The Islanders return home this afternoon as they face off against the St. Louis Blues. The injuries to the Isles blueline continue to mount as Islander Head Coach Jack Capuano said that both Johnny Boychuk and Travis Hamonic will be out a while. The Islanders called up Ryan Pulock but there is no word if he will play today. The silver lining is that the Islanders continue to rack up points despite these injuries and when the defense is healthy they will have fresher legs at season’s end.
I wanted to take a minute and respond to me breaking social media yesterday with my report of a potential Griffin Reinhart for Jordan Eberle trade. I do have sources and I do trust them. I only write about what I think is legit. The source who game me this information is the same one that told me about Thomas Vanek, Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk. Unfortunately I actually was convinced that the Bruins would not trade Boychuk so I didn’t run with that one, but my point is, I trust my people. At no point did I say that the trade would happen, only that there was discussions going on. Also I have no idea where some reports claimed that Griffin Reinhart requested a trade because that is false. The bottom line is this, I only report on what I trust and I think my track record stands for itself.
As for the game today, the Islanders need to get their top line working. There have been signs of them breaking out of their slump but with all the injuries mounting the Isles will need John Tavares and Kyle Okposo to carry them at some point this season. The amount of depth that the isles have has taken the pressure off the top line but at some point they need to produce at even strength. This is why I believe that Islanders General Manager Garth Snow could bring in a top line scorer at some point if the top line continues to struggle.
I know I’m nitpicking here but there are guys struggling to produce points on this team. It has been largely overshadowed by the amazing play of the third line and some inspired play from the fourth line. Balance amongst the scoring is key and I’m sure this will correct itself but I simply want to see the top line take a game over. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.