Bits: Islanders-Rangers Morning After; You a Spy?

To a man, the New York Islanders hope last night's shootout win was the start of a turnaround rather than a bright blip in a continuing slump. They liked the way they battled after an awful first period -- and "blistering" talking to from Doug Weight during the intermission -- as well as the general grinding, shot blocking, desperate Tortorella-like plays made down the stretch to preserve a chance at a win.

That may be a lot to hope, but Bossy love them for having the right mentality.

The usual links and highlights are in our recap, but here is some more coverage and clips:

• Pretty back page of Newsday, eh? (Now if only it were Grabner scoring on the end-of-OT breakaway.)
• Daily News: "Tavares torches Rangers"
• Daily News: "Rangers fans are fickle."
• Newsday: Martin-Cizikas-McDonald line sparks Islanders
• ESPN Rangers: Brad Richards benched. Tee hee.
• Post: Brooks with one of his "Of all the things" posts on that same topic. Includes a Richards "I'm smarter than that," which I can only hear in Fredo's voice.
• Post has Nabby: "You could see it in guys' eyes."
• IPB: "The first period wasn't bad ... it was downright atrocious."
• ESPN Rangers: Islanders grab huge comeback win
• Eric Hornick's stat Skinny
• The Post claims Hagelin's goal was initially called no goal. I only recall the refs standing there blankly, then announcing that "the ruling on the ice stands, good goal."
• Ken Dick: Gotta be JT's Hi and Lois baby squiggle of hair.
• Eyes on Isles: The 2nd period was the best hockey the Isles have offered.
• Knight of Cups: Isles brought the physical

The Book of Frans

As mentioned last night, Frans Nielsen did indeed go five hole on Martin Biron last time, so he wanted to keep him guessing this time. Here he is on that topic, as well as other prophecies that shall be etched on parchment and handed down through the ages:

In Which Nabby Accuses a Reporter of Being a Spy

We like when Evgeni Nabokov speaks because he has a soothing voice and he usually tells it like it is. Dude may not be a top-flight goalie anymore, but he still knows hockey and he's still throwing everything he has on the ice. (Seriously. Watch this clip. It's both hilarious and on point.):

Not Related to Last Night

• Nice piece from Shutdown Line about the Canes PK victimized by the Islanders.
• Interesting piece on playing the extreme-zone approach of the Canucks: Other Teams are catching up to the Canucks on "zone matching" | CanucksArmy
• Still reeling about Karlsson: Erik Karlsson Achilles injury: Could special socks have saved his season? - NHL - Sporting News
• That, um, that's called "rape" actually. (The weird Laperierre quotes and tone deaf Philly story about a prospect accused of such.)

Not Related to this Century. But Classic Stuff.

There was lots of talk of Valentine's Day games and such last night, and that always reminds me of spring holidays and associations like this: Bear with me, this is the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" between the Blues and Blackhawks from 1991, featuring gobs of penalties, a line brawl, Mike Keenan, a bunch of Sutters, and Scott Stevens (who was a Blues captain before an NHL arbitrator decided he should go to the Devils and win Cups there).

Great stuff if you like old-style mayhem. But my favorite part might be how the organist at Chicago Stadium would continue his happy tunes even while players were tearing each other apart on the ice. Very Slapshot-esque:

And as long as we're visiting that era, here's NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan fighting Rich Pilon for the second time in a week: