5 BOROUGH SPORTS

Coming up this Thursday, the Islanders will begin a three game road trip starting in Raleigh, North Carolina against the struggling Carolina Hurricanes. Currently, the Isles are in a very tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Even though they are currently in 10th place with 54 points in the conference, they are only one point away from 6th place. 8 of the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference are currently fighting for the final three playoff spots, which means every game counts! With the two-week Olympic break coming up in the middle of February, it is necessary for the Isles to get some momentum in these next couple of weeks. In order for the Islanders to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, their young stars need to catch fire. Rookie John Tavares started the season hot scoring 15 goals in his first 30 games. However, he only has two goals in the past 22 games. 21 year-old Kyle Okposo was on a tear in the beginning of the month, but he has also cooled down the last couple of games. Goalie Rick DiPietro, who is still recovering from surgery on both of his knees, has shown no signs of pain this month. After missing almost a year of play, he has returned to the starting lineup earlier this month and has contributed immensely. So, this Thursday at 7pm, watch the Islanders. Post-game coverage and afterthoughts will be right here at Burke Sports right after the game.

This entry was posted on January 26, 2010 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Islanders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.