The Islanders are on the Gulf Coast of Florida as they get ready to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at 7:30 PM. The Islanders are coming off a wild game in Raleigh Tuesday night where they were able to survive and come away with a 5-4 win. Islanders’ Head Coach Jack Capuano announced earlier that the lineup that defeated the Hurricanes will remain the same tonight. The only change will be between the pipes as Evgeni Nabokov will get the start against a very dangerous Bolts team.
Tampa enters this game an impressive fifteen games over .500 and despite the early season loss of Steven Stamkos and the distraction of the Marty St. Louis situation this team has not missed a beat and the emergence of young players such as Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn this team has some serious punch up front. With Ben Bishop having a career year between the pipes this team will give this young Islanders squad all it can handle tonight.
Speaking of the Islanders, the line of Ryan Strome Matt Martin and Colin McDonald collectively had their best game of the season in Tuesday’s win against the Hurricanes. I spoke at length about the ice time that Strome is receiving and despite playing with bottom six forwards he has stood out his last couple of games. What I have also noticed is his ability to be a little physical. There was one play on Tuesday when he was dumped by a Carolina player, he promptly got up followed him in the corner and returned the favor. This is an extremely encouraging sign.
With the team simply playing out its remainder of games it is extremely important for these young kids to stand out and make a case that they should be on this team and featured prominently next season. You want to see positive play from the kids.
However these games are also important for the entire team. In the past Josh Bailey has stood out in meaningless games yet he continues to be invisible this season. This offseason something has to be done with him. All options should be explored. If Bailey is on this team he CAN NOT be playing top six minutes. Perhaps a bottom six role will get him some confidence back in his game. I honestly don’t know what to do with Josh Bailey. I can’t imagine he has any trade value at all. There are no easy answers to the enigma that is the former first rounder.
I don't often beg but I need the help and support of the Hockey Buzz family. I am raising money to help my friend Lisa Berlinski who will be running in the 2014 Boston Marathon in support of the Boston Bruins Foundation. The Boston Bruins Foundation is an amazing charity and for those interested in learning more on what they do I have provided a link to their site.
This is an all hockey auction with many amazing pieces generously donated. There are auction items from such hockey legends as Mike Bossy, Martin Brodeur, Guy Lafleur, Ray Bourque and much more. Please copy this link below into your browser window and press enter. These items are all reasonably priced but if they are too much for you please consider making a donation to this great cause. I appreciate the support of the hockey community and I really need your help for this great cause. Any donation would go so far in reaching our goal
http://www.32auctions.com/berlinski
Here is a link that provides information on what exactly the Bruins foundation is. http://bruins.nhl.com/club/microhome.htm?location=/foundation