SPORTSTALKNY

The Islanders came out of the All-Star break without alternate captain Kyle Okposo but that didn’t seem to be an issue as they beat their local rival, the New York Rangers 4-1. Mikhail Grabovski returned to the lineup after missing the previous five games with a lower body injury. He replaced Okposo on the first line and scored the game’s first goal. After Johnny Boychuk broke up a Rangers rush, he stormed back the other way leading a 4-2 opportunity. He fed Tavares who sent

The Islanders took the first two points of a home and home series with the Ottawa Senators. It was not their best effort but they found a way to come back from a one-goal deficit and get the two points. Both teams started off slow but the Senators found a way to strike first. Mike Hoffman fired a slap shot past Halak to break the sloppy scoreless game. “We didn’t play our best tonight but we only gave up 18 shots,” Kyle Okposo said after playing over 20 minutes. “That’s prett

(Denis Potvin drops the ceremonial faceoff) The Islanders played and looked the part of a team finishing off a six game in nine-night stretch but somehow found a way to produce two points. Without Jaroslav Halak it might have been a different story but he put the team on his back, especially in the third period. The Islanders defeated the Devils 3-1 in a game filled with several momentum swings. In the first period Kyle Okposo hammered a slap shot that somehow trickled behind

(John Tavares scores the game winning goal in the shootout) After two enormous wins against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and with 12,409 people on hand, the Islanders were determined to have a strong performance against a division rival that they have not had much success against in recent years. In fact, they have just four wins against the Philadelphia Flyers since the 2007-08 season. But the new look Islanders do not live in the past as they defeated the Flyers in a shootout a

Matt Martin’s 300th career game could not have gone any better for him and the team en route to the Islanders second consecutive win over their division rivals. On a night when the Islanders organization paid tribute to hall of famer Billy Smith, a legend from arguably the greatest dynasty in sports, they honored the former netminder by defeating the first place Penguins 4-1. The Penguins now have company on top of the Metropolitan division. The surging Islanders have won ei