The Isles are back East after a brief but positive three game road trip through California. New York ended the trip last Friday with a 4-1 win in Anaheim against the Ducks. The Isles were 2-1 on the swing through Cali and have now returned home to take on the Arizona Coyotes tonight at 7PM. Jaroslav Halak will return to the net tonight and the only other lineup change will be Marek Zidlicky playing in place of Adam Pelech.
Pelech fared well in his NHL debut Friday. He had one good scoring chance and didn’t look overwhelmed or out of place. I just simply do not understand the stubbornness this organization has with Marek Zidlicky and Brian Strait. It is one thing if these kids were trying to take minutes away from QUALITY professional NHL hockey players. Their simply is no argument that you can give as to why one of the deserving young blueliners shouldn’t be playing over a player who is past his prime and one who is simply of AHL material. It makes no sense.
This rant can go on for days but as we look ahead there is some good news as injured defenseman Thomas Hickey is starting to practice. While I am aware that he is not the perfect player, Hickey is a significant upgrade to the bottom pairing and this team plays better when he is in the lineup.
As for the Islanders opponent tonight, the Arizona Coyotes roll into Brooklyn winners of four of their last six and if you make any mistakes this team will light the lamp and light it often. Led by rookies Mad Max Domi (thanks Rob for that awesome nickname) and the Duke of Broadway…errr Duke of Glendale?? Anthony Duclair. These two exciting youngster have made the Coyotes a must watch and a team that cannot be underestimated. Anders Lindback will be in net for the Yotes tonight and he has been the more consistent of their keepers posting a 1.99 GAA and a .930 save %.
With the exception of the second period against the Kings, the Isles are showing signs of life of breaking the funk that they were before heading out west. New York was able to pot four goals against the Sharks and Ducks and slowly but surely we are seeing some signs of life with this offense. The penalty kill has still been outstanding and whomever is in net is giving the team the chance to win on a nightly basis.
This will be a good test for the Islanders tonight. How will they respond coming back home after a good trip west? Normally the first game back from a west coast trip will feature a sleepy, jet lagged team. If that happens tonight the Coyotes have plenty of firepower to run the Isles out of the building. I don’t want to call this a trap game but I clearly just did. As always for more on all things Islanders follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.