Islanders News: Sweep victory; More injuries because of course; Arbour night

It's Friday and the Islanders beat the Rangers last night. Soak it in and hope some Islanders find some healing time.

Islanders links

• Recaps: LHH | Newsday | NY Post | NY Daily News | Islanders | NHL.com | NYI Skinny | Banter
• Anders Lee was hurt last night and the early word is not good. But that's how it's been lately. [LHH]
• Add Matt Martin to the list of wounded, too, although we don't know how bad just yet. But Jaroslav Halak and J-F Berube have started skating and Travis Hamonic is easing his way back. [Newsday]
  
• Neil Best laments the loss of the Islanders-Rangers playoff series some crazy people wanted. [Newsday]
  
• No, seriously, if the Islanders are gonna play the Penguins, so be it. [Newsday | Daily News | Puck Daddy]
• Meanwhile, the Pens fans at Pensburgh debate who they'd rather face.
  
• Before the game, Thomas Hickey was on the Hahn & Humpty Show talking about his OT goal, Western Canada Bros standing up for each other and the Panthers' owners challenge.
• Do not adjust your browsers: A member of the band Animal Collective took in a Rangers/Islanders game at Barclays Center and wrote an article for Sports Illustrated about the experience, music and noise in New York and the borough embracing its new team.
• More behind the scenes pics from the Coliseum renovation. [LI Herald]
• The New York Times catches up with the players selected in the 1990 Draft. Islanders prominently featured include Scott Scissions (oof) and Bryan Smolinski (with a funny line).
• How did you celebrate Clark Gillies birthday yesterday? [Greatest Hockey Legends]
  
• The Al Arbour memorial dinner was a celebration and tribute to a great man at the time of year "when he did his greatest work." [Newsday]
• Great T-Shirts you can buy: IslesBlog does Advance Like It's 1993 and New York Bootleg says to Pick Your Shit Up.

Prospect Playoffs

• Devon Toews and Quinnipiac will play for the NCAA title after beating Boston College yesterday evening. [SBN | Puck Daddy]. They'll face North Dakota, who beat Denver, in the championship game, Saturday night on ESPN 2. Meanwhile, Hockey's Future spotlights Toews' development this season.
• Niagara took Game 1 of its playoff series with Kingston 3-1. Josh Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle finished with one assist each. [Box | St. Cath St. | Whig]
• Shawinigan won its first game against Charlottetown, but Anthony Beauvillier had no points. [QMJHL]
• And Ilya Sorokin has his CSKA team up 1-0 in the Gargain Cup final [KHL.ru] thanks in part to saves like this.
  
• Kyle Burroughs is coming back just in time for Bridgeport. [CT Post]
• The Sound Tigers look back on their time with Jack Capuano on the bench. Includes video of his first Islanders win.

Out of State

• The Red Wings loss to the Bruins last night and the Flyers OT loss to the Leafs threw the Eastern Conference playoff picture into chaos. Again. [WIIM | BSH]
• Okay, for real: the Panthers are no joke. [NHL.com]
  
• The crazy story about the ENTIRE Russian Under 18 World Championships team getting suspended after failed drug tests. A truly bizarre situation. [Globe & Mail]
  
• Travis Yost attempts to measure coaching impact by gauging what coaches put out what lines when. [TSN.ca]
  
• Losing Carey Price wasn't good, but the Canadiens problems this season go way beyond him and into his teammates' minds. [NHL.com]
• Former Islander Tom Fitzgerald and his family sit down for a delightful back-and-forth in the Players Tribune.
• The NHL has announced the recipients of its Thurgood Marshall scholarships for this year. [SBN]
  
• Say goodbye to the artistic genius behind the Blue Jackets' gameday posters. [The Comeback]
• The Los Angeles Kings are moving to Las Vegas. [FTF]
• I make no bones about the fact that the 1983 3-31/4" G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line - the toys, the comics, the cartoon - had a very big effect on my life as a kid. Something about those characters and their personalities (crafted by writer Larry Hama and based on his real experiences in the military) really fired my young imagination. About three years ago at New York Comic Con, I got to meet Hama and totally froze up. I had no idea what to say to him or where to even start. The episode still haunts me to this day. This is a very long way of saying Puck Junk's G.I. Joe-inspired file cards for NHL players is one of the best things I've read all week. I'm sad Cal Clutterbuck didn't make the cut. He'd be perfect.