Thomas Greiss will get the start against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the Barclays Center. Greiss made 33 saves in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This will be his fourth start in the last five games and appears to be the team's number one goalie following Allan Walsh's twitter rant. Jaroslav Halak was asked about what his agent said to which Halak replied "I have no comments on what he wrote. I didn't write anything, so I have no comment on it."
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Halak fed Walsh those comments. Halak has been outspoken before about the three-goalie situation. Walsh's other cilent, Jean-Francois Berube has fashioned a baseball cap all season. There were no takers on Halak as of yet and I do not see any coming.
The Lightning limp into tonight's game losers of three straight. They were embarrassed by Michael Grabner and the Rangers Sunday night. Ben Bishop will start.
If there is one positive this early in the season for the Islanders it is their defensemen scoring. They have gotten goals from their defenseman in five straight games, tying a franchise record. They lead the league with nine goals. Travis Hamonic scored in back-to-back games for the first time since April 8 and 9, 2011. All six defensemen have at least one goal. All have more than Andrew Ladd, who has one assist in nine games.
Since his return from injured reserve, Shane Prince has provided a spark. Prince has two goals and two assists in the past two games. It's possible he will be bumped to the first line tonight.
The Islanders will also have a decision to make after tonight's game, albeit an easy one. Barring any last minute lineup changes, Anthony Beauvillier will play his ninth game of the season. Garth Snow has to decide whether to send him juniors or have his first year of his entry-level contract kick in. Like I said above, he is not going anywhere.