Feb 24, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; New York Islanders left wing Matt Moulson (center) is congratulated by center John Tavares (91) and center Brad Boyes (24) after scoring a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Winnipeg, Manitoba — The New York Islanders have been almost unstoppable on the road this season, going 13-5-2 in contests away from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In the NHL’s Eastern Conference, only the Pittsburgh Penguins have more road wins than the Isles.

And, at last check, the Penguins are having a decent season.

But Pittsburgh is as far from the Islanders’ players minds as possible today, as the team travels to MTS Centre to face the Winnipeg Jets (3:00PM ET) in a game that could possibly decide which team makes it to the postseason, and which team is left out in the cold.

The Jets are sporting a 23-19-2 record and have 48 points on the season, which places them 9th in the conference standings. A regulation win against the Islanders would go a long way towards helping them reach the playoffs.

The Isles, however, are looking to build on Thursday’s road win against the Toronto Maple Leafs put a damper on Winnipeg’s postseason aspirations this afternoon.

Since New York hasn’t earned a playoff berth since the 2006-07 season, it knows all too well what a team is capable of when it’s chasing the 8th seed in-conference. There’s no doubting that the Isles will come out strong against a dangerous Jets team.

The Islanders (23-16-5, 51 points) own the rights to the Eastern Conference’s 7th seed, although they only lead the rival New York Rangers by a single point in the standings.

The good news for the Isles is that they’ll be getting healthy at a critical juncture in their season.

Defenseman Brian Strait – a waiver-wire pickup by Isles GM Garth Snow before the season – will return for today’s game against Winnipeg, his first action since suffering a fractured ankle on Feb. 18 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Strait’s return should bolster the defensive corps for the Isles; he’s likely to be paired with captain Mark Streit on the blue line.

The other projected lineup change for New York is winger – and Isles Nation cult icon – Jesse Joensuu making his return to the ice, replacing brawler Eric Boulton.

(The staff at EYES approves of the lineup change, although we’ll be the first to credit Boulton – and defenseman Matt Carkner, also replaced in today’s lineup – with their roles in Thursday night’s fights that ignited the Islanders against Toronto.)

Switching gears slightly: astute Islanders fans will note that John Tavares is scoring goals at a ridiculous personal pace, considering the lockout-shortened season.

As I re-tweeted earlier today, Tavares has 26 goals on the year; if he can record five more goals in the team’s final four games, he’ll match his career high of 31 goals.

That career-high number? That was set during LAST YEAR’S FULL 82-GAME SEASON. (H/T @NYIslanders for this statistical gem.)

The Isles centerman is carrying serious momentum from Thursday’s game against the Leafs, in which he tallied two goals and one assist in front of hometown family and friends.

Winnipeg will have to deal with a revitalized Islanders top line this afternoon, as both Matt Moulson and Brad Boyes also found the back of the net against Toronto; all three top-line players earned “Star of the Game” honors.

Isles Nation is feeling good about how its team has been performing recently, and there’s no sign of the Islanders letting up today. But, the Jets are a difficult opponent, meaning the Isles will have to play their best to come away with a win.

As Isles winger Matt Martin has noted, he and his teammates are road warriors; they’ll have another chance to prove it today.

Projected lineup:

26 Moulson – 91 Tavares – 24 Boyes

12 Bailey – 51 Nielsen – 21 Okposo

6 Joensuu – 53 Cizikas – 17 Martin

40 Grabner – 10 Aucoin – 13 McDonald

3 Hamonic – 47 MacDonald

14 Hickey – 11 Visnovsky

2 Streit – 37 Strait

20 Nabokov

(60 Poulin)

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I see you playoffs….We’re coming for you! – Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Middletown, N. J. –  Seems as if every game over the previous two weeks has been huge or a ‘must-win’ for the New York Islanders hasn’t it? The fanbase would not have it any other way, as it means the team is competing into the season’s final weeks trying to secure a playoff berth. Today, in Winnipeg, the Islanders can pretty much come as close to sealing the deal as you can without actually completing the task. The results from around the NHL last night claimed two more victims in the race to finalize the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and as you wash and scrub the grime off that window, you can see more clearly now there really are only two teams to watch out for moving ahead.

Sitting On The Bridge

The Sound Tigers were officially eliminated from the American Hockey League playoffs last night, falling to Portland 3-1. Ryan Strome had the lone Tigers tally, his 2nd since being promoted from Niagara in the Ontario Hockey League.

You have to wonder, as we at Eyes will in the coming months, what the Islanders goaltending picture will look like come September 2013. With workhorse Evgeni Nabokov, at the moment, unsigned and running the table for the big club, Kevin Poulin has been reduced to nothing more than a spectator. Ditto down at the Bridge, as Rick DiPietro was mandated to be allowed to attempt another rehabilitation comeback but in turn sent Anders Nilsson to the bench for the final month or so of the season. Just what do we have waiting in the wings? The truth is we just don’t know at this point.

The full recap from the Sound Tigers website can be found here.

Links

• A piece posted at Eyes last night is a must read for all Islanders fans concerning expectations and bringing a realistic view on how to handle them.
• Derek Stykalo of Fansided did a great piece on the Isles being a team of destiny with input from the editorial staff here at EyesOnIsles.
• From three days ago, Mike Willhoft writes on what it is like to be a hockey fan, more specifically an Islanders fan.
• Courtesy of the Islanders official website, New York has signed Long Island native Joey Diamond to an entry level deal.
• Some nicely done desktop wallpapers for your PC at home,  here and here.

Floating Around The Twitter-sphere

Keith Jones on TSN: #Isles are too top-heavy, will falter down stretch. Rangers and WPG will make playoffs. Thoughts, Twitter?

— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) April 20, 2013

• As a writer, I understand and respect that almost everything we say and write is opinion based – with that being said, you have to wonder, however, if making baseless comments is responsible journalism. Jones has obviously not watched this team over the past three weeks as the first line has struggled and the secondary scoring has led the offense. Not to mention, allowing only 21 goals in their previous 13 games defensively. That is what playoff teams do.

#Isles have won 5 road gms when down by 2 goals: 1/24 (TOR), 2/14 (NYR), 2/21 (MTL), 3/28 (PHA), 4/18 (TOR). They’ve only played 20 on road.

— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) April 20, 2013

•  The true mark of being ‘road warriors’ as Matt Martin has aptly dubbed the team. Pretty incredible statistic against some very good hockey clubs.

I guess #NYR fans will be jumping on #isles band wagon tonight

— joe sinisi (@bigj2377) April 20, 2013

•  You would think, wouldnt you Joe? – But the realization is that nothing they do or say recently bears any resemblence to logic. The trolls have been out in full force, perhaps threatened by our revival and the re-birth of the rivalry. I know plenty of Rangers fans that I have logical, adult conversations with (disagreements?) – And I know plenty that I just can’t.  Nothing surprises me anymore.

Just saw an #Isles fan tweet that they were the #KingsOfNY.Thats cool, but how bout that head-to-head?Cant claim that til you beat us

— Adam(@hockeycritter1) April 20, 2013

•  As a follow up to my comment in reply to Joe above, this is exactly what I am talking about. My belief is we can win the Stanley Cup and the illogical, blue colored glasses Rangers fan would point to the fact they defeated us in the season series. As you can see below in the standings update, they are still looking up at us, not the other way around.

Last Night In The NHL

• Pittsburgh and Boston were postponed (not going to go into any discussion about why here) and rescheduled for today at 12:30pm
• Rangers 8-4 thrashing over a Buffalo team apparently already on the 1st hole, eliminates the Sabres from playoff contention.
• Chicago (34-5-4) continues to run amok over the entire Western Conference, defeating Nashville in overtime on a Marian Hossa winner.
• Huge loss for Dallas last night at the Blues 2-1. They fail to pickup ground on 8th place Columbus with one of their two games in hand.
• Is the luster finally worn off the Ducks? They dropped a 3-1 decision to Calgary last night and are 4-4-2 in their last 10.

Kane to Hossa….wow…..

Everyone has probably seen this but it has to be reposted. Truly inspiring and had me tearing up. America united.

Current Eastern Conference Standings

As always, we thank you for spending part of your morning with us. The reader is what keeps us going and please continue to support us and the New York Islanders.

Look for the pregame report from Mike Willhoft coming prior to the 3pm faceoff.

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