New York Islanders Road Woes Have Disappeared

The New York Islanders have already won two of their franchise record nine-game road trip. Tonight, it’s a date against the once hot Columbus Blue Jackets. Can I interest anyone in three-in-a-row?

The New York Islanders head to Columbus for the third of their nine-game road trip. It pits the two Eastern Conference wild-card teams against one another. Just looking at the point total for each team shows just how far the Islanders have come.

Eleven points separate the first and second wild-card spot. With the Blue Jackets occupying the former at 79 points. That same Columbus team that went on a franchise record 16 game winning streak.

While the Blue Jackets were looking to break NHL records the Isles were barely staying relevant, firmly affixed to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. But here we are in February with the two teams seeded next to each other.

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• Islanders vs Jets: Isles significant underdog in Winnipeg (lines, odds, +)
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And the Islanders look likely to win this road game.

With two comfortable road wins against the Detroit Red Wings and the Montréal Canadiens the Islanders certainly look much better than their 9-13-4 road record looks.

Columbus has for their part has kept winning enough to stay in the playoff picture, but it’s certainly dropped off significantly since they sat atop of the league. In their last ten, the Jackets are a mediocre 5-4-1. The Islanders, on the other hand, are 7-3-0.

Combine that with the fact that this is the first game for the Blue Jackets after their league mandated bye-week and the advantage is certainly in the Islanders favor. As of last week, NHL teams were 3-12-4 after the bye-week.

New York Islanders Potential Lineup

Lee-Tavares-Bailey                    Leddy-Boychuk
Nelson-Beauvillier-Strome     Hickey-Mayfield
Ladd-Quine-Chimera                de Haan-Seidenberg
Kulemin-Kearns-Gionta           Greiss (Berube)

Next: Isles Arena Update: Show Me The Money

Where to Catch the Game:

Live: 5pm, Nationwide Arena
TV: MSG2
Radio: AM970 – The Answer, 88.7FM – WRHU, 103.9FM – LI News