**5:06 pm: Kyle Okposo is out of tonight's line up, but Jeff Tambellini is in. Trent Hunter is an unknown and Dwayne Roloson will more than likely be the man in net. I tried to make light of the news and asked if Kyle had an unfortunate 'curling' accident from yesterday. I scared them. They thought that had been reported. It was a joke. Kyle did not participate in the curling tourament the team played yesterday.
**There is a good article on Trevor Gillies on the Islanders Authorized page. It will take you ten times as long to read as Gillies spends on the ice.

Good Morning Islanders fans! It’s Tuesday March 16th and it’s Hockey Day! Actually it’s Hockey NIGHT as the Islanders start their West Coast trip in beautiful Vancouver, the town with an Olympic hangover.

Since I don’t know much about the West Coast teams, and we don’t see them that often, I enlisted the services of my favorite Canucks fan to help me out here. If you’re on Twitter, you know him as @Mozy. If you hang out on the NHL Connect site, he is Mozy19. And if you’re a Canucks fan, then you know him as the author of The Canucks Blog (http://canuckshockeyblog.com/).

Here’s what he had to say about tonight.

Looking at this match up between the Isles and the Canucks I can't help but buy into the story the numbers tell. In particular there's three numerical statistics that stand out to me that I think will influence this game and how it pans out.

Records, Records, Records: When you look at the Islanders road record they haven't yet hit double digits in wins on the road. Contrast to the Canucks having the second best home record in the league, a 7 game home winning streak, and the fact the Canucks are a perfect 4-0-0 against the Atlantic Division this season and the Islanders two game winning streak is in tough against this Western powerhouse. For kicks throw in the fact the Canucks have just dominated the East, most recently the Senators and their 13-4-0 record against teams from the Eastern Conference speaks for itself.

Points Streaks: The Canucks are just rolling. Right now it seems like nothing can stop them and when you look at their offensive numbers it all starts to make sense. Kesler has a 13 game point streak, Daniel has a 10 game point streak, Samuelsson's at 7 games, and Henrik's at 5. When four of the Canucks top six are streaking down the stretch, Luongo's play is finally returning to how it should be post Olympics, and their dominance on special teams and 5-on-5 play at home, the Islanders again are facing at a tough game versus the NW division leading Canucks.

The Comeback: If the Islanders to manage do spot themselves a lead and carry it for the game, they better watch out. The Canucks lead all teams with 10 3rd period come from behind wins this year and are brimming with confidence and composure. The Canucks know how to play with the lead, and when they're down they know that they can come back. Their most recent come back was two three-goal deficits against the Avalanche that saw them turn a 3-0 first period hole into a hat-trick from Samuelsson and a 6-4 win.

The Islanders are coming into the stomping grounds of a Canucks team that's never looked better in it's 40 year history. The odds are stacked against them and the numbers speak volumes. If the Islanders can hang on and get some stellar goal-tending all it could take is one goal, but if they fall down to the Canucks early, the Canucks will put them out.

Uggh. Okay, that doesn’t give me much hope to see any points on the board for the Isles. It will be interesting to see if it is Marty or Dwayne getting the start in net and whether or not Trent Hunter and Jeff Tambellini are healthy enough to hit the ice.

The unofficial poll I took seemed to feel that Jeff’s groin strain was clearly a by-product of sitting on the shelf for too long and trying to go full throttle his first game back.

I’d like to see John Tavares increase his confidence with another goal, garbage or not. Just another point should do his head good. Matt Moulson has the team leading 25 goals. Should I tempt fate and start calling for 30 by season’s end out of him? Last night I dreamt he was given a two year contract. It was a disappointment since I’ve been begging for three. It has to be a three year deal for me or I won’t buy a new number for my necklace.

I have a #26 all picked out. Indulge me.

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