New York Islanders (29-32-10, t-11th/E) at Los Angeles Kings (40-24-5, 6th/W)
10:30 EDT | [we make paper clips fun] Center | MSG+, radio
Playoffs?! Playoffs!?!: Jewels from the Crown | Battle of California

If you didn't see WebBard retrieve it in comments, the Islanders season-long Corsi measure when tied or leading in third periods is, well, bad. In truth, ranking in the bottom five in this category is hardly surprising when the Islanders rank in the bottom six in just about every measure (5-on-5, PP, PK, attendance on the week of full moons...).

Corsi is a plus/minus measure of shots attempted at either net, with the theory being that over time, bad bounces and bad goalies happen ("Sure I was minus-2, but I can't close our goalie's five-hole for him!"), so this gives you another picture of who might control the run of play, score be damned. But even with the good ol' trusty measure of goals, the Isles record in the third -- whether leading, trailing, tied, or thinking about California beach drum circles -- is not good. As stat man Eric pointed out, the Islanders have been outscored 78-40 in the third this year (74-36 if you exclude empty nets).

I didn't see the post-game, but by all accounts it's pretty lame for Scott Gordon to walk out of the one-on-one after taking another question about third periods. Even if there is a brilliant explanation (and honestly, I'd take youth development as one factor), perception is reality when your coach is talking to fans. As an ambassador, speaking via the generally softball-tossing rights holder's broadcast, it's generally wise to explain your stance rather than walk away, baby walk away.

Like it or not, the third period goblin is going to be hanging over this team's head, via the media and our general fan zeitgeist, until the Isles become a better team who flops in the third less often. (And to be fair -- last night aside -- I do think they're improving.) For a coach, the more thoroughly you explain your thinking, the less likely fans are to riot for your demise a few seasons down the line when some very important game is lost through the very normal hockey occurrence of a third-period lead lost, and everyone freaks out and recalls 2008. Or 2009. Or 2010.

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New York Islanders (29-32-9, 12th/E) at Anaheim Ducks (32-29-8, 13th/W)
10 p.m. EDT | [car of some sort] Center | MSG+, radio
Generally Fowl People: Anaheim Calling | Battle of California

Not sure what to make of matchup #1 in this two-game swing through Southern California. Tonight's opponent is certainly the weaker of the weekend's opponents, but they're theoretically the more desperate team -- "theoretically," because the Ducks with 72 points are actually further from a playoff spot than the Islanders with 67.

Thanks to sporadic interconference scheduling, we don't have a relevant history to point too. The Islanders are 10-6-4 all-time vs. the formerly mighty Ducks. Last season's meeting was one of those ridiculous "that's why they play the game" moments: A team that hadn't won yet in 2009 steals a 2-1 victory despite being outshot 40-14, thanks to good goaltending and a lot of luck. Yann Danis made 39 saves, J.S. Giguere allowed two stoppable goals (one being Kurtis McLean's 1st and only NHL goal), and the Islanders blocked 28 other Ducks shots.

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It all depends on your time zone, I guess. Around here we have Isles fans from Nova Scotia to L.A., Florida to British Columbia. (Switzerland and the Czech Republic, too, but it's safe to say no weeknight game time is a great time for them.) But here begins the latest of road trips, with 10 p.m. EDT starts Tuesday and Friday, followed by a 10:30 EDT start Saturday at L.A.'s Swingline Center.

Time to brew your spiked coffee -- or, if you're out West, hey look: Islanders games that start after rush hour!

                 

Whenever this rare matchup occurs, I think about the irony of Iron Mike (he's the other "mad" one) flipping fan favorite Trevor Linden to the Isles for Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe, only to (a few jobs later) flip Roberto Luongo to the Canucks for the Burnt-Out Shell of Bertuzzi. Keenan sure scarred a lot of franchises, but somehow the Canucks got off pretty good. Even his carwrecks helped the Canucks. Why couldn't Milbury have landed another GM job like that and maybe sent us a kickback or two? Forget it, I'm getting all depressed now.

So anyway: the present. The Canucks are real good-like, and the biggest question hanging over their season -- "How will they survive that epic Olympian road trip?" -- has been answered: "Just fine, thanks." They finally returned home last weekend and swept two games against Canadian teams, which if some syrup-tinted Toronto columnists had their way would mean they just beat 33% of the league.

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Woe, the ballad of Jeff Tambellini. I don't want to say Doug Weight's decision to have surgery finally gave Tambellini another chance -- because "chance" in purgatory is relative here -- but it's just too fitting that that spot opens up and now Tambellini has to sit out with a groin injury. The flip side is now we get to watch Matt Martin (emergency recall), and watching Matt Martin is just plain fun.

           
Toronto Maple Leafs (23-33-12, 29th) at New York Islanders (27-32-9, 28th)
5 p.m. EDT | Nassau Wind-Swept Coliseum | MSG+, radio
Employers of the other Kessel: Pension Plan Puppets

In a weird blip, the Islanders have actually converted on five of their last 16 powerplays (31%). Add finally keeping a clean sheet on the PK last night against the Devils, and the game-to-game highs and lows almost beg one to ask, "Should I still be whining about special teams?" Probably, yeah.

But when the season has shifted to taking little joys from things like lottery watching and keeping the Devils out of 1st place for a moment, you take what you can get.

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New Jersey Devils (40-23-3, 4th/E) at New York Islanders (26-32-9, 14th/E)
7 p.m. EST | Nassau [$oon with greater parking] Coliseum | MSG+, MSG+2, radio
Talking themselves into Ilya: In Lou We Trust

Just like that, we may have seen the last of Doug Weight as an NHLer.

He describes himself as still having "the fire" and desire to play in 20010-11 -- which is why he's finally having the shoulder operated on -- but at age 39 and with intensive rehab ahead, that's anyone's guess. Still, cheers to the man for playing through a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum in his left shoulder, serving as an example to this youth-laden team. He's done everything asked as a veteran leader, and there's a reason so many teammates like him.

The Islanders powerplay has been very disappointing, but I maintain it always looked better with Weight on it than without. His creativity and the respect he commanded at the point from opposing checkers created needed space.

But as he told Katie Strang:

"It's not the type of hockey I wanted to play. I couldn't finish a check, I couldn't take a check, I couldn't handle the puck ... shoot with velocity I was used to ... I was spending 80% of my shift positioning myself so I didn't blow my shoulder out."

Still, once again with injury comes opportunity. Weight as the point man opposite Mark Streit is not the long-term solution. It's time for someone to step up and take the reins.

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Injuries, they bring you down not in one fell swoop but rather cut by cut.

It's not that Rob Schremp was everything (though he was the most consistent Islanders forward for the last two months), it's that his shelving for the rest of the season exposes a weakness down the middle, particularly if Josh Bailey remains on left wing. Trent Hunter and Blake Comeau aren't on your fantasy team, but their injuries meant more Tim Jackman (and in Philadelphia, Trevor Gillies). Andrew MacDonald has been a revelation, but break his foot right after Andy Sutton is traded and suddenly you have Dustin Kohn and Dylan Reese learning on the job. If only Mark Streit could play 60 minutes.

Sometimes it's an opportunity for guys to step up -- Bruno Gervais had an excellent game in Philly (+2, 2 assists in 23 minutes), while Richard Park was old Richard Park in 18:15. Radek Martinek goes down and we discover MacDonald. But often those are only short bursts, and the added weight of injury loss exposes players' ceilings. With Schremp done, I'm afraid we're about to see more ceilings than revelations. I hear lottery balls a bouncin'.

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New York Islanders (26-31-8, 28th) at Philadelphia Flyers (34-26-4, 6th/E)
The [it's like a bank or something] Center
7:30 p.m. on VERSUS [a.k.a. "All Flyers-Pens, all the time"], radio
Opposition broads: Broad Street Hockey

When the Islanders last played in Philadelphia, they called up Trevor Gillies for his second-ever NHL game on his 31st birthday, and Scott Gordon used the enforcer for an entirely predictable six shifts and 3:16 of ice time, none of it coming after the mid-way point of the second period. Resident Flyers tool Danny Carcillo spoke before that game about how he avoids designated enforcers (boy, does he ever) and doesn't let them fight with him, and he followed through by executing the role of the protected pest by, among other things, playing dead after a Freddy Meyer check to draw a boarding penalty.

Last weekend, Carcillo let the Leafs' Colton Orr -- who is essentially a high-paid penalty-taker -- dig his own hole with stupid penalties, including a hilarious sequence where he came out of the box, led a 2-on-1 and ... ran the goalie, landing right back in the box. Carcillo said afterward:

"That guy, I’m never going to fight him. He doesn’t really do anything unless someone fights him. I knew he was going to run me. I sucked him into a few (penalties) and luckily we scored a little later."

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Everybody's still trying, there's "a lot of hockey left to play" and all that. But I admit I'm in the mode where I just want to see the young guys progress, evaluate those two pups on defense, and I'll take my joy in the moments when the Islanders can deliver a damaging blow to a playoff hopeful. Like Boston this afternoon. That'd be just dandy.

              

This is one of those inconvenient (to me) afternoon tilts, so I prepped this last night and don't have a lot of information to share. But yesterday Mark Herrmann reported [reference to yesterday: "...or did he FABRICATE it?"] that two lines at practice looked like so:

Blake Comeau / John Tavares / Matt Moulson

No way of knowing if that means an end to Thursday's mind-altering Richard Park-Tavares experiment. (Speaking of Tavares, it's been a few months, time for a Weight-as-Tavares-mentor story at nhl.com.) Herrmann also reported on Martin Biron (stressed from deadline day but ready to turn the page) and Scott Gordon (pledging to play the hot hand in goal, not terribly worried about anonymous player quotes).

Since I am an unashamed Nielsen homer, and the most exciting finish of this season series was Nielsen's breakaway OT goal at home Dec. 12, I shall now entertain you with Nielsen's post-game interview, at the end of which he utters my favorite Nielsen quote ever, describing Tavares' no-look assist to Moulson during that game:

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