As the Islanders, losers of four of their last five games, head north of the border to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the back half of the home-and-home series, it's time to play America's favorite game "Wheel of Forwards"
Before we play, let's take a moment to mention how awful the Islanders are against the Atlantic division. They are 1-8-2 and have scored two or fewer goals in eight of those games.
Our first contestant is the captain of the team, who has scored just 3 goals in the last 15 games and has been held scoreless in 16 of the 33 games he has played, please welcome John Tavares. John is playing for two new linemates. His first spin lands on Anders Lee, who hasn't scored a goal in 15 games and has just 4 this season. John's second spin lands on Josh Bailey, who believe it or not is quietly having a solid season and is on pace for a career high in points. So there's tonight's first line Josh Tavares centering Anders Lee and Josh Bailey.
Our next contestant is Frans Nielsen, who has been held pointless in his last 6 games and is a -3 during that span. His first spin lands on Nikolay Kulemin, whose goal in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Leafs broke a goalless streak of 29 games. Nielsen's second spin lands on Kyle Okposo, who is having a typical Kyle Okposo season. After scoring 5 points in 3 games, he is pointless is his last 3 games. So there you have tonight's second line, Nielsen centering Kulemin and Okposo. We will be back after this brief word from JB Smoove.
We're back with our next contestant, Mikhail Grabovski, who hasn't scored a goal in his last 9 games. His first spin lands on Ryan Strome, who after returning from Bridgeport scored 2 goals in his first 3 games, hasn't scored a goal in his last 10 games. Grabovski's last spin lands on Brock Nelson, who has been one of the team's best forwards scoring 3 goals in his last 5 games. So let's have him on the third line. So tonight's third line will have Grabovski centering Strome and Nelson.
That's all the time we have folks! But before we go I have to mention Thomas Greiss will start and Marek Zidlicky replaces Brian Strait.