Isles Snap Skid with Shutout of Devils

The Isles not only got a couple of players back from injury on Saturday night, but they were also able to get out of the small funk that they were in which saw them lose the previous four games.

They got back to their game in a big way too, coming away with the 3-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils.

Isles Struggle in Weekend Back-to-back vs. Ottawa, Montreal

The Isles entered the weekend with some excitement after announcing they re-signed Johnny Boychuk to a 7-year contract extension, however they were unable to replicate that excitement on the ice.

In fact, the games and the overall results were the same as the game against the Rangers on Tuesday night - close, but not close enough.

Halak breaks season win record in 2-1 victory over Flames

It was a big night on Friday for the Islanders and Jaroslav Halak as he set the franchise record for wins in a season, notching his 33rd. The Islanders defeated the Flames 2-1 and got two big points that they needed with the Rangers bearing down on and essentially having leapfrogged the Islanders, as they have three games in hand and are only two points behind.

After 2-1 Loss to Bruins, Not Time to Panic...Yet

The Islanders fell to the Boston bruins on Saturday night by a score of 2-1, but many are growing concerned about the Isles of late after dropping four of their last five contests. However, it is not time for the concern to reach a fever pitch just yet.

Bruins Strong vs. Isles in 5-2 Win

Although the Islanders didn't play their best, they also didn't play their worst. What we saw in the 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night was the Islanders play a team that they will have to figure out a way to beat if they truly want to be seen as a Stanley Cup contender come April.

Isles Down Rangers as Season Resumes; Thoughts to Start '2nd Half'

A little snow couldn't keep the Islanders and Rangers from playing on Tuesday night. It couldn't keep the fans home either. I can't recall ever seeing the Nassau Coliseum that full so soon after a snowstorm but the fans showed up, loud and proud. It brought a fun atmosphere for what was an intense game to kick off the 2nd half of the season. It's key not to get lost in some of the intensity, and the Isles did their best to not let that happen despite the eight day break on their way to the 4-1 victory.

Isles run out of Steam against Montreal

Many times when a team plays several emotional games in a row, at some point they will just run out of steam. Such was the case in the Isles 6-4 loss in Montreal, despite two of their goals coming in what we could classify as garbage time.

Okposo Leads Isles Comeback in 6-3 win over Pens

If you watched the beginning of the Islanders vs. Penguins game on Friday night and quickly got annoyed and turned the game off, then you missed quite a game. The Islanders fought back, lead by Kyle Okposo and his four(!) goals in a 6-3 victory that gave them 30 wins for the year and put them in the Eastern Conference lead once again.

Isles Dominate Blue Jackets; Tavares Named to All-Star Roster

The Islanders gained some momentum for themselves heading into the game on Tuesday against a red hot New York Rangers team by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Saturday night. The game was the second of a back-to-back and after playing into extra time with the Devils in that previous night the Islanders certainly made a huge statement in Columbus.

Isles end 2014 with Victory in Winnipeg

The Isles 2014 portion of the season has come to a conclusion, with a convincing 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Isles overall played very well in the game, and dominated puck possession particularly with 5-on-5 play. Perhaps even better than that, the Isles never had a 3-0 lead that they had the opportunity to blow.

Isles Defeat Rangers 6-3 in First Meeting of Rivals

The Islanders were nowhere near the best team on the ice on Tuesday night when they played the New York Rangers at MSG, but they were the better team in the only period where that mattered. It helped of course that the Islanders got great goaltending out of Jaroslav Halak that kept them in the game, allowing them to tie late in the second and score four in the 3rd to give the Isles the 6-3 victory.

Nelson and Boychuk Shine in Season Opener

After making two huge trades last weekend, the level of anticipation for the 2014-15 season reached heights that no one can remember in recent years to the point where every passing day seemed like it was taking more than 24 hours. On Friday, we finally had our first look at the new look Islanders and they made a nice statement in their 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Isles Fall to Canes in Coliseum Preseason Game

The Islanders dropped their only preseason game at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday night, losing 4-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes thanks to some strong special teams play by their division rivals.

Isles kick-off Exhibition Schedule with Sweep of Sens

The Isles kicked off their preseason schedule with a sweep of the Ottawa Senators, defeating them 3-2 in a split squad double header on Monday.

Isles beat Jets after Sending MacDonald to Flyers

The Isles had one more game to play before the trade deadline, but they were already in the mindset of it being life after March 5th, with Andrew MacDonald (traded) and Thomas Vanek (waiting to be traded) both out of the line-up.

With a lean roster, the Isles had a chance to see what they had in guys who haven't had extended looks with the big club as of yet. It resulted in a 3-2 overtime victory in Winnipeg.

The Isles had some solid contributions from Ryan Strome and Anders Lee. Lee scored his third goal since being called up after the Olympic break ended last week.

Anders Nilsson got the start, to the chagrin of many fans out there who were left scratching their heads as to why he's get the nod after a less that stellar effort in the 3rd period of Sunday's tilt vs. Florida. For me, it's easy to understand.

The NHL is going through a musical goalie campaign, evidenced by Tuesday's trades. The Islanders are at a crossroads in net. They know what Evgeni Nabokov can provide and it's still back-up worthy for the NHL. But what about Kevin Poulin or Nilsson? We've seen a good sample out of Poulin to realize he isn't much of an answer. So that leaves Nilsson.

The Isles won't have much room for error going forward with their goalies. With so many names of younger guys flying around, they need to understand what they have in these two sooner rather than later. If you sign a starter, do you need to sign guys for Bridgeport? The Isles could add anywhere from one to three new goaltenders to the organization this summer and now is the time for them to decide.

Having said all of that, I thought Nilsson played pretty well. Some of the angles are a bit off, but you can see that he has his moments - both good and bad.

Despite looking strong early on, the Isles allowed the Jets to slowly get back into the game as they allowed plenty of scoring chances. Lots of scrambling in front of Nilsson only yielded two goals, however, and gave the Isles the chance to win on Michael Grabner's overtime breakaway.

Grabner has been playing better of late too, at least on the offensive end. All season long he seemed to have the defensive side of his game up to snuff and now it's nice to see the confidence increasing with each goal scored - including the ones from the Olympics.

But enough about this game. We'll get to the more important stuff...

A-Mac's Isles tenure ended on Tuesday. Photo by C. Hessel

Andrew MacDonald to Flyers: Yes, as alluded to earlier the Isles already moved one of their trading chips, shipping MacDonald to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 3rd round pick this summer, a 2nd round pick in 2015, and forward Matt Mangene - who isn't much of a prospect, and never really was.

I like the fact that the 2nd round pick is in the 2015 draft, which by all accounts will be very deep and full of talented players in the first few rounds. The 2015 picks will have value and the Isles can package them to try and get more immediate help for next season, that is if they choose to do so.

It's frustrating to be going through yet another year of this however, and I'll go out on the limb and say I'll be upset if some of these assets are not used to make the team better in the more near term. With holes throughout, and now a glaring one next to John Tavares, this team seriously needs to figure out what their plan is going forward because having disappointing seasons and accumulating picks year after year isn't much of a plan.

So the Isles have one more player to move in Vanek. Everyone else will likely stay for now. I wouldn't expect the goaltending holes to be plugged on Wednesday either. That will be something the team addresses more in the offseason when they can see their options.

We'll see what Wednesday provides. I'll have some thoughts on the deadline as a whole after we hit 3 PM and see the dust settle.

- Chris

Isles Streak Ends as Turnovers Plentiful; Strome Sent to Bridgeport

The Isles came back down to Earth on Tuesday night as their hot stretch came to an end in Florida, as they dropped a 4-2 decision to a team that has given them some trouble in recent years. And for the Isles, it was a collapse in a big way.

Isles Remain Hot in OT Victory over Avs

When you're hot, things always seem to go your way. And for the New York Islanders, the past week couldn't have gone any better. It started with a huge win over the Dallas Stars on Monday, and ended with an overtime win last night against the Colorado Avalanche. In between the Isles found out they had multiple players named to Olympic teams, including John Tavares getting the nod for the Canadians in Sochi after a five point night and hat trick against the Stars (even though he didn't need all of that to be named, anyway).

Isles Rally from Three Goal Deficit to Stun Wild 5-4

Given the fact that the Islanders were playing the Minnesota Wild, you just knew that Nino Niederreiter would do his best to make his presence felt. It seemed predictable, and I even indicated as much on the radio show on Sunday morning. While he didn't live up to my pregame prediction of two goals, he had a goal and an assist as he looked to pace the Wild against his former, struggling team and when he gave the Wild the 3-0 lead many - including myself - thought that was all they needed.

Habs drop Isles in OT in Strome's Debut

The last time the Isles won a home game that went to OT was on February 11th, 2012 against the Kings. That would not change Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Isles lost again in OT, failing to get to the skills competition which is the only way they've been able to win games that go into extra frames at the Coliseum.

Isles Shutout by Kings to run Winless Streak to Nine

Getting off to the right start didn't seem to do the trick for the Islanders on Saturday night in Los Angeles, but then again: it's hard for anything to go right when you have trouble getting shots off after controlling play for the better portion of a game.