NHL: Islanders/Flyers game

I went to the NHL New York Islanders vs Philadelphia Flyers game yesterday (Feb. 27) and it was the best hockey game I have ever been to. That's not much considering I don't go to too many games. The Islanders scored first and then broke out to a 4-1 lead. The comfort factor quickly whithered away in the 3rd period as the Flyers scored two quick goals to tie the game at 5 a piece. I was a bit down about that but the crowd was relentless. "Lets Go Islanders" they screamed! The game went into overtime.

Overtime is five minutes and, luckily, the Islanders got a powerplay with about a minute remaining. It was 5 on 4 and it didnt take them long to score the winning goal. The crowd went wild while we admired for a few seconds then ran for the exits to avoid the mass of cars (though the mass there is never as bad as it is at a Yankee game).

In addition to the great gameplay (the Islanders' team chemistry looked real good in the beginning) there were two huge fights. I had two scoreboards going, one for the game and one for the fights. Islanders won both games. I don't remember the names but in the first fight the Islander bloodied the Flyer, who needed to be taken away for medical reasons while our player remained in the box. In the second fight, the Islander got his shirt taken off but then quickly got some good punches to the head, knocking down his opponent, right before the fight was broken up by the referees. It sounds barbaric to have hundreds of people in the colisseum cheering as two players bare-fist punch each other but what is boxing for? They need some way to release all the energy built up.