Top Shelf: Islanders Daily 1/13/14

The Road Warriors have returned. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The wins keep coming for the New York Islanders in 2014.

Last night, Long Island’s hockey team won their 4^th game in a row for the first time during the 2013-14 season, and the first time since February 2011, defeating the Dallas Stars for the second time in seven days by overcoming a two-goal deficit.

The 4-2 victory in Dallas was the Islanders 7^th straight victory on the road – the first time the Islanders accomplished such a feat since a franchise-record 8-game winning streak on the road in 1981. According to Eric Hornick, it’s also the first time the Isles have ever won four or more consecutive road games despite trailing in all four of them.

Whether or not the Islanders can continue this remains to be seen, but the team’s impressive play as of late has certainly quieted the doubters. As of this morning, the Islanders are only seven points out of both Wild Card seeds, and eight points out of the 2^nd and 3^rd-seeds in the Metropolitan Division. Slowly crawling back, is it safe to “drink the Kool-Aid”?

With 35 games remaining – one game at a time – we shall find out.

In case you missed it:

• Recap of last night’s 4-2 victory over the Stars. (EOI)
• Discussion: What has played the biggest role in Isles recent turnaround? (Isles Op-Timism)
• Vanek likes Long Island, but won’t discuss a deal right now. (Newsday)
• Isles prospect Mikko Koskinen, and other reasons why the KHL All-Star Game is “better than maybe anything else.” (theScore)

Around the NHL:

• Buffalo Sabres 2, Washington Capitals 1 SO: BUF (Ennis, Hodgson SO Winner), WSH (Chimera) – Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots for the Sabres.
• Toronto Maple Leafs 3, New Jersey Devils 2: TOR (Bozak, van Riemsdyk, van Riemsdyk SO Winner), NJD (Henrique, Clowe) – Jonathan Bernier made 36 saves, and the Maple Leafs snapped a four-game losing streak.
• New York Rangers 4, Philadelphia Flyers 1: NYR (Carcillo, Nash, Brassard, Kreider), PHI (Streit) – Daniel Carcillo kicked off a three-goal first period with his first goal as a Ranger, and New York pulled into 3^rd place in the Metropolitan Division.
• Chicago Blackhawks 5, Edmonton Oilers 3: CHI (Smith, Shaw, Hossa, Toews, Seabrook), EDM (Hemsky, Gordon, Hall) – Patrick Kane scored a 180-foot own goal during a delayed penalty in the second period, but the Blackhawks overcame, scoring the go-ahead goal 29 seconds later, and the GWG at the end of the period.
• Minnesota Wild 4, Nashville Predators 0: MIN (Heatley, Zucker, Cooke, Scandella) – Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for his first NHL shutout.
• Anaheim Ducks 1, Detroit Red Wings 0: ANA (Cogliano) – Jonas Hiller won his 14^th straight decision, and the Ducks won their 17^th of their last 18 games, and improved to 19-0-2 at home.

Across the Bridge:

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 6-3 on Sunday afternoon. Anders Lee scored his 14^th and 15^th goals of the season, and Andrew Clark, Aaron Ness, Joey Diamond and Chris Bruton rounded out the scoring for the Islanders AHL-affiliate. Parker Milner made 25 saves for his second career AHL win.

-CT (ChrisTriants)