The Islanders return home tonight to square off with the Colorado Avalanche in Brooklyn at 7pm. This will be the first home game following a brief swing through Florida where the Islanders lost to the Panthers in a shootout and defeated the Lightning this past Saturday. In both games the team came back from a 2-0 hole to collect some points. While the Isles were disjointed and sloppy against the Panthers, they were much better against Tampa and earned those two points. It is still a work in progress though as the team simply has not looked great in the attacking zone and special teams have struggled.
As the Islanders return home Thomas Greiss will be in net again for New York. Griess has simply been outstanding this year and has earned every start. I do not think Jaro Halak has lost his job, rather Griess has gone out and earned more playing time. This goaltending tandem has been the MVP of this Islander team through a quarter of the season.
In more leaked trade discussions out of Western Canada, Islanders General Manager Garth Snow was offered Dustin Byfuglien in exchange for Travis Hamonic. Snow has turned down this deal and has pushed for young blue liner Jacob Trouba who the Jets have been unwilling to part with. Although I do like what Big Buff brings to the ice, he is an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and will be heading to free agency. You simply cannot trade Hamonic for a rental.
The next coming months will be challenging for Garth Snow and the Islanders and Snow’s decisions on Hamonic, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen will have a lasting effect on the future of this roster. Snow has to have a solid plan in place here because if this goes south how will he replace the points lost? Anders Lee and Ryan Strome have not been consistent enough to be relied on for secondary scoring. There are so many questions that have to be answered while this team continues to fight for a playoff spot.
Then there is the coaching staff but I’m not touching that hand grenade today. What the Isles need to do is string together more wins and they will have the chance tonight against a very Jekyll and more Hyde Colorado team. This team is very dangerously offensively and if the Isles are sloppy tonight this game could become a shootout. I will be at the game tonight so if you see me, please stop by and say hello. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.