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Guerin nets milestone goal, helps Isles top Maple Leafs

Dec 27, 2008 - 6:06 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- The return of Rick DiPietro and a milestone night for captain Bill Guerin ended almost a month of misery for the New York Islanders.

DiPietro stopped 28 shots and added an assist and Guerin scored twice to record his 400th career goal as the Islanders snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

Rookie Kyle Okposo and defenseman Freddy Meyer also scored for the Islanders, who were 0-9-1 in their last 10 games and won for the first time since November 29 against Ottawa.

"Those goals came at a good time," Guerin said. "Everybody kept a good attitude and a good work ethic (during the streak)."

Lee Stempniak scored for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped back-to-back games after winning five of six.

DiPietro was back in net for the first time October 25 against Carolina and was sharp in just his third appearance of the season. The franchise goaltender had missed the last 27 games due to a knee injury that required surgery. He took some shots during the two-day Christmas break and decided to return.

"Anyone that knows me knows patience isn't one of my virtues," DiPietro said. "It makes you realize how much you miss the game."

DiPietro collected his 14th career assist of the season 3:47 into the contest when Okposo took a clearing pass, skated up ice and put a shot from a sharp angle toward the net that deflected off goaltender Vesa Toskala and into the net. It was the third goal of the season for Okposo and first since November 13.

"The first goal wasn't a good goal, but I don't think it had a negative effect on our team," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "We weren't very good for the first few minutes of the game, and then we started to play our game."

Stempniak tied it at 1-1 when he backhanded a rebound past DiPietro at 15:44.

"There weren't a lot of second opportunities," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. "Guys did their job steering away the puck. The low threat shots didn't lead to bigger and better things for Toronto."

Guerin was credited with a goal when he tipped home a shot from rookie Josh Bailey at 6:27 of the second to give New York a 2-1 lead. The goal was originally credited to Bailey, which would have been the first of his career, but was switched between periods.

Guerin reached the 400-goal plateau at 2:34 of the third, putting home a rebound of a shot by Chris Campoli. It came in the 1,142nd game for the 38-year-old Guerin, who is with his seventh NHL team.

The talented veteran became just the 79th player and eighth American to reach 400.

"It means I've been able to stick around in this league for quite some time now and had some success at doing it," Guerin said.

Meyer gave the Islanders a 4-1 lead with a goal at 8:39 of the third.

Toskala stopped 27 shots for the Leafs. He was back in goal after being pulled against Dallas on Tuesday when he allowed seven goals on 27 shots.

"We had our chances, and they finished theirs," Toskala said.

The Islanders did endure some bad news when left wing Andy Hilbert suffered a hairline fracture of his foot when he was hit with a shot in the second period and did not return.