Just one day after stuffing their faces full of turkey and stuffing and only two days after playing their best game of the season, the Islanders will have to put it all back together against the likes of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Consisting of experienced veterans like Mark Recchi, John LeClair and Sergei Gonchar and blue-chip youngsters like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney, the Pens are a team that shouldn’t be taken lightly. In order to come out with two points, the Islanders will have to have to play similar to the way they played against the Hurricanes, which means staying out of the penalty box, taking the body and playing smart in addition to getting a few goals.
 
TRENT…

Despite not scoring as much as many would like, Trent Hunter has been playing some solid hockey as of late, hitting anything that moves and has exemplified what it means to play smart hockey. If it weren’t for a few goal posts and cross bars, Trent could easily have five or six goals. Nevertheless, Hunter is bound to get going offensively sooner or later and as long as he’s taking the body and playing hard, I don’t mind if he doesn’t score 20 goals this season.

Speaking of players getting going offensively, maybe two empty net goals over the past three games will give Miroslav Satan the confidence he needs to be the sniper the Islanders need be successful. Don’t get me wrong, Miro hasn’t been horrible for us, but he should be all means have at least 8 goals and about 18 points for us by now. There is no reason, with Jason Blake and Alexei Yashin getting most of the attention from opposing defenses, that Miro can’t score 30 goals and add another 35 assists; he just needs to get his confidence back somehow.

BACK TO THE PENS…

If the Islanders we saw on Wednesday night were the real deal, the Penguins don’t stand a chance. During that game, my dad made a comment about how the Isles looked like they were playing playoff hockey.

You’re damn right.

The Isles played the way every hardcore fan knows they are capable of. They played great defense, got good goaltending and scored when they had to and rolled four lines with jump. There’s no reason why they can’t play that way every night, especially with how incredible Yashin, Blake and the goaltending have been. All they need is for the supporting cast to keep their heads up and keep the tempo at the level it’s been the past few games.

However, that’s the weird thing about hockey. One night a team can be phenomenal, going as far to look like a playoff team and the next they can look like the Charlestown Chiefs. Regardless of which team shows up tonight, the game should nevertheless be interesting.

Let’s Go Islanders.