Gameday Bits: Battle of New York Prep; NHL Trades and Prospect Demotions

The Islanders head to the Garden tonight to meet the Rangers for the first episode of Battle of New York: 2013. Both teams have four wins and will play their 10th game of this shortened season. Here's some reading to get you warmed up.

Isles-Smurfs

• The Times on why you love #91: Tavares Plans to Take the Islanders Back to the Top - NYTimes.com
• Yahoo: Isles’ Keith Aucoin taking advantage of NHL opportunity | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports
• Doug Weight remembers his first Battle of NY, while Frans Nielsen compares it to a rivalry with Jesse Joensuu's team during the lockout: New York Islanders - Going Into Madison Square Garden - New York Islanders - News
• Post: The Rangers aren't happy with their 4-5 start, and Torts feels some players have played "scared"
• Newsday: The Isles say they know what they need to do to break this two-game dip.
• Ryan Callahan took contact in practice and could return; Dan Girardi's still a mystery.
• After his first NHL goal, Okposo Net caught up with Casey Cizikas, who appreciates the opportunities the Isles have given him.

Around the NHL

Interesting context for Isles fans who ask "Where's Nino? Where's Strome?" nine games into this season: The Jets have returned Strome's draft classmate Mark Scheifele to juniors. The Blue Jackets have returned Nino's draft and junior teammate Ryan Johansen to the AHL. The Scheifele move isn't surprising; the Johansen one is a little more curious.

Trades: The Devils have acquired Andrei Loktionov from the deep Kings, which I'm afraid is a good deal for New Jersey. The Pens were so upset Colin McDonald boarded Ben Lovejoy that they traded Lovejoy to the Ducks.

A fun one: History Lessons: The Holdout | Backhand Shelf | Blogs | theScore.com

FIG Picks

We'll surface this again in the game preview, but here is where to leave your First Islanders Goal picks for tonight.