Top Shelf : Islanders Daily 10/19/2013

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Islanders continue their homestand this evening as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes at Nassau Coliseum.

All remained quiet across the sound today as social media was quite pleased with Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Rave reviews were around for the play of always potent captain John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Matt Donovan and the fact that the team defense in the third period was arguably the best we have seen all season.

There is a good chance that Kevin Poulin makes his return to the goal crease tonight, featuring his new zombie themed goalie mask, which if you have not already seen on the Islanders official Instagram, is a sight to behold.

Other notes of interest will be can Brock Nelson make his return to the lineup and if so, who does head coach Jack Capuano sit in the press box for him. The more likely scenario might be sending Nelson back to Bridgeport once their schedule picks up, as the playing time under Scott Pellerin will serve him much better than a birds-eye view of the big club.

In any case, there will be plenty of material to take you right up to faceoff and all the way through to the closing horn here on these very pages. Mike Willhoft will be presenting the NYIHC pregame report at around 4:30pm, which also serves as our in-game commentary thread for fans to jump in and interact with each other, talking about the points of the game as they happen. Eyes staff is on hand to talk Isles with you so let’s get those comments posted.

I will be covering the game from the press box tonight, taking you through with my commentary. You can follow me @tazman19.

Lastly, a big Eyes On Isles welcome to our newest staff writer, Joe Powers. His first article was published yesterday (link below) and you can check out our entire roster and get to know us a little better right here.

In Case You Missed It

• Joe Powers debuts and talks about the Isles-Oilers rivalry (EOI)
• Yours truly breaks down some atrocious hits lately and discusses why players do not respect one another (EOI)
• Chris Triantafilis discusses what could be next for Matt Moulson. And it might not be as part of this group (EOI)
• Come get involved in our giveaway where you can win a hat, shirt and even game tickets! (EOI)
• Christian Arnold with a great column on Josh Bailey (IPB)
• Brett Cygralis on Islanders defenseman Matt Donovan (NY Post)
• Art Staple on Isles looking for D to provide some more O (Newsday)
• A true inspiration, John Panarese with his latest column (Isles Talk)
• Lighthouse with a hilarious parody on Ryan Miller (LHH)

Two Minutes for Tweeting

• Ummmm……..what????? There is no way on this green earth or any alien planet that Snow makes that deal. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

• I tend to agree here Matt. Isles nation very quiet today regarding Nabby’s excellent start to the year. 

• Excellent point here by Mike that the Islanders are starting to find their identity again.

Around The NHL

• Winnipeg 4, St.Louis 3 (Shootout) WPG – Jokinen, Kane, Enstrom : STL – Backes, Steen 2
• Anaheim 3 , Phoenix 2 (Shootout) ANA – Selanne, Bonino : PHO – Vermette, Klesla

Across The Sound

A lot of time off lately for the baby Islanders but they finally get back into the swing of things on Sunday afternoon with a 3pm matinee against Binghamton.  You can catch the game on the official Sound Tigers site from Webster Bank Arena.

Andrey Pedan and Ryan Strome lead the team in scoring with 3 points and Anders Nilsson is 3.27 GAA and .880 save percentage in the early going.