Short Preview, Isles @ Panthers 12/7/07 7:00 PM

Well, this is not a normal thing for me, but I will not be able to watch the game tonight, because I will be out of my house doing some other things. I have to get going now, so I really don't have any time to put together a Pre-Game Post. I might not be home until really late, so this will be my post for now.

So as I leave, I will leave you with a link from an HFBoards preview made by the user, "Law".

He really deserves some credit for his work more openly than just the forums.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=451349

Official Preview:

The Islanders play game two of their three-game Sun Belt road trip, tonight against the Florida Panthers at Bank Atlantic Center.

In game one, the Islanders fought back from a 3-1 deficit against the Atlanta Thrashers, ultimately falling 4-3 in a shootout. Mike Comrie potted his ninth goal of the season in the first period to tie Josef Vasicek for the team lead in goals. Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter each scored their fifth of the season with Hunter's coming on the man-advantage.

The Islanders found themselves down 3-1 in the second period after surrendering their fourth and fifth shorthanded goals of the season. Hunter tied the game at three at the 7:32 mark of the third period. In the shootout session, Slava Kozlov and Ilya Kovalchuk scored to clinch the win for Atlanta.

Despite going 0-3-1 in their past four games, the Islanders are only four points behind Philadelphia, New Jersey and the Rangers, who each sit atop the Atlantic Division standings with 32 points. A win tonight by the Islanders would put them in a fourth place tie in the division with idle Pittsburgh.

The Islanders travel to Sunrise, Florida to meet the Panthers, whom they've had some recent success against at Bank Atlantic Center. Over their past 12 meetings in Florida, the Panthers have come away with only three wins, and those have all taken place on March 17 – St. Patrick's Day – in 2004, 2006 and 2007. So history is on the Islanders' side.

Florida sits in fourth place in the Southeast Division, and tied for 13th in the Eastern Conference with 25 points.

The Panthers are led by captain Olli Jokinen, who paces Florida in most major offensive categories including goals (14), assists (15), points (19) and power play points (14).

In goal for Florida is former Nashville Predator Tomas Vokoun, who is playing in his first season with the Panthers. He sports a record one game above .500, a 2.79 GAA and .914 SV%.

Florida is amidst a three-game losing streak having dropped consecutive contests to Boston, Washington and most recently Ottawa. Prior to their three-game skid they had won four straight games.