Despite losing an ugly 6-2 game to Columbus, the New York Islanders are still 5-1-1 in their last seven games. They’ll look to rebound with another win against Washington home.
- New York Islanders (11-11-5)
- Washington Capitals (17-7-3)
- NHL, Tuesday, Dec. 13, MSG+
- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Back on Track
The Islanders are turning to Jaroslav Halak in net tonight, who blanked Washington 12 nights ago at the Verizon Center. The Islanders also assigned defenseman Scott Mayfield to Bridgeport, who was on emergency loan with the team.
Doug Weight has had some work to do these past few days attempting to generate some sort of momentum for the NHL’s worst powerplay. The Isles hit the practice ice sporting new PP combinations.
Once Ryan Pulock returns from his conditioning stint, it is assumed he will quarterback one of the Islanders powerplay units.
Fans will get to see rookie Anthony Beauvillier return to the lineup tonight playing for a scratched Alan Quine.
The Islanders are looking at every opportunity to gain ground in the Metropolitan division and have been playing well of late- but so has the rest of the division.
Despite accumulating points in six of the last seven games, the Islanders have to compete with the Rangers (three wins straight), Washington (four wins straight), Columbus, Pittsburgh (six straight each), and Philadelphia who has won nine straight games.
Despite their efforts of playing some great hockey, the Islanders have unfortunately been stagnant due to these streaks.
Despite this, the Isles have to continue to be relentless and must not let up at all. Eventually the streaks will come to an end and those are the opportunities, like the division games, to capture points.