The Isles continue their homestand taking on the Kings tonight; it's the front end of a back to back with the Flyers on deck tomorrow.
After giving Doug Weight a win in his first game as caretaker, the Isles hope to give Dougie a birthday present tonight of a second one. The Isles have games in hand on many of the teams ahead of them, and the next 36 hours present a chance to make the most of that. Games in hand mean nothing if you don't win 'em. The time is now for the Isles if they're to make a move in the standings. Yesterday was good day to be off for the Isles as Boston, NJ, Florida and Carolina all lost in regulation. 8 points now separate 10 teams in the East.
JF Berube gets the call tonight, saving Greiss for the slightly more important divisional game tomorrow. Berube mentioned that he feels a little bit more motivation to face the Kings, the team that drafted him in 2009. Boychuk and Ladd will again miss the game, with Clutterbuck uncertain and a call will be made closer to gametime. If Clutter slots in, you'd have to think that Gionta would be scratched.
And while JT is himself on a tear and the team has played better in the last 2 games, by no means is everything back to sunshine and rainbows as to the outlook the team has. Back to work, the Captain says:
| “A couple big games this weekend against a couple good teams. We backed up a good win in Boston (with the effort against Dallas) and now it’s time to follow it up again. That’s the hardest thing to do is follow up a good effort with another one. Big challenges this weekend. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. A lot of hockey left.” |
An Islanders historical footnote: 35 years ago tonight, the Isles started what was then the NHL's longest winning streak at 15 games. The numbers during that streak were staggering: The Isles won those 15 straight outscoring their opponents by a combined 97-35, an average of 6.53-2.33 goals per game. They won by at least 3 goals in all but three games in the streak. During the streak, the Isles went 9-0 at home, 6-0 on the road.
Let's Go Islanders
D: Leddy-Pelech; Hickey-Mayfield; de Haan-Seidenberg
LA buzzing early
3rd PPG of the game for the Isles. First game this year with more than 1 PPG.
Tell you what...when the Kings tied it early this period (scoring on their first 2 shots of the period), the Isles could have easily wilted away. Maybe we're seeing what these guys are made of. Still a long way to go, but at least it seems they've been pointed in the right direction.
Congrats to Ruby on his first win of the year.
But.
There's no reason this team can't make. A run.
2 points tomorrow would definitely help
Huge game tonight. Mike, if we win tonight I'll allow myself to finally look at the standings.