In the semifinal at the IIHF World Championship, Nino Niederreiter scored the only goal the Swiss needed in a 3-0 defeat of the U.S., meaning Switzerland will win a medal at the World Championship for the first time in 60 years.

Niederreiter also assisted on the empty net goal that made it 3-0.

The gold medal game is Sunday against Sweden, who defeated Finland in the other semifinal. The Finns will play the U.S. for bronze.

In the category of "news I was not expecting to hear this summer, but particularly not on May 17," we have this:

The New York Islanders announced today that forward Eric Boulton has agreed to terms on a one-year contract.

We've had some technical hiccups over the last few days (particularly for logged-in users), so apologies to readers and regular commenters if things haven't worked as well. There is some technical jargon to explain that, but then there is hockey. Hockey is more interesting.

Before (or early in) each playoff series we like to poll Lighthouse Hockey readers for their picks, comments and analysis on the matchup.

Of course, as the playoffs continue on, inevitably teams who draw our hatred meet up. This series may be one of those situations. There is little to like here for the Islanders fan. So maybe we best just show this (try to ignore #26):

and this:

I thought this ESPN article was awesome because of how anonymously sourced it was (welcome to the 21st century media age; no one speaks on the record, but they would like a "these people said" word with you).

But also because of this (emphasis mine):

That source said sacrificing revenue on those six games at Nassau, which is expected to hold a capacity of 13,000 fans after renovations, is a major concern.

Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, is fitted to seat 14,500. Nassau, currently the oldest arena in the league, seats 17,686.

Matt Moulson is a finalist for the Lady Byng trophy for the second season in a row.

The award annually honors players who are good at hockey and remarkably tolerant of tools who are not good at hockey doing stupid things to try to get such players to be less good at hockey. But these finalists, they look the other way while Otts ott and Cookes cooke.

Er, officially the award is for the player "adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

If you haven't heard, the reports that first surfaced last month are now officially announced: The New York Islanders will indeed play an outdoor game, 7:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 29 at Yankee Stadium against the New York Rangers. That will be three days after the Rangers face the New Jersey Devils in the same venue.

I would like to tell you that the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be ousted by the Ottawa Senators in this series, but unfortunately someone told Dan Bylsma he can play Tomas Vokoun.

Vokoun is good -- maybe not Craig Anderson good, but good -- and certainly not the godawful Marc-Andre Fleury we have seen in the playoffs more often than not.

The New York Islanders had their breakup day and final media interactions on Tuesday. Some highlights, via the bittersweet flow on Twitter, are below.

But first, to orient you, here are a few links wrapping up the end of the season:

Why have we gathered today, around his nondescript, unpainted pine casket in an empty parking lot? To say goodbye to the 2013 edition of the New York Islanders, who were laid to rest last weekend surrounded by the people who loved them best: their opponents. No doubt the rest of the NHL will dearly miss the easy victories that so often happen when facing the Islanders.

There have been a lot of people talking about the end of the Islanders season. People upset they let the 6 seed slip out of their hands. People not happy about Evgeni Nabokov's less than stellar showing in the series during the Penguins. With the Isles departing the playoffs on Saturday night in a game that was so close, that if not for a couple of relatively easy saves or defensive miscues that could have been prevented, they would have forced game 7.

There were a lot of disappointed fans.

But I am not one of them.

There are two Games 7 in the Eastern Conference tonight in the NHL, but as quickly as those commence the second round will begin.

The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, and the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, have the lockout misfortune of playing Games 6 and 7 of their series on back-to-back nights. That will smart when it comes time for the survivors to play round two.

So many players contributed to help push the Pittsburgh Penguins to six games and two overtimes. (On that note, it's incredible to think that had two overtimes bounced the other way, the Islanders would have won the series in six while being outscored 9-0 in Games 1 and 5.)

Anyway, you don't last that long in a playoff series against a tough opponent without a full team effort beyond the franchise star. So who were your three stars of the series, from an Islanders perspective?

My three picks are below, but first a few linky appetizers:

The New York Islanders' loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 brought into focus how everything is so close, yet so far:

It was just one round, as an eighth seed, they have far to go. Yet it was a round where they routinely outplayed a top seed but for lack of a few more saves.

They outplayed the conference favorite on aggregate, yet they had two bad blowout losses.

They went further in the playoffs than the franchise has gone since 2002, yet it was still just two playoff wins.

Let's leave the philosophizing and postmortems for tomorrow. For now, we'll recap the Islanders' final game of the 2013 season, one in which they pressured and punched the Pittsburgh Penguins for sixty-plus minutes, only to lose a heartbreaker in overtime.

The New York Islanders left everything on the Nassau Coliseum ice tonight, controlling much of the play against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Alas, Brooks Orpik's point shot in overtime ended the Islanders' successful season.

After the initial shock, the arena chant of "Let's Go Islanders" was all you needed to hear. The pride is back.

This is your instant reaction thread. Be angry, be proud, be sad. But, above all, be excellent to each other.

There have been easier debuts: New York Islanders 2010 first-round draft pick Brock Nelson played his first NHL game Saturday night ... in an elimination playoff game.

Nelson entered the lineup for Game 6 of the Islanders' series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, after the Warroad, Minn., native had an impressive pro debut season with their AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

An old-fashioned playoff game at Nassau Coliseum needed overtime, where the Islanders would mourn having given up three one-goal leads earlier in the game.

We're nearing the 20th anniversary of David Volek and all that, but we've been over that history so much (and it was a Game 7, whereas tonight is a Game 6), that another bit of history may be more appropriate: As a franchise, the last four times the Islanders have returned to the Coliseum needing a win in Game 6 to stay alive, they've gotten it done each time.

Of course Volek's winner couldn't have happened if the Islanders hadn't won Game 6 at home first. (Of note: After Game 5 that year, Kevin Stevens pledged, "We're not going to come back here for Game 7." Oops.)

Today, for the first time in what will hopefully be many, many more occasions, Islanders fans get to consider Nielsen and Nelson at the same time. (And maybe one day soon: Nielsen and Nelson and Nilsson. But never this.)

We're nearing the 20th anniversary of David Volek and all that, but we've been over that history so much (and it was a Game 7, whereas tonight is a Game 6), that another bit of history may be more appropriate: As a franchise, the last four times the Islanders have returned to the Coliseum needing a win in Game 6 to stay alive, they've gotten it done each time.

Of course Volek's winner couldn't have happened if the Islanders hadn't won Game 6 at home first. (Of note: After Game 5 that year, Kevin Stevens pledged, "We're not going to come back here for Game 7." Oops.)

And the last time the Islanders won more than one game in a playoff series, in 2002, it necessitated a victory on Coliseum ice in Game 6.