Petr came back in the 2nd game of the second to score 2 even strength goals. Overall, the entire A Line looked very impressive even though the team lost. Heres the recap:
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- With Mark Parrish scoring goals like Mike Bossy, the New York Islanders are off to an historic start. Parrish recorded his second career hat trick as the Islanders spoiled the New Jersey Devils' home opener with a 6-4 victory, becoming the first team in NHL history to begin the season with four straight road wins. At 4-0-0, New York is off to its best start since 1976-77, the season before the prolific Bossy began his Hall of Fame career. But no team had gone 4-0 while playing entirely on the road until the surprising Islanders and rookie coach Peter Laviolette. "I'll be honest with you, it really didn't dawn on me today," Laviolette said. "We have to win hockey games and this was the way the schedule threw it at us. I don't know if the guys thought that since it was on the road it was going to be tougher, but I think we just knew we had to win hockey games -- or I did anyway." Parrish tallied twice in the decisive four-goal third period, sealing the win by scoring New York's fourth power-play tally of the night into an empty net with two seconds remaining. He leads the league with eight goals after scoring 17 in 70 games last season. Asked if he was surprised to lead the league, Parrish said, "Shocked is a better word, I think. I don't think anybody in this league, including me, expected me to come out like this. It's a good feeling, but a better feeling is how well this team is playing. "You score goals and the team doesn't win, it doesn't mean anything. If you don't score goals and you won, you feel even better." Shawn Bates scored the go-ahead goal with 10:56 remaining and added an assist for the Islanders, who did not record their fourth win last season until their ninth game on October 31. "The confidence level is incredible this year," Parrish said. "When we get down on the bench, it almost seems like we know we are going to come out and play even better." Jason Arnott collected two goals and two assists on his 27th birthday for the Devils, who are off to their second 0-2-0 start in four seasons. The two-time defending Eastern Conference champions had not surrendered 12 goals in consecutive games since December 31, 1996-January 2, 1997. "You lose, you lose. It's the way you play that is more alarming than anything," Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said. "The number of goals will cut down when we start playing well." "Normally, people don't stand in front of our net. They were taking liberty in front of the net and getting rebounds on Marty (Brodeur)," coach Larry Robinson added. "We need to take more pride in our defensive responsibilities. After our first game, we worked on that all week." Like it did in last season's playoffs, New Jersey had trouble staying out of the penalty box. Defenseman Adrian Aucoin made the Devils pay with a power-play goal in the first period and Alexei Yashin and Parrish struck with the man advantage in the second as the Isles took a 3-2 lead. New Jersey has surrendered six power-play goals in 11 chances in its first two games. "We definitely took some poor penalties, more out of frustration than anything," Robinson said. "They started the game, and it wasn't bad. We were initiating plays. When we got up 2-1, we reverted back to not getting the puck underneath and trying to make the fancy plays. We were passing through the middle and they were getting picked off, and our guys were getting frustrated." Arnott tied it 4:39 into the third period with his second goal of the game, but Bates put New York in front for good 4 1/2 minutes later. Brad Isbister carried down the left side and along the goal line before backhanding a pass in front to Bates, who cut in from the right side and had no trouble beating Brodeur. Parrish gave the Islanders some breathing room at 13:04 when he followed his own rebound into the low slot and flipped a backhander over Brodeur. Moments earlier, New York's Garth Snow denied Petr Sykora on a shorthanded chance from the slot. Sykora got the Devils within 5-4 with 3:49 remaining. Allowed to skate out from behind the net, he drifted to the bottom of the right faceoff circle and wristed the puck into the top right corner for his second goal of the game. The Isles' fifth win in the last 19 trips to the Meadowlands was even more impressive, considering that captain Michael Peca sat out with a concussion and No. 1 goaltender Chris Osgood got the night off. "It's a contagious thing," Laviolette said. "Winning is as contagious as losing is and you get that winning feeling. It's a good feeling and I think the guys feel that right now. I think they feel that they can win, and that's the way they are playing."