For the second time in eight days, the Islanders let two points get away as they fell to the lowly Florida Panthers, 4-1 last night. The lost was their third straight at home. Perhaps the team packed up their things from Barclays, as they have just three wins in their nine home games since the Belmont arena was announced.
The Isles have a habit of making mediocre goaltenders look like all-stars, as Harri Sateri, who had a Matt Harvey-esque GAA in his first four career starts, allowed just one goal on 33 shots for his first NHL win. They made Keith Kincaid look like Martin Brodeur two weeks earlier.
Tonight they head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs, who will be playing their first game since the All-Star break. The road has been kinder to the Isles as they are 4-0-1 in their last five. Toronto has also been friendly to the Isles as they are 8-5-1 in their last 14 games. All eyes once again will be on John Tavares, who will get peppered with the same contract questions.
Casey Cizikas returned last night after missing six games. He strangely played on the wing with Brock Nelson and Alan Quine. Following the game, head coach Doug Weight said that Andrew Ladd, who has been out since January 6, could return tonight. Weight said that he was excited to get Ladd back in to get his maturity into the lineup. Maturity? That means Jason Chimera will never be taken out of the lineup. It’s time to give Chimera his gold watch and send him on his way.
One player who needs to get back ASAP is Johnny Boychuk, who has been out over a month. He could be back within a week. The player who will benefit from Boychuk’s return is Nick Leddy, who has just three assists and is a -14. Leddy has been playing with Scott Mayfield, who has no business being on the top pairing. Mayfield’s presence on the pairing has clearly affected Leddy negatively.
Leddy’s struggles began before Boychuk went down. An early Norris candidate, Leddy hasn’t scored in his last 29 games.
The lineup will be announced closer to game time but expect Thomas Greiss to start. Greiss hasn’t started since his 56-save effort in Montreal over two weeks ago.