New York Islanders Dethrone Los Angeles Kings in OT, Gain Much-Needed Points

Mark Streit played the hero on Saturday afternoon with the over-time win after essentially rolling through the entire King's team and putting up the goal five hole on Johnny Quick.

The game ended up being one of the most physical and grinding games of the season so far for the Islanders. Neither team wanted to give an inch and played very physical defense which resulted in a very low scoring 2-1 game.

Each team registered over 40 hits a side. The Isles struck first with Michael Grabner sinking a juicy rebound, and held the lead until the second period when the Kings had some serious zone time pelting the Islanders. If one spot is a little sore right now, its the defense. Hamonic made up a large part of the physical and skill side of the Islanders team, and is sorely missed. The defense didn't play bad, but it wasn't great either.

Granted, the offense needs to put up some more points, but they've floundered a bit lately and haven't played with the urgency needed to win games (the Montreal game is a prime example). Hopefully Grabner can return to how he played last season down the stretch and put up some more numbers.

Evgeni Nabokov has continued to shine. In his last nine starts, his save percentage is .968 and a 1.21 goals against average. The Islanders really need to do whatever they can to lock him up for next season. His play has single-handedly exemplified  how much confidence a team gets with a solid goaltender behind them. If the Isles ownership offers the money he deserves, then it's all on Evgeni.

We're getting into the home stretch, and points aren't going to come easily. The offense needs to get on a roll, and the defense needs to limit their mistakes if they want to make a serious playoff run.

Nabokov will do the rest.