The Islanders fed off the Barclays Center crowd and came out flying in the first period of their home opener Sunday night. However New York needed Josh Bailey to, well bail them out in the 3-2 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks.
The win, their first of the season, was key because nine of their next ten games are at home. The Barclays Center has been kind to them, going 26-11-5 since they moved from Nassau. They improved their dominance at home over Western conference teams going 13-0-2. Five of their next nine games are against teams from the west, starting tonight against the San Jose Sharks. The Rangers put seven up against the Sharks last night.
Rumor has it A. Dell or Aaron Dell will make his NHL debut tonight. the 27-year-old played 40 games for the AHL's San Jose Barracuda last season going 17-16-6, with a .922 sv pct and 2.42 GAA.
Casey Cizikas skated this morning. Cizikas left Sunday's game in the third period after blocking a shot earlier in the game. Cizikas has become one of the most indispensable players on the team. He has been a big part of the penalty-kill success. The team has killed 14 of 15 penalties to start the season. The Cal Clutterbuck-Cizikas-Nikolay Kulemin line has been the team's best so far. If Cizkias can go, it will likely be the same forwards as Sunday.
Jaroslav Halak will start.