The Islanders are set to square off with the Winnipeg Jets, tonight, at the Coliseum before embarking out west for a brutal 5 game road trip. After tonight’s tilt with Winnipeg, the Isles will face the Avalanche, Sharks, Ducks, Kings, and Coyotes before returning home on November 11th to face the Avalanche again. To say this is a brutal six game stretch would be putting it mildly. While looking at the game this evening with the Jets, two points could go a long way in the standing after having to deal with this west coast trip from hell. If the Islanders are going to avoid the November swoon, then they need to grab points tonight and I think we would all take a record of three wins and three losses in their next six games.

As for tonight, Jaroslav Halak will return between the pipes for the Islanders. We have discussed at great length the Isles inability to keep the puck out of their own net. The Jets are banged up and missing key players and tonight is a chance to show that the Isles are capable of giving up less than three goals in a game. The lineup will remain the same, tonight, and here are the lines and defensive pairings for the game.

Conacher-Tavares-Okposo
Lee-Nelson-Strome
Grabovski-Nielsen-Kulemin
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Leddy-Boychuk
Visnovsky-Hickey
De Haan-Strait

Halak-Johnson

Travis Hamonic and Josh Bailey are both getting closer to returning to the lineup. With the Isles dealing with nagging injuries, there are plenty of young players in Bridgeport playing well, gaining experience, and pushing for a chance with the Islanders. Most notably, have been the strong play of Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock. I had the chance to talk to Pulock last week and I asked him what was different for him, this time, when he got to Islanders training camp.

“I think, for me, I felt a lot more comfortable. I knew where I was going and I knew the guys in the area. It was another year (and I was) that much stronger, that much bigger. I think overall it went better; I was pretty happy with it. Obviously being down here I have to continue to work my way up.” said Pulock.

After a great camp, I asked Pulock what he feels he needs to do to make that jump to the Isles. “I think for me I’m not that too far away. It is just a matter of working every day on the little things, being more physical, and being good defensively. I think my offensive abilities are good and I think that they are ready, but I need to clean up some areas in the d-zone so I can be more of a complete player.” said Pulock.

It is nice to see that the Islanders have depth in their organization and these kids can gain experience and when the time comes for them to transition to the NHL they will be eager, hungry, and not learning on the fly. In the past, when the Isles were hit with injuries, they were filling holes with career minor leaguers or rushing prospects. It is encouraging that the players coming up now are blue chip prospects that will be more rounded, polished, and ready to make an impression in the league. As always, for more on all things hockey, please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.

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