Islanders Gameday News: Need to come out in Tampa thundering

The Islanders visit the Lightning this evening in Tampa. The Islanders beat the them their last time out in the beginning of November, and the Bolts aren’t playing entirely to their capabilities so far this season.

But they did just stomp down the Sharks, so New York needs to win tonight to prevent Tampa Bay from using the Isles as a springboard.

FIG Picks go here. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.

Islanders News

• A preview of that damn thing!
• The Islanders feel they’re still playing consistently well, even if they’re not consistently getting standings points. [Newsday]
• Steve Simmons says the Maple Leafs shouldn’t have forced out Lou Lamoriello. On one hand, I love the schadenfreude; on the other, it’s Steve Simmons. [Toronto Sun]
• The Sound Tigers host the Utica Comets tonight as they enjoy the return of Otto Koivula and the continuation of Tom Kuhnhackl’s conditioning stint. [CT Post]

Radar (the pup) has moved on to the next step of his training and is no longer with the Islanders. :(

Elsewhere

Yesterday’s NHL scores include the Rangers smacking up the Golden Knights 5-0 and the Panthers topping the Sharks 5-1. So San Jose went in to the state of Florida and came away beaten by a combined score of 12-2, woof.

• Okay, but seriously, who is getting Taylor Hall? [Sportsnet]
• Capitals defenseman John Carlson’s historic scoring pace has Hall of Famers like Brian Leetch and Larry Murphy amped. [NHL]
• Wild GM Bill Guerin is happy he didn’t make any panicked moves when his team was in last place, because the same team rattled points in eleven straight games. [ESPN]
• Blues superfan Laila Anderson, whom we got to know during the playoffs last year, attended the game this weekend against the Maple Leafs with her bone marrow donor. [Yahoo]