Islanders-Maple Leafs [game thread]

If you missed it, there was an actual, spellcheck-defying trade today in the NHL: Minnesota's Benoit Pouliot for Montreal's Guillaume Latendresse. My favorite kind: Simple one-for-one, change-of-scenery trade. (Okay, my real favorite is multi-player trades, but I wish these simple ones were pulled off more often.) Quick Minnesota reaction at Hockey Wilderness.

Also: Brendan Witt's personal absence was because his daughter was bitten by a brown recluse [New$day link], which is no normal spider bite. Yikes. I know a few people who have suffered that, and it is frightening and gruesome. ... Meanwhile, Jeff Tambellini still in, as is Dwayne Roloson. Looks like MacDonald is out.

The deal for tonight: Chris Botta, who gave me a very kind compliment the other day on his blog, invited me to "guest" on his live game chat at Point Blank tonight. Mama didn't raise no dummy -- I thought I should take him up on the offer. That means my presence in this thread will be fairly quiet tonight, but you're welcome as always to comment here or there or elsewhere (obviously). As a general experience, I personally prefer our game threads with the replies and user IDs and familiar community, etc. to the Cover It Live functionality -- and one of SBN's few specific requirements for me is to post game threads. So they will continue here, and I will continue to keep most of them warm (when I'm not out maintaining domestic bliss, of course).

Wherever you may be: Let's. Go. Islanders.

Prediction: Tavares does something really cool.