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Blake scores twice as Islanders trounce Capitals

Mar 11, 2007 - 7:32 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- While awaiting the verdict on Chris Simon, the New York Islanders took care of business against the Washington Capitals.

Jason Blake scored a pair of goals and the Islanders built a four-goal lead before withstanding a comeback attempt and posting a 5-2 victory over the Capitals, who have lost seven in a row.

Mike Sillinger, Andy Hilbert and defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron also scored for New York, which lost twice to the rival New York Rangers earlier this week. The Islanders (34-24-10) moved three points ahead of the eighth-place Carolina Hurricanes (34-28-7) in the Eastern Conference and within four of the Atlanta Thrashers (36-24-10) for sixth.

"We can't start looking at the other things," Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro said. "We have to do what we can to gain ground."

The Capitals lost for the 12th time in 13 games but avoided being shut out for the third straight game when superstar Alex Ovechkin scored at 4:27 of the third period. The tally halted Washington's scoreless drought at 176 minutes, 13 seconds.

Most of the attention before the game focused on the status of Simon, the veteran left wing who began an indefinite suspension for his vicious hit on Rangers center Ryan Hollweg on Thursday.

A hearing to determine the exact length of the suspension was held Saturday morning, but a decision from the league has yet to be announced. Simon did make a lengthy apology in a statement released by the Islanders during the contest.

The rest of the Islanders continued their late push to solidify a postseason berth, earning a point for the 19th time in their last 23 games.

"It's obviously a tough situation. Chris is a great teammate. What happened, happened. It's over," Blake said. "We're all professionals in this room. When one guy isn't in the lineup, we all have to step up."

Sillinger opened the scoring two minutes into the contest, when he took a pass from Hilbert during a 2-on-1 rush and beat netminder Brent Johnson with a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.

Hilbert made it 2-0 on a slapper off a drop pass from Bergeron that went off the goalpost and in.

Blake notched his 34th goal with 7 1/2 minutes to go in the second, skating around Johnson and switching from backhand to forehand to beat the goalie down low near the right post.

Bergeron made it 4-0 six minutes later with a blast from the top of the right circle during a power play.

The strong effort came after coach Ted Nolan addressed the team about situation regarding Simon.

"I thought we played as good as we had to to get two points," Nolan said. "It was mentioned and, hopefully, the guys played hard for him."

DiPietro, who made 32 saves, was in control for two periods before Ovechkin's goal.

"We played well today, but they have a good goalie," Ovechkin said. "We had our chances."

Ovechkin's 39th goal prevented the Capitals from setting a club record for the longest goalless drought in club history.

"Nothing really wants to go in for us," Capitals center Brian Sutherby said. "We have to stay positive. Nobody likes to lose."

Tough guy Donald Brashear, who had hit the post with a shot in the second, made it 4-2 less than two minutes later with his third of the season.

Following the tally, Brashear punched Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt, drawing a minor penalty.

"I thought it should have been a five-minute major," Nolan said.

Blake capped his fifth multi-goal effort of the season with an empty-netter in the final minute.