from Arthur Staple of Newsday,

"We definitely all feel like Long Islanders now for sure,'' said John Tavares, who took the Long Island Rail Road to Brooklyn and said he and nearly all his teammates will do so all season. "The coaches drove in early this morning and it was a couple hours, so the train is the best option. It's a different experience we'll all enjoy, I think.''...

The players who commuted in Monday morning got hotel rooms so they could rest during the afternoon. It's going to be an adjustment, for sure.

Nikolay Kulemin and Kirill Petrov said it's been a while since they took a train to a game. "Once, in juniors,'' Petrov said in Russian, with Kulemin translating. "Twenty-four-hour ride.''

more on the Islanders...