Top Shelf – Islanders Daily 1/15/14

Jan 14, 2014; Sunrise, FL, USA; New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) reacts after his shot was stopped by Florida Panthers goalie Tim Thomas (not pictured) in the second period at BB

All good things must come to an end.

On the verge of a franchise-record tying 8th consecutive win on the road, the New York Islanders produced a lackluster effort at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. A 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers ended a 7-game road-winning streak and a 4-game overall winning streak, setting the Islanders back in the playoff race. Tim Thomas earned the win against his “former team,” which didn’t seem to get its legs going until the end of the second period. Down 4-0 before the end of the second period, the Islanders would probably like to forget this one before they face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

Of course, this shouldn’t undo all the good that has come since the end of 2013/beginning of 2014. While the loss stings, let’s not forget that Long Island’s hockey team had won 8 of its last 10 games before last night, and had done something on the road that hadn’t been replicated in my lifetime to push themselves back into the playoff picture.

Rather than press the reset button, move on from the loss and bounce-back. The Islanders have been playing as one of the best teams in the NHL for the past three weeks, and there’s no reason to believe they cannot continue their success.

On to the next one.

Remaining January Schedule (9 games remaining)

Home Games: PHI 1/20; PEN 1/23; STL 1/25; BOS 1/27; NYR 1/29 *Yankee Stadium
Away Games: TBL 1/16; PHI 1/18; NYR 1/21; NYR 1/31

Around the NHL

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Boston Bruins 3: TOR (Bozak [2], Gardiner, van Riemsdyk), BOS (Marchand, Bergeron, Campbell) – Jonathan Bernier turned away 38 shots, and the Maple Leafs won their second consecutive game.
Tampa Bay Lightning 2, New York Rangers 1: TBL (Hedman, Kucherov), NYR (Richards) – The Lightning overcame a 1-0 deficit by scoring two second period goals only nine seconds apart, tying a franchise record.
San Jose Sharks 2, Washington Capitals 1 SO: SJS (Kennedy, Marleau SO Winner), WSH (Ovechkin) – Alexander Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 33rd goal this season, but Antti Niemi stopped 35 shots and all three attempts in the shootout.
Philadelphia Flyers 4, Buffalo Sabres 3: PHI (Voracek, B. Schenn, Hartnell, Lecavalier), BUF (Hodgson, D’Agostini, Ennis) – In a wild third period, the Flyers scored three goals within the final seven minutes, including Vincent Lecavalier‘s game-winning goal with fifteen seconds remaining.
New Jersey Devils 4, Montreal Canadiens 1: NJD (Jagr, Gelinas, Henrique, Zubrus), MTL (Pacioretty) – Jaromir Jagr‘s 14th goal of the season put him ahead Mark Messier for 7th all-time in NHL history (695 goals). Martin Brodeur made 29 saves for win No. 682.
Colorado Avalanche 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 OT: (Barrie [2], O’Reilly), CHI (Oduya, Shaw) – Tyson Barrie scored two goals, including the overtime game-winner, and Semyon Varlamov made 46 saves.
St. Louis Blues 2, Phoenix Coyotes 1: STL (Oshie [2]), PHX (Ekman-Larsson) –T.J. Oshie scored two goals for the Blues, which was enough for another two points.
Nashville Predators 4, Calgary Flames 2: NSH (Weber, Ellis, Smith, Stalberg), CGY (Stempniak, Backlund) – Shea Weber scored his 11th goal of the season, leading all NHL defenseman.
Ottawa Senators 3, Minnesota Wild 0: OTT ( MacArthur, Condra, Turris) – Robin Lehner stopped all 26 shots for his 1st shutout of the season.
Dallas Stars 5, Edmonton Oilers 2: DAL (Cole, Garbutt, Ja. Benn, Eakin, Daley), EDM (J. Schultz, Gagner) – Ryan Garbutt recorded one goal and two assists, and the Stars scored three first period goals to beat the Oilers.

Across the Sound

-CT (@christriants) and Rich Dias-Rodrigues (@RDNHL)

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Remaining January Schedule (9 games remaining)

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