Islanders look to extend winning ways on road trip

Scott Gordon, head coach of the New York Islanders, stated that the best thing to come out of this road trip would be to return from it .500 or better. So far, so good.

Currently 2-0-2 on the road trip, earning points in all four games, the Islanders are in Minnesota tonight to take on the Wild. Back to back games in back to back nights will see goaltender Martin Biron get the start tonight. In five games played against the Wild in his career, Biron is 3-2 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

Roloson has played more games against Minnesota, and his numbers are not horrible but with games tonight and tomorrow for the Islanders, they chose to give “Rollie” the night off and save him for tomorrows game against the Blues.

John Tavares is making his first trip to Minnesota. In 12 road games played this season he has 11 points. He looks to add to his Calder race totals tonight as well. Tavares leads all rookies in points with 19 in 21 games played.

The St. Paul, Minnesota native Kyle Okposo makes his first trip of the season back home. In three career games against the Wild, Okposo has been held pointless. This is something I’m sure he will hope to change this evening.

The Wild have had somewhat of a roller coaster style season thus far. Currently, they post a record of 7-12-2 which is good for dead last in the Western Conference. A team looking to get the gears in motion will put up a very tough fight tonight against the Islanders.

All-time, head to head record for the Isles and Wild have the Wild on top with a 7-3-0 record against New York. On the road in Minnesota, the Islanders are looking to obtain only their second win at Xcel Energy Center since the Wild were brought into the NHL as an expansion team in 2000.

The advantage the Islanders have tonight is the momentum they are carrying along with them on this road trip. Can the team provide coach Scott Gordon with his wish? Will they return home next week at or above .500 on the trip? Isles nation thinks so.

Tonight’s starting line-up (subject to change):

Let’s Go Islanders!

Anthony Curatolo is a hockey blogger/enthusiast. He also writes for Crash the Crease, Hockey Independent, Inside Hockey, Hendricks Hockey and The Checking Line. He is the co-producer and host of “The Hockey Guys” which is a Hockey Talk Radio show that airs live on Sunday’s from 2PM – 4PM Eastern Standard Time on Blog Talk Radio. When he is not covering hockey, he is sitting around playing his acoustic guitar and setting his rosters for all the fantasy hockey leagues he takes part in.