Islanders News: Winning is fun, holding leads helps

The New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2, last night. They get a rest day before going at it for another home game Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Here is some Isles and NHL fodder to get your through the day.

More on last night:

• Well, LHH coverage first: Our game recap is here, and we added a post on Jack Capuano's post-game presser, which touched on several good themes.
• Taylor Hall in the nhl.com writeup: "It's great to know I have the record but tonight wasn't our best effort. The wheels have really fallen off for us as these losses have piled up."
• Newsday's recap: "We all know we're capable of winning these games, of holding leads late," Andrew MacDonald said. "We wanted another crack at it so we could show, hey, we can play confidently with the lead and we can close these games out."
• The Post's recap: "To gain that confidence, you have to hold on to some leads and get some wins," said Bailey, now with three goals on the year. "I think tonight was a good step in the right direction."
• Copper & Blue: "Justin Schultz is a toxic waste dump in his own zone at this point."
• IPB's recap is worth it for the Josh Bailey GIF on its own. Chains!
• The Skinny: Bits of facts like "The Isles were credited with 16 blocked shots; Andrew MacDonald led the Isles with four and now has an NHL-leading 24 blocks."

And other Isles stuff:

• Newsday explores the friendship and landlord-tenant relationship of Mark Arcobello and Matt Donovan.
• Kevin Poulin's mask is ready, and in no way references a Cranberries song.
• Brian Compton of nhl.com on John Tavares' bid to make the Olympic team.
  
• IPB on the history of Frans Nielsen's underratedness. Sadly, I'm pretty sure my campaign for the man goes back to at least 2009-10.
• Try hockey for free Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum.

And beyond:

• Darcy Regier's job could finally be in trouble, and he's supposedly bidding for Nail Yakupov.
• This is excellent: Bonk's Mullet Exclusive: A Sneak Peek at Eugene Melnyk's New Book - Radek Bonk's Mullet
• Not sure why one would bill this as EXCLUSIVE, but: Exclusive: Patrick Burke’s battle with depression | Post-to-Post
• Grantland: Is the Western Conference better than the Eastern Conference?
• More numbers: Possession numbers through NHL history - SBNation.com
• HockeyBuzz.com - Paul Stewart - Make the Right Call: My Journey from Enforcer to Referee
• Tons of games in the NHL last night. Many of the right teams lost.

Good ol' Keith after last night:

How nuts is it going to be when the Oilers finish 29th overall to the Devils and get the first overall again?

— Keith (@KeithLHHockey) October 18, 2013