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.          

Top 20 on the Islanders: #5 Evgeni Nabokov

Nabokov makes a save at side of net (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)

          And then we were at the Top five current Islanders.  Starting us off at number five, on the top twenty list, is one of of the oldest players on the team.  At thirty six years old, this goalie is showing no signs of slowing down, as he continues to play at a high level.  The number five player on the Island is goaltender, Evgeni Nabokov.
          Nabokov, or as Islander fans know him "Nabby", was drafted in the ninth round (219th overall), by the San Jose Sharks, in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.  He played nine seasons in San Jose until he was traded to Detroit.  He didn't play a game in a Detroit uniform and was subsequently put on waivers.  That's where the Islanders nabbed him, claiming him off waivers on January 22nd, 2011.  
          Nabokov started his hockey career in the AHL (American Hockey League), for a team called the Kentucky Thoroughblades.  While there he played in seventy-six games compiling a record of thirty-six wins, thirty-five losses, and three ties.  
          Nabokov then moved up and started playing in the NHL for the San Jose Sharks, where he had a stellar career.  With the Sharks, Nabokov played in five-hundred sixty-three games.  He compiled a record of two-hundred ninety-three wins and one-hundred seventy-eight losses.  In the 2000-2001 NHL season, Nabokov was awarded the Calder Trophy, which is awarded to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL.
          Nabokov then was brought on to play for the Islanders.  He was picked off waivers in early 2011, but Nabokov decided he wanted to play the rest of the year in Russia and not with the Islanders.  Though many fans shunned him for this decision, they now love him.
          In his first year with the team, Nabokov has made a major impact.  He's played in forty-one games compiling a record of eighteen wins, eighteen losses and three losses in overtime.  
          The biggest thing Nabokov has brought is stability to a position that has seen five different goalies play this year alone.  
          One of the best headlines Islanders fans have seen recently, was on March 21st, 2011.  It was on that day that the Islanders and Nabokov agreed on a one-year extension, and landed Nabokov back on the Island through next year.
          Even though he has been here a short time, Nabokov has become a leader on this team, and is a player who has experience getting to the playoffs.  That will be a key element for a team who will be looking to become a playoff team next year.  

Top 20 on the Islanders: #6 Kyle Okposo

Kyle Okposo celebrates a goal (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

          Next up on the top twenty list is a young player who has been one of the more consistent Islanders the last three years.  He is a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, and was named an assistant captain of the team this year.  The number six player is right winger, Kyle Okposo.
          Okposo was drafted in the first round (seventh overall), by the Islanders in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.  Okposo was touted for his big body and great stickhandling.  Okposo has proved these scouts right.  
          Okposo started his hockey career at the age of seventeen playing in the USHL (United States Hockey League).  He played on a team called the Des Moines Buccaneers.  He played there for one year, playing in sixty-one games, getting thirty-two goals and forty-two assists, for a total of seventy four points.  
          Okposo then moved on to play in the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association), for the University of Minnesota.  He played there for two years totaling fifty-eight games.  He scored twenty-six goals and got twenty-five assists, for a total of fifty-one points.  
          Okposo then got drafted and played for the Islanders affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  There Okposo played in thirty-seven games, getting ten goals and nineteen assists, for a total of twenty nine points.  
          Okposo was then called up to the Islanders, at the age of twenty, and hasn't looked back since.  In his NHL career so far Okposo has played in two-hundred sixty-four games, compiling sixty-one goals and ninety-two assists, for a total of one-hundred fifty-three points.
          Okposo is an integral part to this young teams future.  He will continue to grow, and has already become a fan favorite on the Island.  With Okposo continuing to improve his game, Islander fans can see the skies the limit for this young star.  

Top 20 on the Islanders: #7 Josh Bailey

Bailey is congratulated after a goal he scored (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

          Next up on the top twenty list is a young center who has really come into his own these past two seasons.  He's shown the ability to score goals, make the pretty passes, and handles the puck with great skill.  The number seven Islanders on the list is, center Josh Bailey. 
          Bailey was drafted in the first round (9th overall), by the Islanders in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  He was touted for being a great player at both ends of the ice, by scouts and coaches alike.  And he's starting to prove those scouts right. 
          Bailey started to play hockey as a young sixteen year old in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League).  He played two years with for a team called the Owen Sound Attack.  While there Bailey played in ninety-three games, compiling eighteen goals and thirty-four assists, for a total of fifty-two points.  He then moved on to play another two years in the OHL, but this time for a team called the Windsor Spitfires.  While there he played in one-hundred-fourteen games, compiling forty-one goals and ninety-six assists, for a total of one-hundred thirty-seven points.
          Bailey then started his career as an Islander, and he's been a great piece on the Islander roster.  In his career so far, Bailey has played in two-hundred eighty-four, compiling forty-five goals and sixty-six assists, for one-hundred-eleven points.  
          Bailey continues to improve his game and has really started playing well since being put on a line with teammate, center Frans Nielsen.  
          With his continued growth, Bailey has the chance to become a top player not only on Long Island, but in the league as well.  Islander fans are starting to see Bailey become the player he has the potential to be.  

Islanders tame Panthers

Islander Frans Nielsen scores in shootout against Jose Theodore (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

          The Islanders battled back twice against the Florida Panthers, and eventually ousted them in a shootout, to win 3-2.
          The win was the Isles' third in four chances, on this current five-game road trip.  They will end the road trip in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
          The Islanders fell behind early, when the Panthers scored just six minutes into the game.  At the 5:55 mark center Stephen Weiss took a pass from behind the net and buried a wrist shot over the glove of Islander goaltender, Evgeni Nabokov, to make it 1-0.  The goal was Weiss' nineteenth of the year.  
          The Islanders would bounce back, and tie the game, late in the second period.  At the 18:57 mark, while on the powerplay, left winger Matt Moulson took a pass from linemate, center John Tavares, and buried a wrist shot past the Florida goaltender, Jose Theodore, to tie the game at one.  The goal was Moulson's team leading thirty-fourth of the season.  
          The two teams would match each other in goals in the third.  Florida scored first at the 9:51 mark, when left winger Tomas Fleischmann would take a weird bounce off the boards and fired a wrist shot under the right pad of Nabokov, to make it 2-1.  The goal was Fleischmann's twenty-fourth of the year.  Just over two minutes later, at the 12:22 mark the Isles would tie the game once again.  Right winger Kyle Okposo would throw the puck towards the net and it would deflect off the stick of Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, and past Theodore, to tie the game.  The goal was Okposo's seventeenth of the year, and his second in two games.  Regulation time would end with the game tied at two, and it was time for overtime.
          Neither team would score in the overtime period, sending this game to a shootout.  Florida shot first, and it was center John Madden against Nabokov.  Madden would try to go over the glove of Nabokov, but was not able to put it past him, giving the Isles the early advantage.  The Islanders would send out one of the best lead-off hitters in the game, center Frans Nielsen.  Prior to this shot Nielsen had been 6-10 (60%) in shootouts this year.  Nielsen would go in on Theodore and bury his famous backhand over him and give the Isles the 1-0 advantage.  Nielsen continued his amazing showing in shootouts, and is now 7-11 (63.6) this year.  That would be all the Islanders would need as Nabokov would stop the following two Florida shots, and the Islanders would skate away with the shootout victory.
          Unfortunately for the Isles, the eighth place Washington Capitals also won, and their hopes for the playoffs are almost gone.  With only seven games left, the Islanders sit eleven points out of a playoff spot.  
          The Islanders will conclude, what has been a successful road trip so far, when they visit the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, for a tilt against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.  Puck Drop is scheduled for 7PM.            

Top 20 on the Islanders: #8 Mark Streit

Defenseman Mark Streit firing a slap shot (Photo by Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images)

          Next up on the top twenty list is a defenseman who has become quite the team leader.  All his hard work along with his great presence in the locker room, the Isles gave him the honor of being the teams captain this year.  The man I am talking about is defenseman, Mark Streit.
          Streit was drafted in the ninth round (262nd overall), by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.  He played in Montreal for his first three years of his NHL career.  He then signed on with the Islanders as a free agent on July 1st, 2008.  
          Streit started his hockey career in 1995, as an eighteen year old, in the Swiss-A league.  He played his first year for a team called Fribourg-Gotteron.  He played thirty three games with them, scoring two goals and getting two assists, for four points.  
          He then played the next three years for a team called Davos, from 1996-1999.  In his time there, Streit played in one-hundred twenty-eight games, getting thirteen goals and thirty-seven assists for fifty points.  
          Streit then made the move to the AHL (American Hockey League), for the 1999-2000 season, to play for a team called the Springfield Falcons.  He only played there one season.  He played in forty-eight games, getting three goals and twelve assists for fifteen points.   
          The next season, Streit became a member of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League).  He only played in fourteen games for them getting no goals and five assists, for five points.  That same year he also played one game for the Utah Grizzlies of the International Hockey League.  He tallied one assist in his lone game there.  
          The ever-traveling Streit finally settled down back in the Swiss-A league, for a team called Zurich.  He played from 2000-2005 there, playing in two-hundred forty-five games.  He compiled  fifty-three goals and one-hundred eighteen assists, for one-hundred seventy-one points.  
          He was then drafted and playing in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens.  He played three seasons there totaling two-hundred and sixteen games.  He got twenty-six goals and eighty-seven assists, for one-hundred thirteen points.
          Streit finally landed on Long Island in 2008, as a thirty-one year old, signing a five-year 20.5 million dollar contract.  Streit's currently in the middle of his third year with the Islanders, with two more campaigns to go.  
          In his career as an Islander so far Striet's played in two-hundred thirty games, compiling thirty-three goals and one-hundred fifteen assists, for one-hundred forty-eight points.  
          Streit's career has obviously been a well traveled one.  But it looks like he's found a nice home on the Islanders.  The Islanders know that Streit is a great presence in the locker room for two reasons.  One reason is that he is a top defenseman and will get his fair share of points for the club.  But the other reason, and possibly the more important reason, is he is a great defenseman to have to teach, and help, your young players.  
          With his experience and ability, Streit has become quite the two-headed monster.  If he continues to play at the level he's capable of, and is able to help these youngsters grow, Streit could quite possibly be the most important player on the Island today.     

Islanders struck by Lightning

Tim Wallace celebrates after giving the lightning the late lead (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

          After falling behind early, the Islanders bounced back from a 2-0 deficit, but were left heartbroken, as the Lightning beat the Isles, 4-3.
          It was the former Islander, Tim Wallace, who delivered the final dagger in the Isles' heart, with his goal late in the third.
          With the loss the Islanders fell to 30-33-11 on the season, to give them 71 points.  With eight games left to play the Islanders sit thirteen points out of a playoff spot, and their hopes of making a run are quickly slipping away.  
          The first period saw the Lightning score the only goal.  The Lightning's star center, Steven Stamkos, scored his first of two goals at the 15:49 mark of the first.  Stamkos would find the puck in a crowd of players and was able to slip a backhander through the five-hole of Isles' goaltender, Al Montoya.  
          The Isles would fall further behind at the start of the second period.  At the 1:46 mark, Stamkos would fire a one-timer over the right pad of Montoya for his second of the game.  The scores were Stamkos' league leading fifty-first and fifty-second goals of the year.  He now sits seven goals ahead of Evgeni Malkin.  The Isles would cut the Lightning lead down, at the 8:15 mark of the period.  
While on the powerplay center Frans Nielsen picked up a loose puck and buried a backhander over the glove of the Lightning goalie, Dwayne Roloson.  The goal was Nielsen's fifteenth of the year.  The Isles would then tie the game late in the period.  At the 19:24 mark, right winger Kyle Okposo took a pass from behind the net by his linemate, center Josh Bailey, and buried his own backhander past Roloson, to tie the game at two.  The goal was Okposo's sixteenth of the year.
          The Isles would take their first lead of the game at the beginning of the third.  Just forty-six seconds into the frame left winger, Matt Moulson would bury his team leading thirty-third goal of the year, knocking in a rebound left by Roloson.  The Islanders would hold the lead until the 9:08 mark, when center Tom Pyatt would tip the puck into the upper right corner of the net, to tie the game at 3.  The goal was Pyatt's eleventh of the year.  The Lightning would get the final goal of the game at the 12:10 mark of the third.  Former Islander, right winger Tim Wallace, would take a Stamkos drop pass and bury a wrist shot over the right pad of Montoya, to give the Lightning the 4-3 win.  The goal was Wallace's third of the year.  
          The Islanders will try to right their ship when they travel a bit more south, to take on the Florida Panthers.  Puck drop is scheduled for 5 PM.