The Islanders return to the ice tonight to take on the Ottawa Senators in a pivotal Eastern Conference matchup. The Senators are fighting for their playoff lives and have been racking up wins of late. The Islanders while not playing terrible, desperately need to get hot. They need to have a solid couple of weeks and win some games. With the Sens in town tonight and New York hosting Montreal the Isles really need three points over the next two games.
With the excitement of the contract that Johnny Boychuk signed yesterday, the team now needs to focus on winning games and they need a real strong couple of weeks going into the playoffs. While it would be nice to win the division, the Isles need that two seed as home ice in the first round will be critical as the Coliseum might collapse from the sound of a fanbase that is desperate for success in the postseason.
As for the game tonight, Jaroslav Halak will be back in net for the Islanders. Frans Nielsen will not be playing tonight as Islander Head Coach Jack Capuano has eluded that Nielsen is a little banged up. At least that what I think a “maintenance day… means in English. Michael Grabner will return to the lineup in placed of the dinged up Nielsen and Ryan Strome will play center tonight.
The lines for tonight are not clear yet but the defensive pairings will remain the same. Despite the loss against the Rangers the Isles threw everything they had at Cam Talbot. New York needs a repeat performance of the effort they had against the blue shirts and cannot afford any hangovers from an emotional loss on Tuesday.
This team needs to right the ship until Nick Leddy returns from his injury and maybe just maybe this team can all be collectively healthy at once. When the Islanders win, they forecheck and play a North and South style. I think if you ask the guys in the locker room they would tell you they need to simplify their game, limit the turnovers and hopefully figure out the power play. Shooting the puck would be a good first step. As always for more on all things hockey please give me a follow on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.