we get anything for the fourth by Josh Bailey?

The Islanders are playing smart hockey, just as Scott Gordon had asked them to do all along.

When I told my husband the Islanders were up 4 - 0, his answer was "It's Halloween, the Red Wings must be dressed as the Islanders."

Ha ha. All Scott Gordon has ever asked them to do was play smart, play for 60 minutes. Maybe they are finally getting the message.

It also looks like I will have to find a recipe for "sock" as my husband told his friends if Jeff Tambellini got a hat trick he would eat his. Well, as luck would have it, Tamby managed to get behind a sprawled Lalime and tap the puck in for his hat trick goal. He made it count.

Doug Weight had a great breakaway chance, but was high sticked in the face and slammed into the dasher boards head first. He was shook up and bleeding and still attempted to score on a penalty shot. He didn't.

Congratulations to Marty Biron on his 200th win, his 26th shut out and his first win as an Islander. It would have been nice if there were more people in the barn, but you know, you take what you can get.

Isles win three in a row and Scott Gordon is finally getting what he wants out of this team: 60 minutes of smart play. It took awhile, but he knew they had it in them. Now they just need to keep it up for the rest of the season.