NHL: Islanders are League's Hottest Club

Earlier in the National Hockey League season I wrote about how, at the time, the Atlantic Division was the best team in the league, and I had the stats to back up my claim.
Now, not only does that statement still hold true (just check the standings), but the hottest team in the entire National Hockey League is the New York Islanders, who sit in last place in the Atlantic, and 10th overall in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders are winners of five straight games, and going into tonight's battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Nassau Collisuem, New york owns a record of 29-25-7 and they have 65 points.
Even more impressively, since their first game of the calendar year, New York lost seven games in a row, nine of 10, and 14 of 18 contests before the current five-game winning streak.
The Chicago Black Hawks, in the Central Division of the Western Conference, are the next-best cellar-dwelling team in the NHL with a 28-26-6 record and 62 points. The Hawks are off tonight.
It hasn't been pretty, as the Islanders have outscored their opponents only 19-12 during the streak, but New York is doing the little things that they need to do to win.
In goal, Rick DiPietro has allowed just five goals in his last three games, which has more than put his club in a position to win.
Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin have done the bulk of the scoring, with Comrie putting up 18 goals and Guerin with 19. Perhaps even Miro Satan, who has been dormant for much of the season, may be waking up, as he now has two goals in his last three games for 13 on the season.
There is a tie for the seventh, eighth, and ninth positions in the East, with Boston, Philadelphia, and Buffalo all sitting at 66 points.
This should be a great second half to the Eastern Conference's second half of the season, with all of these teams throwing down for the final two or three playoff spots in the conference.
The Bruins have the advantage of the four teams, as they have only played 59 games as they trail the Florida Panthers by a 1-0 score with eight minutes left in the first period. The Flyers and the Sabres have both played 60 games, and they are both playing tonight.
Buffalo is at Toronto and holds a 1-0 first-period lead, and Philly trails the Sharks at home by a 1-0 score after one. The Islanders and Tampa are scoreless after one, with New York holding a 15-10 shots advantage.
There's a lot of hockey left to be played in the regular season, and the race to the playoffs in the East should have a very entertaining finish.