I have scoured the Innerwebz for opinions and found lots of debate on the merits, but I've yet to see someone "in the know" who boldly leans against this being merely Nino Niederreiter's ninth game out of seventy-some-odd NHL games this year. Not that there is insider info to be had, but rather the way this franchise looks at its young'uns and that "NHL size" Nino already has. Maybe we'll be surprised though -- the roster will eventually need to shed bodies.
From the Islanders' side, today we got the most diplomatic and "comfortable" of answers from Scott Gordon to Katie Strang. But of course Gordon isn't the guy who has to sweat slipping guys through waivers when healthy bodies return.
Dwayne Roloson starts. Josh Bailey returns. Matt Martin re-debuts. And you, why you put your first goal pick (and time of goal) in the first comment thread here where someone starts it with "First Goal Pool." After one game, MTBVibe leads the rest, 1 game to infinity.
P.S. Looking at my schedule, I'll probably have to check out before the end of the game, so the traditional recap will be really late tonight.