Tampa Bay beat Columbus in OT last night, pulling eight points ahead of the Islanders. Oh yyyeah. Anaheim won in a shootout in Nashville, and face Colorado tonight. We'll have a Wild-Islanders preview up later -- shocking to hear, but it's not the game of the night:
- You might see Nathan Horton as a young power forward and enticing acquisition target, but he's worn down some fans in Florida. Litter Box Cats says it's time for him to carry the Cats into the playoffs. He can start tonight, in Buffalo.
- Chris Mason earned a shutout as the Blues continued their impressive playoff push. Oh, have his 24 consecutive starts been important? [Pierre LeBrun]
- A very entertaining FanPost on a longtime Leafs fan's first Leafs game. [Pension Plan Puppets] Lot of good stuff in there on the frivolity of being a fan. (My first Islanders game: also my first Blues game.)
- Another great FanPost: A Caps' fan on the ritual of putting on a jersey. [Japers' Rink]
Islanders-Centric Stuff:
- We FanShot'd it yesterday, but Nik Hagman is only now due back into the lineup after the concussion from Brendan Witt's elbow. He's still ticked.
- Speaking of recycling material, if you want to weigh in on summer moves and/or Doug Weight, there were some good comments there.
- Chris Botta: "The Islanders have home games on Wednesday and Saturday, but by far the most important Islanders event of the week - make that the decade - is Thursday at the Marriott."
- NYI Fan Central chronicles the injury carnage -- the Isles haven't had a full blueline all season. But no way they're a sixth-place team if perfectly healthy.
- Charitable stuff going on, and it's put Glenn Anderson and Billy Smith on the same side. [Edmonton Sun]. Do you think Billy tells him, "You know, a real dynasty wins four in a row."? Because that's how I picture it.