As LaFontaine16 said (in jest) today, tonight’s game had all the makings of an Islanders loss. They played and traveled the night before while their opponent, the Coyotes, played at home and hadn’t played since Sunday.
But these aren’t your normal Islanders. These are Barry Trotz’s Islanders.
The ‘Yotes got on the board before the Isles did tonight, currying fear that tonight’s game would be the classic stinker in the second half of a back-to-back. Mario Kempe, a 30 year-old Swede playing in just his 30th NHL game, got his first of the season after he carried the puck about 160 feet up the ice and crossed the blueline relatively uncontested by Adam Pelech before flicking a weak wrister over the short side glove of Robin Lehner.