The Isles will reach the statistical halfway point of the season as they square off with the Washington Capitals tonight in Brooklyn. Despite the Isles playing 40 games entering tonight, this will be the first time New York faces D.C. since their playoff meeting last spring. The Caps roll into town boasting a league leading record of 28-7-3 and are 8-1-1 in their past ten contests. Washington has also stretched its lead to 11 points in the division as they are running away with the Eastern Conference.
With that being said, this is will be a litmus test for the Isles tonight as of right now, the division and conference are running through our nation’s capital. Jaroslav Halak returns to tending goal for the Isles after a brief stint on injured reserves. There are no other changes to the lineup tonight as it will be the same team that defeated Dallas on Sunday.
I expect this to have the feel of a playoff game, much like the Rangers contest a few weeks ago. There is zero reason for this team to come out flat tonight and shame on them and the coaching staff if that happens. We all know what happened between these teams last spring. Washington took many liberties with Isles players and pretty much ended the NHL career of Lubomir Visnovsky. Then they were very vocal to the media basically saying that they were trying to run players.
If there is any remaining ill feeling about this, tonight is not the time to try and avenge someone. If the fourth line runs around looking administer justice, the Isles will get their doors blown off. Play physical. Play Smart. Finish every check and win the game. That is what this team has to do tonight. The Isles have to play with passion but they have to keep their emotions in check.
With their only being a handful of seats remaining on the secondary market, the Barclays Center will be a sellout tonight and should be rocking. The Isles have played well at home and let’s hope this trend continues tonight.
One interesting note. The team announced that it will now experiment with having game day practices in Long Island at Twin Rinks. This will be a change from having them currently in Brooklyn. It will be interesting to see if this sticks moving forward. Having the practice in Long Island will allow players to stick closer to their routine and they can travel to the game after the morning skate, a nap and a pregame meal. I work in as many as three states and spend most of my life in a car and in traffic. Therefore I don’t have much sympathy for million dollar athletes and their routines being disrupted. However this seems like a simple fix to keep the players happy and rested and it certainly merits a look. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78. Enjoy the game tonight.