FanHouse KyleOkposo

Every Monday during the season, two of our hockey writers will debate one topic. It's the 2-on-1. This week, Chris Botta and Kevin Schultz discuss the top stories of the young NHL season.

John Tavares has yet to step on the ice for the New York Islanders, but he's already making an impact for the once-proud franchise that has been aimlessly stumbling along a path of mediocrity for the past decade-and-a-half. This is, after all, a franchise that hasn't won a playoff series since David Volek beat Tom Barrasso in double-overtime way back in 1993.

Can Tavares, an 18-year-old phenom, change all of that? Well, he certainly can't hurt. Heading into Friday's NHL Entry Draft, there were rumors that the Islanders might be leaning toward either Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman or Brampton center Matt Duchene with the top pick. In the end, the team selected Tavares, and already Islanders fans are roaring their approval in the form of cold hard cash.

The New York Islanders, playing without Trent Hunter, Kyle Okposo, Dean McAmmond, and Andy Hilbert were simply in over their heads on Tuesday night against the runaway locomotive that is the Carolina Hurricanes, falling 9-0. Amazingly, the score isn't the most incredible series of numbers to come out of this game.

Honestly, we haven't seen a hockey game this one-sided since the Slovakia Women's National Team annihilated Bulgaria, 82-0, earlier this year. OK, maybe it wasn't quite that bad.

For the third time in three weeks we have a new team on top of our power rankings, as the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks take over the top spot.

The Devils take a fall thanks to their recent six-game losing streak, while Anaheim continues to climb the rankings.

We're in the home stretch of the NHL season, and both conference playoff races are heating up as the standings change on a daily basis. The Eastern Conference has seven teams separated by just seven points in the No's 4 through 10 spots, while everybody except Phoenix and Colorado is still competing for a playoff spot in the West.

Flames 6, Red Wings 5: After the first period of Thursday's game, the Detroit Red Wings held a ridiculous, and somewhat dominating 28-4 edge over the Calgary Flames in the shot department, thanks in large part to a series of five-on-three power plays. Somehow, the Flames managed to keep themselves in the game and rally for a 6-5 shootout win, thanks to a three-goal performance late in the third period.

Trailing, 4-2, with less than four minutes to play in regulation, Calgary received goals from Jamie Lundmark (two) and Olli Jokinen to take a 5-4 lead. Just 38 seconds after Lundmark gave the Flames their first lead of the night, Detroit's Daniel Clearly picked up his 13th goal of the season, sending the game to overtime. Jokinen scored the game-winner in the shootout, helping Calgary snap its three-game losing streak.

Devils 4, Bruins 3: The premier matchup on Thursday's schedule had to be the New Jersey-Boston tilt, and it didn't disappoint as the Devils took a 4-3 decision in overtime. Jamie Langenbrunner scored a pair of goals for the Devils, including the game-winner 1:11 into overtime.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead through the first two periods, New Jersey watched the Bruins roar back with three goals in the third period before Patrick Elias tied the game with just under two minutes to play in regulation. Zach Parise picked up his 29th goal of the season in the win, while Scott Clemmensen made 24 saves. New Jersey has now won seven consecutive games while allowing only 12 goals during the streak. Who needs Martin Brodeur, eh?

Hi, My Name is ... appears weekly on NHL FanHouse. We will spotlight future NHL prospects currently making a name for themselves in college hockey. Where applicable, the players' draft rights will be listed. Check back every Tuesday at 8AM ET. Please post in the comments section if you have a nomination, or if you feel the author really blew it this week.

Before the Colorado Avalanche had terrible luck with health on the big club this year, one of their better prospects had to deal with a bad break. It was October of 2007 when University of Minnesota sophomore Ryan Stoa (NHL rights: Colorado) suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Gophers struggled offensively throughout the season thanks to Stoa's absence. It didn't help when sophomore Kyle Okposo quit the team and joined the Islanders organization, but he was struggling without Stoa just like the rest of the team was.

In a stroke of good news for the Gophers, Stoa's back. And he's on fire.

The New York Rangers spent one day in second place of the Atlantic Division, as their 4-0 win over Pittsburgh vaulted them back over Philadelphia, reclaiming the top spot in the division. New York's special teams chipped in three goals (two power play, one shorthanded) while Henrik Lundqvist was a wall in net, stopping all 27 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout of the season.

After Pittsburgh's Max Talbot was sent off for a boarding penalty just 31 seconds into the first period, Nigel Dawes scored his seventh goal of the season, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead just a minute into the game. Paul Mara added another power play goal late in the second period, one-timing a clean faceoff win by Scott Gomez behind Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Chris Drury would add his 11th goal of the season midway through the third period, while Gomez finished off the scoring with an empty net goal.

The Rangers entered the game in a minor slump, winning only once in their previous five games.

Speaking of slumps, the loss for Pittsburgh is its fifth in a row, and 11th in its past 15. Nothing is going right for the Penguins, including the power play unit which is clicking with all the power of a moped. Head coach Michel Therrien tried to change up the lines for the game, and received the same results.

Miroslav Satan was relegated to fourth-line duty and played a whopping nine-minutes (and only four-minutes through two periods) and finished as a -1 with a penalty. Alex Goligoski, the team's leading scorer among defensemen, was a healthy scratch.

Okay, so maybe the title is a bit of an overreaction. Still, that doesn't change the fact the New York Islanders are a terrible, terrible third period hockey team, and they proved it once again on Tuesday, giving up four goals in the final 20 minutes on their way to a 5-4 loss to the Rangers.

The Islanders actually entered the third with a 2-1 lead, only to watch the Rangers beat Joey MacDonald -- starting in place of Rick Dipietro -- four times on their final 12 shots. Petr Prucha, playing for the first time in eight games, tied the game just 49 seconds into the third period, while Michal Rozsival gave the Rangers their first lead of the night two minutes later. Markus Naslund and Nigel Dawes also tallied late goals for the Rangers, while Scott Gomez tapped in a tic-tac-toe pass from Nikolai Zherdev and Brandon Dubinsky in the second period, opening the scoring for the Rangers.

Mike Sillinger, Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Mike Comrie scored for the Islanders.

Physical game between the crosstown rivals, resulting in a pair of fights in the first 10 minutes, and capped off with a crushing hit by Ryan Callahan on Trent Hunter early in the third. Callahan smashed the Islanders forward into the penalty box door, forcing it open, resulting in Hunter's midsection smashing off the boards. He was down for quite a while, and appeared to be in severe pain, resulting in a stretcher being brought on the ice. Hunter, however, managed to bring himself to his feet and skate off because, you know, he's a hockey player.