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BOX SCORE
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Kevin Weekes stole one point for the New York Islanders. Tony Amonte made sure he didn't get two.
Weekes made 47 saves, but allowed two goals to Amonte, the second with 54.2 seconds left in regulation as the Chicago Blackhawks battled back to earn a 2-2 tie Saturday with the New York Islanders.
|  | | Chicago's Michal Grosek and the Islanders' Jamie Rivers go head to head. |
"I had a lot of chances in the first two periods, but I couldn't get anything by him," Amonte said of his first six shots. "Weekes was playing well, and he kept them in the game, especially in the first period."
Weekes stopped 16 shots in the first period, while his teammates could only muster four at Chicago goalie Steve Passmore.
The Islanders broke through on their seventh shot of the game when Mariusz Czerkawski scored his team-leading 31st goal on a power play at 9:09 of the second. Czerkawski one-timed a shot from the high slot off Passmore's stick. Meanwhile, Weekes kept Chicago off the scoreboard with 13 more saves in the period.
Chicago finally tied it at 6:23 of the third when Amonte fired a sharp-angle shot from the lower right circle that got between Weekes' pads.
"I was lackadaisical on that goal," Weekes said. "I was upset, because as cheesy as it was, it got them back in the game."
Amonte agreed about his good fortune.
"I got lucky on that goal," Amonte said. "It's the ones you don't think are going in that go in."
The goal was Amonte's 40th of the season -- the third time in four seasons he's reached the mark.
"It's nice," Amonte said. "You think about it, but you try not to. It distracts you."
The Islanders managed to take the lead with 2:44 left in the third when Brad Isbister attempted to pass the puck across the crease. His attempt hit defenseman Kevin Dean's skate and got through Passmore.
Amonte's game-tying goal came off a faceoff in New York's zone with Passmore pulled for an extra skater. Alexei Zhamnov won the left circle draw and sent it back to Steve Sullivan, who crossed it over to Amonte. He was off-balance when he took the shot, but managed to hit the top right corner of the net.
"I just wanted to get a piece of that puck," Amonte said. "Good thing it wasn't that far in front of me."
Both teams took five shots in overtime. When it was over, Chicago left Long Island with at least one point for the 16th time in its last 17 visits (9-1-7-0). And for the Islanders, it was the first home point in four games (0-3-1-0).
"It's frustrating when you aren't generating any offense," Islanders coach Butch Goring said.
Amonte shared one secret about his offensive prowess: the presence of his father.
"My dad was here today," Amonte said. "The last few times he's watched me play, I've scored a pair of goals. I told him that if I didn't get my 40th today, he was going back on the plane with me. He had his bags all packed."
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