Matt Moulson drew the penalty against Henrik Tallinder that gave the Isles the game-winning goal in overtime. The Isles jumped over the Devils to claim first in the Atlantic Division. (Photo: Doug Kerr/flickr)

I thought about doing a straight-up recap of this game, but seeing as I didn’t do a proper preview, I figured I may as well step outside of the box for the post-game too. Plus, ya know, it’s Aerys’s second birthday and birthdays require celebration. So here goes.

In the interest of full disclosure, I work at a popular supermarket chain here in Western New York which shall remain unnamed, but just know that it’s big. I was scheduled to work there until 9 p.m. the final night of the Center Ice preview, which shouldn’t be a big deal for me but is because my Internet connection is evil and destroys itself every five minutes, therefore the $50 I am wasting on Gamecenter Live is exactly that — being wasted.  (Also, Gamecenter Live is wonky anyway… What was I even thinking. I should have gone with Center Ice.)

So while I was cleaning stuff up and bagging bread, Krys “who spells their child’s name Krystofer” Barch and Eric Boulton were duking it out. And while I was gathering supplies to stock the department with, John Tavares was scoring his first of two goals, this one on the power play (which was 3-for-5, an incredible 60% accuracy rate).

And while I was dealing with a woman who swore she ordered something we had absolutely no record of, Mark Streit was scoring the fourth Isles goal in regulation, only to see the score tied up once more by a tenacious Devils team (this time, it was Adam Henrique). The Devils fought back to tie it three times during the night, erasing deficits of 2-0, 3-2, and 4-3 on goals by Henrique, Steve Bernier, Henrik Tallinder and Ryan Carter (Keith Aucoin had scored the Isles’ second PPG of the night).

I got home in time to see the Devils take a penalty in overtime — Tallinder cross-checked Matt Moulson in a vulnerable spot against the boards — and Doug Weight, who had taken over after Jack Capuano took a puck to the face, was taking the Isles through the play during a timeout. About a minute after that, Martin Brodeur and his defenseman misplayed the puck behind the net, John Tavares snatched it and curled around to the crease where he and Frans Nielsen both took swipes at the puck, trying to earn the extra point with Brodeur hopelessly out of position. Anton Volchenkov valiantly stopped two scoring attempts as he lay prone across the goal line, but he couldn’t stop Brad Boyes from finally shoveling it into the back of the net. And that was that.

I guess this is where I go on some wistful rant about how I realized how fortunate I was to be covering a team that could persevere after seeing their efforts get neutralized over and over, but I didn’t. In fact, that above paragraph is about as poetic as this recap will get. I’m slightly peeved at the fact that there was apparently zero defense, but happy I got to see the end result of what must have been an exciting and coronary-inducing game between two teams battling for #1 in a division that… well, doesn’t seem quite so tough anymore. I know much of it has to do with the fact that there was no real training camp and no preseason, and it’s also, oh, seven games into the season, but it’s just bizarre to think that the Islanders could well be coming together as a team now.

Of course, that remains to be seen. They play New Jersey again on Sunday, this time at home, so you can bet your bottom dollar the Devs will want revenge. For now, though, the Isles can enjoy their narrow lead and work on that thing with the blue line while I stake out a spot at my local coffee shop from 7-10 p.m. next week.

For a proper recap, look here.

Until next time.