If I told you that in the month of April, the New York Islanders would be in the top eight in the Eastern Conference and the New York Rangers would be on the outside looking in, would you have believed me?
I highly doubt it. As of this writing, however, the Islanders find themselves in the top eight in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets last night at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
For the Islanders, it was their second straight victory in as many days and for their efforts, the team is tied with the New Jersey Devils for the seventh spot in the East with 39 points. Every game the Islanders are playing at this point in the season matters and for right now at least, the Islanders are coming through in a big way.
The Islanders are showing the rest of the East that they are a team that no one can afford to take lightly. The club has guys that can put the puck in the net, play aggressively on both sides of the puck and get more than good enough goaltending to win hockey games.
Leading the way for the Isles is 22-year-old All-Star John Tavares. The first overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft leads the team with 23 goals (second in the league) and 38 points (ninth in the league).
Tavares can do it all. He plays well offensively, knows how to create plays, is not afraid to shoot the puck (sixth in the league with 125 shots taken) and can play responsibly on the defensive side of the puck.
Another solid player for the Islanders this season has been Matt Moulson. On the season, Moulson, 26, has 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points, just two points behind his buddy Tavares.
Since joining the Islanders in the 2009-10 season, Moulson has been one of the team's most consistent players. He has scored at least 30 goals in each of the last three seasons and has been a big contributor to Tavares' success in his young career.
While Tavares and Moulson are definitely the one-two punch of the Islanders' offense, one cannot forget about the likes of Brad Boyes (eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points), Frans Nielsen (four goals and 17 assists for 21 points), Kyle Okposo (three goals and 12 assists for 15 points), and Michael Grabner (11 goals and five assists for 16 points). These are good young players who are starting to come into their own at the right time.
One of the other main reasons why the Islanders are where they are has been the play of their netminder Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov has kept this Islanders' team in many games this season and had it not been for him, could have a lot more losses than they do wins at this time.
This season, Nabokov is 17-11 with a 2.72 GAA, a .905 save percentage and three shutouts. More importantly, Nabokov has been healthy this season and has shown the team just how important consistent goaltending is in today's NHL.
With just 11 games left on the schedule, the Islanders need to make sure that they continue to work hard, not let up on leads and play the game the right way in order to pick-up two points as often as they can. If the Islanders can do all that, they may just surprise everyone one more time by getting into the postseason.
No comments:
Post a Comment