The New York Islanders played their most complete game of the season and defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1 before a sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum Saturday night. The Islanders dominated play, outshooting the Thrashers 49-10 to set the all-time franchise records for shot differential and fewest shots on goal allowed in a game.

Isles coach Ted Nolan was very pleased with his team's play both on offense and in their own zone. "There was a method to our madness tonight," Nolan explained. "It's one thing to throw pucks at the net, and it's another to throw them at the net when someone's in front. Tonight, we scored three goals that way. It was a good, solid team effort."

Defensively, the Isles limited Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa to a total of just three shots on net and held the Thrashers to just 10 shots. The previous Isles record was set in Detroit on March 3, 1977, during a 4-2 victory over the Red Wings. The 10 shots on goal was also a franchise low for Atlanta which had twice been limited to 11 shots on one game.

"When you play a team like Atlanta that has Hossa and Kovalchuk, to hold them to less than two goals would be a great feat," Nolan said. "But to hold them to ten shots was a great team effort. This was probably one of the best complete efforts we've had since we've been here."

The Isles accomplished the record despite missing three of their top six defensemen. Chris Campoli, Brendan Witt and Bruno Gervais are all still out with injuries.

The Islanders dominated play from the opening whistle but strong goaltending by Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen kept the Thrashers close for the first period. The Isles out-shot the Thrashers 20-4 in the opening stanza but the only goal the Islanders managed was a tap-in by Miro Satan set up by a pretty play by Richard Park. Park made a spin move behind the net and threaded a backhand pass to Satan who deposited it into the open side of the net at the 14:52 mark of the first period. For Satan, it was his first goal in 10 games. The Islanders enjoyed the large shot differential despite the fact that the Thrashers had two first period power plays while New York had none.

The Islanders broke things open a bit in the second period. Ruslan Fedotenko intercepted a clearing pass which led to a scramble in front. On his second whack at the puck, Fedotenko was able to lift it over the pads of Lehtonen for a 2-0 Islander lead. Fedotenko is the hottest Islander forward of late with goals in three straight games and five goals and six points in his last five contests.

"I feel our line's playing better," Fedotenko said. He is playing with Trent Hunter and Josef Vasicek who each had an assist in the game. "Everything's working right now."

With the Islanders on a 5-on-3 power play, Marc Andre Bergeron extended the lead to 3-0 on a rocket shot from the center point that went over Lehtonen's shoulder and under the crossbar with 7:57 remaining the second period.

Sean Bergenheim scored the final New York goal 7:50 into the third period off a good play by defenseman Freddy Meyer. Meyer dumped the puck into the far corner, beat the Atlanta defense to it and passed it to a wide open Bergenheim. Rick DiPietro also assisted on the goal, which gives him five helpers on the season, breaking the old record for assists by a goalie in one season which he shared with Chris Osgood. DiPietro also tied Billy Smith for the most assists in a career by an Islander goalie with 12. Bergenheim has also been hot lately, scoring three goals in his last four games.

"I'm not changing my game at all," Bergenheim said. "Just my chances are starting to go in. As you start to score more you start to feel more comfortable. That's the biggest difference."

The Thrashers' frustration began to mount late in the game and boiled over when Garnet Exelby speared New York's Blake Comeau in the posterior before sucker punching him from behind and hitting him in the chin with his stick. Exelby was assessed 17 minutes in penalties including a game misconduct. Bryan Berard of the Islanders was given a game misconduct for coming to Comeau's aid.

"I was trying to get back into the play and I didn't expect a spear from behind and when he dropped his gloves I didn't see the punch coming," Comeau said after the game. "Obviously he was very frustrated but that's just the way the game goes. I didn't have my gloves off but he still threw the punch. I was just happy we got the two points."

The Thrashers ended DiPietro's shutout bid when Todd White scored on the power play with just 1:17 left on the clock. Still, the game was not as close as the score indicated.

Thrasher's coach Don Waddell was frustrated by his team's play, especially after their inspired, 10-round shootout win over New Jersey the night before.

"It's very frustrating to go from the high of last night to this," Waddell said. "Complacency is a fair statement. We have some success, and we seem to have a hard time dealing with it."

For the Islanders, the win pulled them to within three points of the eight spot in the Eastern Conference standings. It also extended their winning streak to three games and gave them points in four straight.

"As far as team defense, this has been our best game in a while," DiPietro said. "What we did tonight was a real big step."

ISLES NOTES

The game was the eighth sellout for the Islanders this season...The team revived a promotion from its glory days when Wendy's restaurants offered free chili to fans if the Isles scored a certain number of goals. In the 80s, it was six goals for a free chili. In the modern NHL, the Islanders need only three goals to get the fans free food...The Islanders next game is Monday afternoon at 2:00 PM when they host the San Jose Sharks...Atlanta's five-game road trip continues Thursday in Carolina.