Nielsen GWG Pushes Isles Into A Playoff Spot

 photo courtesy of http://a.espncdn.com/

Tonight, our Islanders came up with their biggest win of the season 5-2 over the Jets.  This win moved the team into 8th place in the conference and into a tie with the Devils for 7th in the conference.  Here are some of my notes:

-Coming into the game, I said that the real test for the team tonight after last nights win would be repeating it again.  They did!  For the first time in a while, in the third period with a one goal lead, instead of playing cautious they played like they wanted it!!  It was refreshing to see.

-Bailey, Nielsen, Okposo line continues their solid play!  This line has been so impressive the last few weeks.

-Congrats to Anders Lee on his first NHL goal!  Hopefully, its the first of many for him!

-Nice to see the first line get on the board, especially Moulson who hadn't scored in 14 games.  If they manage to get hot now, it could only mean good things for us down the stretch.

-Pretty good game from Poulin.  His first goal was shaky and a bad rebound once again bit him.  However, he came up big in the third when he got tested which was good to see.  Hopefully tonights start gives him some confidence.

-Defense did a pretty good job tonight, limiting the Jets chances and holding them to around 20 shots.  That is a good recipe for winning.

So, here we sit with 11 games left in the season and were in a playoff spot.  Do other teams have games at hand on us?  Yes, but as long as we keep winning that doesn't matter.  As some have started to say, why not us?

Next Game: Thursday @ Washington

Pre Game: Jets @ Islanders! Anders Lee Makes NHL Debut

 photo courtesy of http://cdn.nhl.com/

Tonight, the Jets travel to the old barn in Hempstead to take on John Tavares and our Islanders.  Forward Anders Lee who signed a 2 year entry level contract yesterday will make his NHL debut tonight.

The goalie match up features Kevin Poulin for the Islanders and probably former Islander Al Montoya for the Jets because the Jets number one goalie Pavlec played last night in their game against the Rangers.

As I said above, forward Anders Lee will be making his NHL debut tonight.  To make room for him in the lineup, Marty Reasoner will be a healthy scratch.  Also, seven defensemen will be dressing for warm ups tonight before the decision is made as to which six will play tonight.

For the Jets, defenseman Mark Stuart will return to their lineup tonight.  They will be without defenseman Grant Clitsome who suffered an eye injury in their game last night against the Rangers.

With a win tonight, the Islanders would be in seventh in the conference and second in their division.  The Islanders proved last night that they are able to win a big game when they need to.  Tonight, can they prove they can do it back to back?  Tune in at 7:00 to find out.

Isles 3-1 Win Moves Them To Within 2 Points of 7th

  photo courtesy of http://a.espncdn.com/

Tonight, our New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils by a score of 3-1.  Here are some of my notes:

-Bailey is playing with a ton of confidence right now!  It is very encouraging seeing him finish the sweet pass from Nielsen the way he did.

-Solid game from Matt Martin!!

-Good to get a power-play goal after the bad struggles they have had the last few games.  Especially good to get one from Tavares whose line has just been a mess the last few weeks!

-Nabby had a solid game!  He does need to learn to better guard the five hole, his last couple goals against have been through the five hole.

-Another solid game from the Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo line, they have certainly rekindled some old chemistry.  They have been the teams best offensive line for a little bit now.

With the Islanders sitting just four points behind the Devils coming in, this was a huge game.  For the first time in recent memory, the team went into a big game and were able to get the win.  After this win, on April 2nd the Islanders sit tied for the 8th spot and two points out of the 7th spot.  With a victory tomorrow the team could move into the 7th spot in the conference and push the rival Rangers to 9th in the conference.  The team was able to come out and play well in a big game tonight. This teams next big test is doing it back to back.

Next Game: Tomorrow Night @ Home Vs the Jets

Pre Game: Isles @ Devils

 photo courtesy of http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

Tonight, our Islanders travel to New Jersey for a big show down with the New Jersey Devils.

The goalie matchup tonight features Evgeni Nabokov for the Islanders and more then likely Marty Brodeur for the Devils.

Matt Carkner will be taking a seat for tonights game and in his place will be Radek Martinek.  Carkner isn't hurt he is just a healthy scratch tonight.  Also Josh Bailey will be in the lineup tonight.  There was some concern if he would play today or not after taking the hit from behind from Chris Kunitz during the game on Saturday afternoon.

For the Devils, forward Danius Zubrus will return to their lineup tonight.

With the Islanders just four points behind the Devils in the standings, this is a real put up or shut up game for the Islanders.  Tune in at 7:00 to see how it goes.

Prospect Updates

This afternoon, the Islanders announced that they signed Notre Dame standout Anders Lee to a 2 year entry level contract.

Lee will wear number 27 for the Islanders and will possibly play tomorrow at home against the Jets.

Lee had 61 goals and 55 assists in 125 games for Notre Dame over three years.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Also today, the Islanders announced that forward Ryan Strome had been assigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  Last week, it was reported that Strome would likely join the team by early this week after his OHL team was eliminated from the playoffs last week.