Despite the 18 game winless streak, the Musicmen seemed revitalized by a few hours on the beaches of Sanibel Island prior to taking on the host Islanders.
"It's been a long year already for us," said Francois Beachemin, the only player on the Dayton roster from last year's championship team.
"All the trades, everything is different. There are about a half dozen guys who are under contract for next year and that doesn't mean a whole lot right now. We know there's a bunch of guys coming in next season. Janmark will be back - we really could've used him this year. Some of the kids like Fischer, Mete, Sanheim, Borgman, Hagg and Malcolm Subban coming too in nets should all be here, which is great for the future. This isn't a very close team, for obvious reasons." said Beachemin.
So, it was perhaps a good time for the guys to spend some time on the sunny beach this morning.
The first period was scoreless as both teams failed on two power plays each.
The second period saw Dayton's Thomas Vanek open the scoring at the :23 second mark after Derek Ryan won an offensive zone faceoff and scooted the pick back to newcomer Mike Del Zotto on the right point. "I saw Vanek find a soft spot between the Islander defense and put my head down and shot it as hard as I could toward where I thought Tom would have his stick. I guessed right..." said Del Zotto.
Vanek's deft deflection gave him his 13th goal of the season and gave Dayton a 1-0 lead.
A few minutes later, with Teemu Pulkkinen in the box, Sanibael's Hank Zetterberg converted a goal mouth scramble to tie the game.
"Girardi had me in their coverage, but his skate blade broke after Panik's shot from the point. He couldn't move, really, so I kind of had him where I wanted him. It happens to all of us eventually, but it was kind of funny - Dan has a great sense of humor - and guys from both teams were laughing when it happened." said Zetterberg.
Pulkkinen was in the box because of his second minor of the game, when after being beat by the Islander's Alexander Ovechkin, Pulkkinen skated over to Ovechkin once the play was whistled and slashed the sniper violently across the back of his legs.
"I'm not sure what the hell he was thinking." said Dayton GM Bill Corfield. "We acquired him last month in the Halifax deal. He's having a decent season with Chicago in the AHL, (13 pts. in 10 games so far as a prospect for Vegas of the NHL). They have some injury issues up there, and who knows? If he gets a shot for the big club, he may have value here in Dayton for next season. Taking penalties (ten minors in last five games) and just four shots over the same time isn't making the best impression for us right now. We've got him on the top line and first PP unit. Just sayin'..."
Just twenty-three seconds after Zetterberg tied the game, his linemate - Kris Versteeg scored his 10th goal of the season on a screenshot that Musicmen netminder Jared Coreau never saw.
The third period was scoreless with the highlight being the bout between Sanibal's Derek MacKenzie and the recently signed Phillip Di Giuseppe, which was considered a draw by most. "We're really interested in Phil. He's been around a bit, but has really done well in Charlotte, where he's tied for second in scoring on Carolina's AHL team. He just turned 24 and like Teemu, we're basically auditioning him right now while we monitor his NHL status." said Corfield.
Game Notes:
*The fight in the third period was just the third of the year for Dayton.
*The team flew overnight to Siberia, where they will skip practice and take on the Icecats this evening at 7:00pm.
*New power play lines have been announced for the next few games.
PP1: Ryan-Vanek-Dickinson
PP2: Burmistrov-Grigorenko-Rowney
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