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| New York Islanders | Phoenix Coyotes |
You would think that the fish stick jokes would get old, but no, much like showing the opposing team on the kiss cam, it's always funny. Also, they apperently have 0 trans fat. So this game is good for those watching their girlish figures.
Location: Jobing.com Arena
Start Time: 7:00 p.m. MST
TV: Nada. I'll see if I can find you a link.Radio: 910 AM
Opposition Blog: Lighthouse Hockey
Welcome back to our regular programming. Hopefully your holidays were filled with fun and excitement and you got all the presents that were on your Christmas list. That's if you were good. If not you probably got benched by your coach. (Shouldn't say dirty words like that Danny!) Anyhow now there's more time to get back to the important stuff... Hockey!
Tonight the New York Islanders of Long Island sponsored by Gordon's Fish visit Jobing.com Arena to face our Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes are coming off a nice win on Wednesday in which they beat the Avs 3 -1. (Note: If your team is playing the Avs, with Budaj in skate up the left side then shoot at the top right of the net. All 3 goals were in practically the same place.) They've managed to get points in 9 of their last 11 games. They've also been able to get a foothold in the conference standings as they are now in 7th and with a little help from Philly against the Ducks tonight could jump up into 6th with a win. We're fairly injury free with the exception of Bryz having some back soreness so Tellqvist will be in goal tonight. Hopefully he can repeat last game's performance because he did great! Bryzgalov's injury can't be all that bad though as we sent Tjordman back to San Antonio yesterday.
On the Isles side things haven't been going all that well. They're about where we were a couple of years ago and they now realize signing guys with names that may be a little past their prime isn't the best way to go. They're coming of a wina against the Panthers, but are last in the league with 28 points. Hopefully our guys didn't even look at those standings and keep their feet on the gas rather than treating this as an easy game. The Isles are also having a tough time having a slew of guys out with various injuries. Goalie for Life Rick DiPietro came back and played for 1 game before hurting himself again. That 15 year contract isn't looking so great now.
Keys for tonight
Not an automatic W - We may be playing the 30th team in the league in terms of points, but this is the NHL so you better bring your A game. Play like you're going up against the Wings or Sharks, keep the intensity up and don't take anything for granted.
Special Teams - We're showing improvement, but let's get the PP actually going yeah? Last game we set up well, moved the puck and kept in the offensive zone. We even got some quality shots off. Even with that though, 0 for 11 over our last 2 games isn't anything to write home about. Keep up what you did last game and it'll happen. Start getting the PP in gear now so you don't have to try and throw it together later in the year.
Get the crowd into it early - The Isles have lost their last 10 games on the road. If you can give the fans something to cheer for early, whether through big hits, an early fight, or better yet a quick goal, that can only help against a physically and mentally banged up team.