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Hunter, Blake lead surging Islanders past Flyers

Feb 28, 2007 - 5:18 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Jason Blake is happy to still be a New York Islander and the team must be ecstatic to still have the left wing on board.

Blake recorded a hat trick and the Islanders withstood a late rally by the Philadelphia Flyers to post a 6-5 overtime victory.

The subject of trade rumors for the past few weeks, Blake found himself still an Islander after the 3 p.m. trade deadline and came out on fire, recording a pair of goals in the first 8 1/2 minutes.

He added his third goal with 15 seconds left in the opening session as the Islanders opened a 4-1 lead. Blake completed his hat trick when he stole the puck from Sami Kapanen, walked in alone and slid the puck around goaltender Antero Niittymaki on the backhand.

"Thankfully he stayed with the Islanders," goaltender Rick DiPietro said. "He got four points tonight."

Trent Hunter added a tally in the first period for New York, which led, 5-2, before Philadelphia reeled off three consecutive goals.

Dmitry Afanasenkov scored in the second period and R.J. Umberger and Simon Gagne tallied 55 seconds apart midway through the third period to forge a 5-5 tie. Umberger's goal was his second of the game.

"We ran out of gas for a little bit," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "But the one thing with this team is they know how to re-energize."

"It could have been very easy to go away tonight after the first period there," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "We gave up a goal late there on a costly turnover, but we said, 'Let's win the second period.' That's all we can worry about and then we'll go from there. I think the guys responded great and positively. They stayed with the game plan."

Blake added an assist for a four-point night but it was Hunter who lifted the Islanders to their season-high fourth straight win with his second goal of the game with 30 seconds left in overtime.

Hunter deflected a pass from Mike Sillinger over Niittymaki while the Islanders were on the power play.

"I was just trying to re-direct it," Hunter said. "I was happy to see it go in and get the win. We know that every point is very crucial."

New York entered the game one point out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but vaulted to seventh with 72 points.

Montreal also has 72 points but New York has three games in hand and is rolling at the right time. The Islanders are 10-2-4 in their last 16 contests, collecting points in 14 of those games.

The win over the Flyers capped a big day for the Islanders, who acquired Ryan Smyth from Edmonton for two prospects and a first-round pick. Due to become a free agent after the season, Smyth had 53 points, including 31 goals, in 53 games for the Oilers.

"When I called [Blake], I was joking with him," Sillinger said. "His answering machine was on and I said, 'Blakey, I don't think you're going anywhere, but you've got yourself a pretty good winger.' I've been playing with him all along because it's a pretty tough situation. He just had a kid and he wants to stay here. I'm glad he's an Islander."

Chris Simon also scored a goal and DiPietro stopped 29 shots for the Islanders, who improved to 5-1-0 on their seven-game homestand.