Update: Greiss in net, which means he will play in two of the three games on the trip. Bailey returns to the lineup in place of Beck.
Cappy pulled these lines out of his hat
Nelson-Tavares-Okposo Lee-Nielsen-Bailey Kulemin-Grabovski-Bernier Martin- Cizikas-Clutterbuck
Boychuk-Leddy Hamonic-de Haan Strait-Zidlicky
Pelech naturally is not in the lineup.
The Islanders head out to California for a 3-game in 4 nights trip that begins tonight in San Jose. A trip that could mean the end of head coach Jack Capuano.
The Islanders cannot seem to find the back of end as they have just 9 goals in their last 6 games and have gone 1-3-2 in that span.
The team recalled defenseman Adam Pelech from Bridgeport on Monday. The 21-year-old was selected in the third round of the 2012 draft. Pelech had been the best defenseman in Bridgeport and has two goals (both shorthanded) in 14 games. He is a big body (6'3", 210 lbs) who can play a physical game. One of the reasons for Pelech's promotion was the fact that he is a lefthanded shot and can replace Brian Strait, who along with Marek Zidlicky have been brutal. I would have recalled both Pelech and the righthanded Ryan Pulock and play them on the third line. Thomas Hickey should be ready to return by the end of next week. The two rookies can not be any worse than the Strait/Zidlicky pairing. Lets hope that Pelech is not a spectator in these games.
Dan and I had a chance to chat with actor Michael Vartan (Alias, Never Been Kissed) about the Los Angeles Kings and went a little around the league with him. Vartan is better than most analysts out there.