Isles vs. Rangers (1 PM) Pre-game Notes; Podcast Posted

3:50: The Isles have come from behind to defeat the Rangers 6-4. More coming later, with a write-up.

2:03: Isles are leading 2-1 after 1 period. Comeau and Bailey scored the goals for the Isles, Dubinksy for the Rangers. New Isles goal song is "Live is Life" by Opus, according to one of my Blog Boxers. Can't say I know who that is, or what it sounds like. Will have to check it out when I'm at home, by a computer with sound.

Konopka and Prust had a long fight, Avery up to his usual antics. DP apparently looks strong. Lets hope it stays that way.

12:52 PM: Konopka, Jon Sim, Sean Avery and Brian Boyle apparently all exchanged words during the pre-game skate according to Katie Strang and Rob McGowan. Looks like the fun has started already.

11:20: It took all of eight minutes for me to be wrong about something. Rick DiPietro is starting today, as per the team.

11:15: The Islanders will be wearing their white uniforms today. Also, they have announced that they have a new goal song for today. The players, Zenon Konopka in particular, have requested a change. Very interested to see what they choose.

11:12 AM: The Islanders and Rangers waste no time going at it, with the teams facing off with each other in each teams 2nd game of the season.

Unfortunately, it appears that the Coliseum will not be sold out, and might even be the lowest attended Isles-Rangers game since the 1970's.

The Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 on Saturday night, with rookie Derek Stepan scoring a hat trick. He'll be one to watch out for. He was already coming into the season highly regarded and his performance only added more fuel to that.

The Islanders will be without John Tavares for this one as he is going to be re-evaluated today for his concussion. Yesterday he was said to be in good condition, only feeling some pain in his neck and performed off ice workouts. I think it's a wise move to keep him out of a game like this one. But this is good news, as it appears he'll be back by the end of the week.

No official starter has been announced yet, but I'm assuming Dwayne Roloson will get the start in this one based on the set schedule for Rick DiPietro. Josh Bailey will move up to JT's spot on the first line, while Michael Grabner makes his Islanders debut on a line with Doug Weight and Nino Niederreiter. Weight and Bailey were two of the best Islanders on the ice in the home opener on Saturday. Look for them to have strong games. Blake Comeau always seems to elevate his game against the Rangers, so it's a safe bet that he will pick up where he left off on Saturday night and have a strong game as well.

The Islanders special teams were a strong point the other night as the powerplay went three for eight, while the team successfully killed off six of seven penalties. The Islanders need a performance like that again in order to really be successful in this game. They need to cut down on their penalties as well though - the Rangers offense is slightly more established and stronger than Dallas. You can't give them too many chances.

The Islanders need to shoot as much as they did against Dallas in order to create some opportunities for the offence. Without Tavares, it is the best thing they can do.

PODCAST POSTED: Our latest podcast is now posted for your enjoyment. It was nice to finally talk about actual game action, and we were able to get some thoughts from a Dallas Stars fan as well. Be sure to check it out.

That's all for now. As we get some updates about Tavares, or the game I'll try to post them here or on our Twitter account (unfortunately for us, Columbus Day isn't much of a "holiday" in the working world). So be sure to check back for that, but definitely come back tonight for the post game write-up.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com