NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders have spent the last week proving they can play with the best teams in the Eastern Conference. On Thursday night, the Islanders will get a chance to see how they stack up against the red-hot St. Louis Blues, who are the second-best team in the Western Conference.The Islanders will host the Blues for the only time this season when the two teams square off at Barclays Center. Both clubs won Tuesday, when New York extended its point streak to five games with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers while St. Louis kept rolling with a 3-2 overtime win over the East-leading Montreal Canadiens.The Islanders (10-10-5) have gone 4-0-1 in their last five games -- a stretch in which theyve beaten the Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, all of whom currently occupy a playoff spot -- to climb out of the NHL basement and move to the fringe of the East playoff race.It gives our guys a little bit of confidence that we can play with some of the top teams, record-wise, in the East, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said.Despite the recent surge, the Islanders still have a long road ahead if they want to reach the playoffs for the third straight season. New York is eight points behind the Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, who are tied for the two wild card berths.Means weve got a lot of work still to do, Islanders center and captain John Tavares said. Weve had some ups and downs and some frustration to start the year, some results we didnt get and some things maybe not go our way. Certainly playing a lot better hockey and we know we can still be a lot better.Results-wise, its hard to fare much better than the Blues (15-7-4) have lately. St. Louis is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games dating back to Nov. 15 to move within three points of the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead both the Central Division and the Western Conference.Much like the Islanders, the Blues are looking to see if their recent play is sustainable. The game Thursday begins a four-game road trip for St. Louis, which is just 3-6-1 away from Scottrade Center. Six of its final nine games before the Christmas break will be on the road.Its going to be a real test for us, Blues goalie Jake Allen said. Obviously, things havent gone great for us on the road this year. Its a great opportunity to keep this thing going we had on our homestand.The Blues would like to keep it going without the drama that accompanied the 4-0-1 homestand that concluded Tuesday. Four of the five games went to overtime.My biggest fear is weve had to put a lot of energy into these games. a lot of overtimes, a lot of 3-on-3 stuff, a lot of anxiety, a lot of close games, Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said. Well see where our energy is. Weve got to be really careful with ourselves right now. Hydro Flask Water Bottle Wholesale . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Hydro Flask Outlet . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. http://www.hydroflasksalenearme.com/ . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Hydro Flask Near Me . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Hydro Flask With Straw Cheap .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. As the Nashville Predators work on turning around their slow start, they were presented with two breaks from the schedule-maker.Not only are they finishing up a three-game homestand Friday when the Winnipeg Jets come to Nashville, they are also in the middle of a stretch of four straight games against their Central Division brethren, meaning wins can count for a little bit more.These games are huge, Nashville forward Filip Forsberg said. These division games are probably going to decide whos going to make the playoffs. Thats been the case for the last couple of years now.Forsberg got the Predators run of division games off to a good start, scoring a goal and picking up an assist Wednesday night in a 5-2 win over Dallas that upped their record in Bridgestone Arena to 7-1-1. Whats more, it upped Nashville (9-7-3) from sixth in the division to fourth.Nashville effectively swapped places with the Jets (9-11-2), a 3-1 loser Wednesday night in Minnesota. That dropped Winnipeg to 0-4-0 on its five-game road trip and 3-8-1 away from Manitoba this season.We were just about an inch shy on everything that happened for us tonight, Jets coach Paul Maurice said. Both teams were competing pretty hard on that puck and it was hard to get pucks to the net. The margin for error there was real small.There has been no margin for error for Winnipeg since it blanked Chicago 4-0 on Nov. 15 to claim second place in the division. It has been outscored 15-5 during its road trip and has been stuck on one goal for three straight games.Given the way Predators goalie Pekka RRinne played this month, the Jets chances of registering a crooked number dont look good in this one, either.dddddddddddd Rinne (8-5-3) stopped 33 shots Wednesday night, including all 22 Dallas threw at him in the second period.In 10 November games, Rinne is 7-1-2 with a 1.39 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage. He is not the entire reason Nashville is 6-2-1 in its last nine games, but he is clearly the teams first star this month.Hes a good goalie, Dallas left winger Jamie Benn said. Hes one of the best in the league and if he can see it, hes probably going to stop it.Also boding well for the Predators was getting goals from Forsberg and Ryan Johansen in the same game for the first time this season. Both have just two markers in 19 games, although Forsberg leads the team in points with 15 and Johansen has played a solid two-way game, ranking among the team leaders in plus-minus.Nashville coach Peter Laviolette was particularly pleased with Johansen, and linemates Viktor Arvidsson and James Neal, for their work against the Stars top line of Benn, Tyler Seguin and Cody Eakin.Hes working hard at both ends of the ice, Nashville Laviolette said of Johansen. I think theyre playing against big lines. Defensively, theyre trying to be responsible and play a good game and still contribute offensively.Fridays game starts a home-and-home series between the Predators and Jets. They meet again on Sunday in Winnipeg. ' ' '