Anaheim Ducks vs. New York Islanders

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There is one night a week when a hockey arena is at full volume from the anthem onward, and it is this one. Saturday brings the casual crowd, the kids, the groups of twelve in matching jerseys, and the building sounds completely different than it does on a Tuesday — less expert, much louder, considerably more fun if you came for the atmosphere rather than the systems. The Islanders are in town, and their support is a particular curiosity in Southern California: transplanted Long Islanders who have been here twenty years and still say the name like a hometown. Expect a pocket of them somewhere in the upper bowl doing a chant nobody around them recognizes. The Islanders play a defensive structure that frustrates teams far better than their record suggests, so the game itself rarely matches the mood of the room, which is part of the charm. Seven o'clock on Saturday the fourteenth at Honda Center, and the lots off Katella fill early on a weekend, so leave margin.