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It took only three games but Nino Neiderreiter, the youngest player inthe NHL and the Islanders first-round draft pick this summer, scoredhis first goal for the Blue, White, and Orange.  Neiderreiter took awrist shot off a from Doug Weight, the 6th oldest player in the leagueand electrified the Islanders. El Nino, who looked awkward in hisfirst two games in the NHL, with limited ice-time, had his break outgame in Washington. Against the Capitals last night, he showed thehockey world why Garth Snow decided to build a powerful offense thisyear, and draft the Swede.

Neideritter came out of the gate strong in the first period, throwinghis body around while showing bursts of speed on the wing. At aroundthree minutes into the first period, Nino began the scoring on a feedfrom Doug Weight.  His shot went to the right side of Neuvirth to givethe Islanders a 1-0 lead. The first period also had a fight worthchecking out. Trevor Gillies squared off with rookie DJ King, 2minutes into his NHL career. While the fight didn't last long, itclearly showed King was overmatched as Gillies landed the better,cleaner shots. For a team who hasn't had an enforcer since DonaldBrashear, the fight got the crowd going.

The second period didn't have much action until late when Ovechkin gotloose, and sniped one past Roloson. Roloson played tenacious up tothat point, clearing out his crease every chance he got. While thefans were not expecting Dwayne to shutout the Capitals, but it was apleasant surprise that they had a shutout going into the third. Thethird period was ALL Islanders. Better forechecking, clean passeswhich led to more odd man rushes. With a little over 6 minutesremaining, Neuvirth stopped Matt Moulson on the doorstep of the goalon a break-away. Minutes later Nino snuck around the defense and gotdenied as well.

One game after scoring the game winning goal against the New YorkRangers, Blake Comeau fell victim to costing the Islanders the game.He took a late roughing penalty when he left his feet on a checkagainst the boards. You could see the look in Scottie Gordon's face asthe referree rose his hand indicating he was calling a penalty. Aminute into the powerplay, Ovechkin ripped a shot that deflected offNiklas Backstrom and right past Roloson and the rest is history. TheIslanders had their chances on a powerplay in the 3rd, but failed tofinish.

The Islanders outworked a better Capitals team most of the night.Playing without Tavares (concussion), Okposo (shoulder) Streit(shoulder) and Wisniewski (2 game BJ Suspension) the Islanders couldhave easily been blown out of the Verizon Center.

This loss demonstrated 3 things. 1: El Nino Niederreiter will beplaying a full rookie season in the NHL; 2: Roloson played better thanDipietro and should possibly be named a starter even with the loss;and 3: Without Wisniewski running the defense, the Islanders are lessphysical and more likely to take gambles in the neutral zone. Enjoythe Gillies King fight below.

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