With each tick of the Bill Stewart era, it becomes painfully apparent how horribly wayward Mike Milbury’s leadership had become.
This same group under Milbury managed three wins from Nov. 26 through last Thursday when Milbury mercifully fired himself as head coach.
Last night, Stewart’s Islanders posted their second consecutive victory, obliterating the eighth-seeded Bruins 4-1 at the Coliseum.
In Stewart’s two games as head coach, the Isles have outscored their opponents 9-3. What gives? Not to jinx Stewart, but Rick Bowness is the only other Isles coach to ever begin his stint 2-0.
“There’s a change in the room,” said reborn goalie Tommy Salo, who won his second straight start with a 25-save gem. “Everybody was scared when Mike was the coach. Everybody wants to show they’re good hockey players.”
Co-owner Steven Gluckstern was downstairs by the locker room but declined comment about the much-needed coaching change. He did, however, meet with Stewart for a few minutes, presumably to congratulate him on the fast start Stewart is trying to downplay.
“We’re looking for respectability within ourselves and within the league and we haven’t attained it yet,” Stewart said. “We’re taking baby steps before we start to run. Let’s enjoy the two wins but let’s not fall in love with ourselves either.”
Stewart’s making this coaching thing look easy. In Thursday’s 5-2 win in Pittsburgh, Stewart switched Bryan Smolinski from center to left wing with the struggling Ziggy Palffy-Robert Reichel tandem.
That line, which was together at the end of the 1996-97 season, took off last night. Reichel scored two goals and added an assist, Palffy had a goal and two assists, and Smolinski scored a beautiful top-shelf goal in the first period off feeds from Palffy and Reichel.
And then there is the rejuvenated Salo, who is making the Bryan Berard-for-Felix Potvin trade look even more absurd. Salo continued to prove last night Potvin was an extraneous addition.
“Once you get slapped in the face, cowards just lay on the ground,” Stewart said. “Others get back up to see how good they are. He’s done that.”
Still, Salo believes he’s a goner.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Salo said. “Hopefully, something will happen real soon. I don’t think Felix wants to sit on the bench either. I think we have one No. 1 goalie too many.”
Although the Isles are 14 points out of the eighth seed, occupied by Boston, Stewart won’t dismiss playoff thoughts.
“Until they tell me the door’s shut, we still have an opportunity,” the rookie coach said. “The hole is very deep. Whether we have enough dirt to fill the hole, who knows?”
Who knows, indeed.
“We have nothing to lose,” Reichel said. “We’re in a situation where we’re out of the playoffs. We’re more relaxed. It’s just a good feeling right now. The momentum is back.” *Even on a feel-good night, there was a near tragedy. D Zdeno Chara came within a quarter-inch of losing his right eye in an incident that was eerily similar to the one that ended the career of Isles’ prospect Jeff Libby earlier this season in an AHL game.
“I’m really lucky, I just thank God,” said Chara, who looked like Frankenstein afterward, sporting three gashes near his eye that required 32 stitches.
Boston’s Jason Allison, tripped by Chara in the left circle, flew in the air and his skate blade sliced the 6-9 blueliner’s face. Chara left a pool of blood on the ice and was quickly escorted off to be examined by ophthalmologist Martin Fox.
One of the cuts was just to the side and under his right eye. Libby, then Chara’s teammate in Lowell, lost his eye when an opponent’s skate blade slashed his face.
After missing last seven games with knee sprain, D Rich Pilon returned to the lineup last night and played with fire.