Islanders Ice Penguins

Islanders celebrate Kyle Okposo's goal (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

          Facing one of the elite hockey teams of the Eastern Conference, the Islanders offense erupted with five goals, as the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3.
          Center Frans Nielsen scored two goals, and Center Josh Bailey got three assists, in the big win for the Isles. 
          With the win the Islanders concluded an extremely successful five-game road-trip, in which they won four out of the five games.
          It started early for the Islanders, just over three minutes into the game they took their first lead.  At the 3:12 mark, center Frans Nielsen put a rebound, that came off the boards behind the net, past Penguins goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, to make it 1-0 Isles.  It would stay that score until with only five seconds left in the first, the Isles would increase their lead.  At the 19:55 mark of the period, right winger Michael Grabner would fire a wrist shot that glanced off Fleury's glove and in.  The goal was Grabner's seventeenth of the year.
          Pittsburgh would answer back in the second period.  It started at the 1:42 mark when center Tyler Kennedy would tip the puck by Isles goaltender, Evgeni Nabokov, to trim the lead to 2-1.  The goal was Kennedy's tenth of the year.  Just over two minutes later the Penguins would strike again, and tie the game.  At the 4:10 mark, left winger James Neal would fire a one-timer over the glove of Nabokov, and it seemed the momentum was shifting.  However, the Islanders would regain the momentum (and then some), in the final six minutes of the period.  
          Starting at the 12:48 mark, right winger Kyle Okposo would outskate Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik and beat him to the puck.  Okposo then fired a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle and buried it over the glove of Fleury, and off the crossbar, to make it 3-2 Isles.  The goal was Okposo's eighteenth of the year, and it was third straight game that Okposo has scored.  Just over two minutes later, at the 15:20 mark, left winger David Ullstrom would bury a powerplay goal past the blocker of Fleury, to make it 4-2 Isles.  The goal was Ullstrom's fourth of the year.  Finally, about three minutes later, at the 18:08 mark, Nielsen would bury his second of the game.  He was led on a breakaway by Bailey, and was challenged by a sprawling Fleury.  Nielsen would stickhandle away from the goalie and bury a wrist shot into the empty net to make it 5-2 Isles.  The goals were Nielsen's sixteenth and seventeenth of the year.  
          When the third period started both teams switched goalies, but for very different reasons.  Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled from the game after giving up five goals on on eighteen shots.  He was replaced by Brad Thiessen.  On the other hand, Evgeni Nabokov was injured in the second period when he got his skate caught in the ice and fell.  He left with a lower-body injury and did not return.  Al Montoya replaced him and stopped all but one shot.  
          Neal was only man to put one by Montoya, at the 15:42 mark.  While on the powerplay, Neal fired a snap shot by the pads of Montoya to make it 5-3, and that's how the game ended.
          With only six games left, the Islanders will now return home and face these same Penguins.  Puck drop is scheduled for Thursday at 7 PM.          

Islanders Finally Beat Toronto

Islanders celebrate goal in Toronto (Photo by Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images)

          After losing their previous three contests against the Maple Leafs, the Islanders finally broke through and got a commanding 5-2 victory in Toronto.
          With the win the Isles moved out of last place in the conference, and nine points behind the eighth place Washington Capitals.  
          From the start it was clear the Islanders were playing with a sense of urgency.  They were out-skating, out-hitting, and out-shooting the Leafs.  By the end of the game, the Islanders had out-shot the Leafs, 34-14.  It was a season low for shots given up by the Isles.
          Even though the Islanders played like the better team, the Leafs struck first, at the 10:24 mark of the frame.  Taking advantage of the only time the Isles defense broke down, the Leafs took an early 1-0 lead.  Right winger Phil Kessel took a pass from center Tyler Bozak, and was left all alone.  He buried a wrist shot past the sprawling Islander goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, for his thirty-sixth of the season.  The Islanders would answer back just five minutes later, at the 15:34 mark of the frame.  Centers Josh Bailey and John Tavares skated on a two on one and worked it to perfection.  Tavares would skate with the puck into the Leafs zone, and made a beautiful cross ice pass to Bailey, who put the puck past the Toronto goalie, James Reimer.  The goal was Bailey's eleventh of the year.  
          Toronto would take their second lead of the game at the 4:12 mark of the second period.  Center Matthew Lombardi would take the puck from behind the net, come out to the front and slid a backhander under the pads of Nabokov.  The goal was Lombardi's eighth of the year.  The Islanders would answer back later in the frame, at the 13:08 mark.  The line of left winger David Ullstrom, center Casey Cizikas, and right winger Michael Grabner, worked hard and got rewarded with a goal.  Cizikas would poke the puck away from a Toronto player, which would land on Grabner's stick, who would slide a backhander cross ice to Ullstrom who would tap the puck past Reimer.  The goal was Ullstrom's third of the year. 
          The Islanders would run away with the game late in the third.  It started at the 13:56 mark, when left winger Matt Moulson would get a rebound and bury it by Reimer, to make it 3-2 Isles.  Under two minutes later, right winger PA Parenteau would take advantage of a breakaway he skated on, by sliding one by the right pad of Reimer, to make it 4-2.  The goal was Parenteau's sixteenth of the year.  The Isles would seal it with an empty net goal by Moulson at the 18:25 mark.  The goals were Moulson's thirty-first and thirty-second.  He now sits ahead of Tavares for the team lead in goals.  
          The Isles will play their third game of a five-game road trip, when they visit Tampa, to play the Lightning.  Puck drop is 7 PM.    

Top 20 on the Islanders: #14 David Ullstrom

#41 of the Islanders, David Ullstrom (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

          Next up on the top 20 list is a youngster who has gotten his chance to play with the Islanders just four years after he was drafted.  He has proven to be a capable left winger, and looks to have a lot of promise in his career.  The number fourteen player on the Island is left winger, David Ullstrom.
          Ullstrom was drafted, as an 18 year old kid, by the Islanders in the fourth round (102nd overall), in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  Before being drafted, Ullstrom was playing in the Swedish Elite League for a team called HV71, based in Jonkoping.  In seventy-three games played there, Ullstrom compiled six goals and fourteen assists, for twenty points.
          In 2010 Ullstrom made the transition, and came to the United States to play for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  In his year and a half there (a total of ninety-nine games), Ullstrom had thirty-six goals and twenty-eight assists, for sixty-four points.  
          On November 20th, Ullstrom's dream came true, as he was recalled from Bridgeport and put on the Islanders roster.  Ullstrom has not disappointed anyone to this point.  He has played hard, and is becoming on of the Isles young up-and-coming players.  However, he did hit a bump in the road when on December 20th, against Winnipeg, Ullstrom hit the back of his head on a players elbow, and went on injured reserve with a concussion.  He returned to the Islanders on February 26th, and has been on the ice ever since.
          So far this year, in twenty-five games,  Ullstrom has two goals and four assists, for six points.  
          Though Islander fans want stars who want pucks in the net, and they have a right to, they should not overlook what Ullstrom has provided.  He can very well grow on the Island and become a solid scorer, as teammate, center Frans Nielsen, is showing this year.  I think with patience, Ullstrom has the chance to become a household name in Islanders fan's homes.