Top Shelf : Islanders Daily : 4/22/2013

There has been alot to celebrate lately for the Islanders. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Middletown, N. J. – A well deserved day off for the Islanders yesterday as their season ending five game road trip next takes them to Carolina for a match Tuesday night with the Hurricanes in Raleigh.

What else will this team show us? Defense (minus the bump in the road Saturday), secondary scoring and goaltending that defies age has all shown itself during this 11-1-2 run that has the team poised to return to the postseason for the first time since 2007.

Stay tuned to EyesOnIsles for all your postseason needs as the magic number shrinks from its current three. The standings claimed another team yesterday as the New Jersey Devils will miss the party for the second time in three years.

Sitting On The Bridge

Bridgeport closed out their regular season yesterday by defeating Portland 4-1 at Webster Bank Arena. Brock Nelson continued his outstanding play, notching his 25th goal of the season and Anders Nilsson turned away 20 of 21 shots. You can get your official recap here.

The Tigers end the season at 32-32-7-5 and now the question remains, with the NHL roster limit expanded, who gets the call to shuffle up to Long Island and experience some playoff hockey? We asked that question of the readers yesterday here, and voting will continue through tomorrow, so let your voice be heard.

Links

New contributor to EyesOnIsles, Chris Triantafilis makes his debut, nominating Garth Snow for GM of the year.

Ridiculous that it was even reviewed, but Kyle Okposo is in the clear for his hit on Saturday.

Interesting look at the playoff pool value of power play points without the goals.

Floating Around The Twitter-sphere

• Wow…someone better wake up and smell what the Islanders are cooking. There is no justification to compare them to the Blackhawks and their unbelievable season BUT an argument could certainly be made using the last three weeks as a sample size.

• Bold statement but not entirely inaccurate. Look at the past Stanley Cup winners and not only where they came from but their rosters and current goaltending situation.  Over the last 7 years, were the Hurricanes, Ducks and Kings really that much better than the current Isles?

• Keith Jones has got absolutely bombarded and so he should for irresponsible, homer journalism. With absolutely no facts to back up his opinions, he has spouted about how the Islanders will not make the playoffs, then finish 8th, then commenting yesterday that the Devils would be ahead if not for the injuries suffered to Martin Brodeur and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Last Night In The NHL

• Boston cruised to a 3-0 victory over the postal service Florida Panthers yesterday at home. Jaromir Jagr scored a beauty in the first period and has 8 points in 9 games as a Bruin.
• The Rangers clamped down and played some blocky again yesterday as they downed New Jersey, ending their playoff aspirations at MSG 4-1. Captain Ryan Callahan was outstanding leading the Blueshirts, scoring twice and playing with tremendous energy and tenacity.
• Columbus moved ever so close to a playoff spot by downing the Sharks in San Jose 4-3. Ryan Johansen had the winner with just over 1:30 to play in the 3rd period.
• In other action, Calgary downed Minnesota 4-1, Colorado held on to beat the Blues at home 5-3, Anaheim dropped Edmonton 3-1 and the Kings improved their Western Conference standing with a 4-3 OT win over Dallas.

Nice goal here by Andrew Desjardins of the Sharks as he dangles his way through the Columbus defense….

And finally, courtesy of Kevin Schultz, a look back at the Isles goals during this remarkable streak…

Current Eastern Conference Standings

Thanks for checking in with EyesOnIsles and letting us be part of your morning. Look at our top menu bar for ways to contact us as we absolutely love to hear from our readers and all fans of the greatest game on ice.