11:23 am: Okay, birthday boy Cal in the line-up and Conacher gets to sit. It's Halak facing Nabokov tonight
Anthony Santaniello @AJ_Santaniello · 3h3 hours ago
Capuano: (Bailey) has to keep playing with a 4th line mentality. If he does that, he's gonna be a big part going forward." #Isles
I just find that very interesting. Fourth line mentality is not easy.
It’s Game Day for the Isles and the faithful are excited!
Pat Sadowski @Sadowski24 24m24 minutes ago
ITS ISLES GAME DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! My Isles take on the Lightning, LETS GET A WIN LETS GOO ISLANDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! #Isles #GetAWin #LetsGoBoys
DenISLE @DenP77 2h2 hours ago
Center Moriches, NY Really important game tonight! Bolts are tough, but certainly not unbeatable, need the A game!!! 60 min of all go ! #rockthebarn #isles
Yes, the Bolts are “not unbeatable,” but the Isles sure have their work cut out for them. Ben Bishop put another impressive win in his back pocket last night against the NY Rangers. I was hoping that would mean that they would be tired today, but as I was told by a Ranger fan “they really didn’t have to exert much energy.”
Kevin Dexter @K_Dexter 9h9 hours ago
With tonight's #NYR loss, #Isles are the only NY area Hockey, Basketball or Football team with a winning record.
Now that is a good position and a bad position. The amount of pressure and scrutiny on the Isles just increased. This may even turn into a “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” scenario. Oh well, no press is bad press, right? Just ask the Kardashians.
IslesBlog @IslesBlog 9h9 hours ago
Tampa's post-game team speculating tomorrow's starter. All signs point to Nabby's Coliseum return. #Isles
It’s tough for a player to return to a place he called home. I won’t be surprised if Nabokov does get the nod. After all, he knows all the nuances of this teams shots after facing them for so long. If the Isles can score at least THREE on him early, maybe -- just MAYBE -- they can pull out a win. Regulation, overtime or shoot-out; it doesn’t matter. Just win.
From the Islanders website, there are a few notes from practice:
Capuano said he’ll be adjusting the top power-play unit to bust out of a 1-for-16 slump. The coach had Johnny Boychuk and Frans Nielsen practicing on the top unit.
One for sixteen? That’s more than a slump.
A scouting report from Captain John Tavares:
“[Nikita] Kucherov is a real tricky player,” Tavares said. “He's got some great hands. He's very creative. [Tyler] Johnson is just a very underrated, smart player. He always seems to be in the right spot, very high hockey IQ and, obviously, can produce. Those couple guys can make a lot of plays and on their back end, they just have guys with a lot of size who move the puck well."
Cal Clutterbuck was skating with the full team yesterday and could be in the line-up tonight. If you are there, say Happy Birthday to him. Michael Grabner is also poised for a return to the line-up meaning someone’s gotta go.
Butch GoringVerified account @91Butch #Isles Nhl allows 23man roster, team has 15 forwards,8 defensemen and 2 goalies. Depth is always a good thing but somebody is going to unhappy
It’s always a numbers game in the NHL. Tonight that important number is two.
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