The Islanders will once again attempt to get in the win column as they are in St. Louis to take on a very formable Blues team. This road trip will beyond difficult and any points against these upcoming opponents are good points.
Anders Nilsson will make his third straight start in net and he has certainly earned his playing time. He is one of the few bright spots in a very dim season so far. His play has been outstanding and he without question has deserved a better fate in his two starts against the Capitals and Penguins.
Another bright spot has been the play of rookie d-man Calvin deHaan. Despite getting beat on a fantastic play by Sidney Crosby, Calvin has been rock solid on the blue line and has picked up the play of Thomas Hickey who looks a lot better playing with deHaan.
The play of the defense while still not great has been modestly better but the play of the second and third lines on offensive have been downright dreadful. That’s why it pains me to watch Brock Nelson rot in the press box. You cannot tell me with a straight face that any of Josh Bailey, Michael Grabner, Peter Regin or Pierre-Marc Bouchard deserve to play over the young Nelson. Brock did nothing wrong to deserve getting scratched and in my opinion this move reeks of a desperate coaching staff and or a stubborn general manager who can’t own up to his mistakes. It’s become mind blowing and at this point, I simply cannot wrap my head around it.
There is nothing new on the trade front but there has been some noticeable growth on the farm. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers posted a 1-0 win over the Adirondack Phantoms last night. Anders Lee had the loan goal assisted by Ryan Strome. This gives the Sound Tigers an encouraging three wins in their last four games.
With both Strome and Lee playing so well and Nelson standing out when he does actually get into the lineup. Something has to give. At some point this team needs to work their youth into games. As we have seen over the past month it certainly cannot get any worse. Perhaps an injection of youth may spark the club as well. However as the Islanders keep trotting out the same lineup expecting different results it is becoming the true definition of madness. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on Twitter and Instagram @DanDanNoodles78.