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Satan scores twice, Smyth tallies as Islanders top Capitals

Mar 4, 2007 - 5:54 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The New York Islanders looked to Miroslav Satan to help maintain their hold on a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Satan scored twice and newcomer Ryan Smyth also tallied as the Islanders raced to a commanding lead and came away with a 6-2 victory over the slumping Washington Capitals, who have lost nine of 10.

With the win, New York (33-23-9) climbed ahead of idle Carolina (33-27-7) for seventh place in the East.

"We gotta believe in here," Smyth said. "We know that we've got 17 hockey games left, and it's important down the stretch. Nobody else can do it but the team in this locker room."

The Islanders entered the contest just one point ahead of Montreal (33-29-6), which lost to Boston, and two in front of Toronto (31-26-9), which fell to Buffalo.

Acquired from Edmonton at Tuesday's trade deadline, Smyth netted his 32nd goal of the season and first as an Islander with 2:54 remaining in the third period to cap the scoring.

"The guys have been excellent," Smyth said. "They've cradled me and made me feel comfortable right from the top end down.

"Those things go a long way in the comfortness and just not worrying about outside of the rink. They've made my wife be comfortable since we've landed, so now I just worry about playing hockey. It's great."

Satan already had done a good portion of the damage, recording his second multi-goal game of the season to help stake New York to a 5-0 lead.

After Mike Sillinger opened the scoring midway through the first period, Satan punched in a rebound that had bounced off goaltender Brent Johnson with 92 seconds left in the session. Both goals came on the power play.

"I think the rebound hit me first in the leg somewhere and stayed in front of me," Satan said. "So I just had to bring it back and shoot it into the empty net. It was pretty easy."

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron and tough guy Chris Simon scored in the second period to double the Islanders' advantage before Satan netted his 23rd of the season exactly five minutes into the third to complete his first two-goal effort since February 3 at Montreal.

"The second goal was a good play by Richard Zednik," Satan said. "He basically gave me a great pass and I just fired it right away on net and got it through the five-hole."

Rick DiPietro stopped 27 shots for New York, which has won seven of its last nine meetings with Washington.

"The Capitals played hard the whole game," DiPietro said. "They had a lot of fight. We got that one at the end and took the wind out of their sails a bit."

Defenseman Brian Pothier and Brian Sutherby scored 34 seconds apart midway through the third to give the Capitals hope, but Smyth's tally sealed the Islanders' fifth win in six games overall.

"Today was the best day as far as energy and emotion of our team," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "Anytime you go through a trade period, a couple guys are ecstatic they didn't get moved and they're more ecstatic for the people we brought in."

Johnson allowed five goals on 23 shots before being replaced by Frederic Cassivi immediately after Satan's second tally.