Christian’s Daily Links: It’s Finally Time to Play Hockey

It has been 140 days since the New York Islanders have played an NHL contest. That finally changes tonight when they battle the New York Rangers in an exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena.

It couldn’t have come soon enough for the Islanders, who have been dying to face an opponent other than themselves. The Islanders have played plenty of scrimmages against themselves, but tonight marks their only chance to see how they hold up against another team.

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“It will be just a good way for both teams to get revved up and get our pace down, our timing down,” Anders Lee said after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s an important game in the sense of getting all those things down. The systems, all those situational things that come about in a regular game.”

While Tonight’s game is a rivalry game, the team isn’t approaching it from that angle. As Lee noted, the focus will be on preparation for Game 1 against Florida on Saturday.

The Islanders spent parts of Tuesday’s practice fine-tuning certain aspects of their game and working on special teams. They also had a new face hit the ice in an Islander jersey as well.

Hockey Now

The Florida Panthers are also playing an exhibition game today against an in-state rival. George Richards previews Florida’s meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Florida Hockey Now)

The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins faced off in the first game for the NHL’s return to play. It was an exhibition game, but still, it was hockey. A look at how Pittsburgh did against Philadelphia. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

It looks as though Mark Barberio is headed to Switzerland once the Colorado Avalanche’s run in the playoffs comes to an end. (Colorado Hockey Now)

David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins feels that he did nothing wrong when he broke his quarantine and was eventually caught because of posts on social media. (Boston Hockey Now)

Take a deep dive into the prospects that the San Jose Sharks have with Erik Fowle. (San Jose Hockey Now)