The Islanders return to the ice tonight as they are in Manhattan to take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. For those looking for the game, it will be on MSG Plus 2 which is channel 460 and 774 on Optimum. The Isles lineup will remain the same and Jaroslav Halak will be back in the pipes as the Islanders look to start off the season with three straight wins. The Rangers are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs on Sunday and will be looking to get back on track. The blue shirts have given up 11 goals in their past two games and will try and right the ship defensively against an Islanders squad that put 9 goals past Hurricane goalies over the weekend.
While the Islanders were able to take advantage of an injury riddled Carolina, they will have their work cut out for them this week as they face the Rangers tonight, the Sharks on Thursday, and are in Pittsburgh Saturday to face the Penguins. This week will be a good gauge of where their Islanders are heading this season.
The weakest link through two games has been the Isles’ penalty kill. The PK was much improved over the final two periods against the Hurricanes. The teams on the Isles schedule this week all have talent up and down their lineups and special teams will be crucial for securing points. If the Islanders can keep the power play unit to the outside of their passive box like they were able to on their last couple of kills against the Hurricanes, we should see some improvement. If the penalty killers continue to allow cross seam passes through the box and or allow players to park themselves in the middle of the formation, it will be a very long week.
The Islanders just need to buy time until Calvin de Haan and Lubomir Visnovsky are cleared to play and the penalty kill and bottom pairing will look so much better. We have all agreed that the pairing of Brian Strait with rookie Griffin Reinhart has been an adventure. Strait has played poorly in the first two games and while Reinhart looks ok, I think we all would agree that a couple months in the AHL wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. The Isles are in a position to win now and do not have time to babysit prospects or let them learn on the fly. If they are not ready, let them develop properly in Bridgeport. I just envision a much deeper and sound defense when de Haan and Visnovsky return.
Tonight should be a fun matchup and I would expect the Rangers to come out flying as they do not want to start the season off with three losses in four games. As for the Islanders, I expect solid five on five play that will test a Rangers blueline trying to overcome the loss of Dan Boyle. The Islanders just need to rack up points. I really like the direction in which this team is heading. John Tavares continues to mature as a leader and you cannot discount the experience of winning that Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy carry into that locker room. While this rivalry is one of the most intense of all sports, it certainly means more when both teams are playing well. Tonight should be one of those nights that have the feel of a game being played in the early spring. As always, for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.