Islanders Gameday News: Helmet! So, at last we meet for the first time for the last time.

Oh god. The playoffs are here. Wait. I'm not ready.

The TV sched is  here. Game time is 7 pm tonight on MSG+ locally, USA nationally or Sportsnet Canadianly.

Islanders links

• LHH: Yes, we are open.  Mike's final power rankings has the Islanders in... | Leboff and I had a good cry. | Willhoft set up a Bracket Challenge pool. Winner gets a mostly sincere announcement buried in a Bits post | afro compiled some rolling stats in various situations for both the Islanders and Capitals.
• Newsday: Travis Hamonic's status remains a mystery. | Cappy loves being the under dog. | John Tavares loves being the captain. | Jaroslav Halak is ready for Ovi. | The Islanders PK improvements will be put to the test.
• Islanders: Playing hockey and playoff hockey are different things. | The team talks playoff memories. | Come early to Sunday's matinee to enjoy the Fan Fest at the Coliseum.
• NY Post: Losing Hamonic is a problem. | Tavares, like us, is inspired by the legends.
• The Daily News previews the series and sees an Islanders loss.
• Johnny Boychuk was on WFAN talking about fresh starts and sacrifices. [CBS NY]
• A tale of the tape before the fight. [Along the Boards]
• The Toronto Sun is still crying about Tavares being an Islander, but now he's got a team to lead.
• I was on Sports with the Statman last night and we looked forward to and back at playoff heroes. As usual, I talk too much.
• NEW! Altar of Bossy on "same old Islanders" disease and believing again.
• Japers Rink: Looks at the defensive match-ups.
• Russian Machine sizes up the Islanders via fancystuff.
• Washington Post:  Caps want to slow down the Islanders. | Excellent in-depth look at the Hit We Don't Discuss from the Washington perspective, which was just as psychologically damaged as the Islanders' one.
• Capitals Fan and Islanders Fan dialogue about the series. [Mr. Irrelevant | and a bonus Easter Epic recollection]
• The good people of Bangor, Maine are very happy for former Black Bear Jack Capuano's success with the Islanders. My guess is they don't read LHH very often. [Bangor Daily News]
• Bridgeport's Alan Quine takes the body. [CT Post]
• The Ice Dogs won big in Game 3 of their series with Oshawa under difficult circumstance as their coach will be out out indefinitely following heart issues. EDIT: Joshua Ho-Sang had three assists but Michael Dal Colle didn't figure into the scoring. [St. Catharines Standard]
• Bruce Ratner unveils his new Coliseum and everyone smiles while getting ready to stab each other in the back. [Newsday | LI Press]

Other teams stuff

• Who's looking good for the playoffs based on possession? You might be surprised. [TSN]
• Patrick Kane is ready to play in Game 1. Good luck with that, Predators. [SCH]
• Todd McLellan, on the other hand, looks like he's out in San Jose. [Mercury News]
• Sharks assistant Larry Robinson is moving back to Florida, but will still work with the team. [Mercury News]
• Elliotte Friedman reveals some of his awards votes in his 30 Thoughts.
• Steve Ott: Still garbage whether he's on your side or the other. [St. Louis Game Time]
• A comparison of the league's elite scorers. [DBD]
• Sad news from the Senators: assistant coach Mark Reeds passed away yesterday of cancer. [Silver Seven]
• The recent DC Hockey Analytics Conference gets written up in Forbes... with an appearance by our own garik.
• And the NWHL had a launch party on Monday and is ready to roll. The Times says the New York Riveters play in East Meadow. Interesting...
• Broad Street Hockey asks about the ladies' schedule for their inaugural season.
• Dispatches from inside the Sabres' tank by embedded reporter Joe Yerdon. [Yahoo.com]
• What went wrong with the Bruins this year? Boychuk wasn't around to spin some tunes and keep the party hummin'. [Press Herald]

NBC, which didn't schedule a single Islanders game before this season, suddenly loves Nassau Coliseum. Wonder what changed. [Newsday]