( Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)

So after this can we be done with the Islanders and Coyotes?

The Blackhawks arrive on Long Island coming off a Jekyll/Hyde performance against Phoenix which saw them fall behind by 3 goals, then crawl all the way back to salvage a point. Corey Crawford was pulled in the 2nd for Ray Emery and it looked like the Hawks would put on a repeat performance of the previous Phoenix game. But Jonathan Toews decided that wasn’t going to happen and put the Hawks on his back (again), scoring 2 goals and setting up Patrick Kane beautifully for the equalizer. The Hawks ultimately lost in the shootout (which will happen when Emery is in net) but you left the game feeling good about getting a point out of a game that at one point looked like a laugher.

New York comes into the game dead last in the Atlantic Division at 9-11-5. However, they have improved over the last few weeks and pulled out their last two games since falling to the Hawks 6 days ago in a shootout. Tuesday night they torched Tampa Bay 5-1 and then defeated a surprisingly competitive Dallas team 5-4 on Saturday.

Chicago native and Loyola alum Al Montoya gets the start for the Islanders. Montoya comes into the night 5-3-2 with a 2.07 GAA and a .933 SV%.

As we saw last week, the Isles can put pucks in the net and have a variety of good young forwards. Matt Moulson , former 1st overall pick John Tavares and Kyle Okposo lead the attack and they will have Michael Grabner (groin issues) playing tonight as well. This team has scored 14 goals in its last 3 games and the Hawks defense will have to play a tight game – especially when the Tavares line is on the ice. The Islanders will be missing  badass left winger Nino Niederreiter, who was in concussed in the Dallas game.

The Islander defense is laughable once you get past Mark Streit and Travis Harmonic. Making a bad situation worse, they will be short Andrew MacDonald and Mark Eaton. ATTACK! KILL! KILL!

The Hawks come into the game 1st in the Centeral Division and 2nd in the Western Conference. Future conference rival Minnesota Wild currently sit atop the standings in the West  – 3 points ahead of the Blackhawks.

As result of Corey Crawford’s, uh, problem, Ray Emery will be in net tonight for the Blackhawks. Razor has looked solid in his last two outings and this gives Crow some more time to unfuck his head. Without question, Razor’s biggest drawback right now is his ability to perform in the shootout. The Hawks would do well to take care of this one in regulation as his lifetime record in them is 4-11. He has allowed 21 goals on 50 shots.

Marian Hossa will resume the quest for goal # 400 tonight and Jonathan Toews is now just a point away from #300..Who wouldn’t like to see Hossa bury one on a power play from Tazer tonight?

Early reports have Sami Lepisto getting a shot tonight (it’s about damn time) for the Hawks which means Sean O’Donnell takes a seat with John Scott.  It also appears that Bryan Bickell will again be a healthy scratch.

Being off since Monday, the Hawks should be rested and ready to go. Let’s try getting a lead for once, take advantage of the weak Islanders blue line and get home healthy for what should be a very interesting game against  Marty Havlat, Antti Niemi and thea San Jose Sharks.