Islanders Gameday News: Drive for Five in Pittsburgh; Sound Tigers get by with four

The New York Islanders are in Pittsburgh tonight to try to extend the season-opening record to 5-0. That would only be fair.

Mikhail Grabovski will not be there, as he did not travel with the team. Reportedly just "upper body" (not concussion) though. For the other guys, it looked scary the other night, but Pascal Dupuis skated yesterday and might even play tonight. If not, Andrew Ebbett would replace him.

Islanders News

• The Isles say they've been "playing the way they need to play," in the parlance of Capuano's time, because they know their roles and doing them right. Also: depth. [Isles]
  
• It sounds like the final Islanders sale price is $485 million. So you may want to, uh, check with your accountant, in case this bumps you into a higher tax bracket. [Forbes via Newsday]
• Brock Nelson is terrible. (No, not really.) [garik16 at Islanders Analytics]
• Related, for fantasy purposes: Can Brock and Boychuk keep it up? [NHL]
  
• Josh Bailey breaks down his circus goal against the Sharks. [Isles TV]
• Last night Bridgeport came back, came back, and came back again to beat Albany in the shootout (highlights below). They finished with four defensemen after Andrey Pedan was ejected and Scott Mayfield left after a fight. Griffin Reinhart scored his first pro goal to tie it. [Post | Soundin' Off, including thoughts on the new OT format | Sound Tigers]
• Former NHL first-rounder Colton Gillies is adapting his game, to Bridgeport's benefit. [Post]
• Stockton lost their ECHL opener last night, 3-1. Here is their season-opening roster. [LHH]
• Bryan Trottier is re-energized by his role as assistant in Buffalo, though he's had to learn new lingo in the game since he last coached. And I don't like how old that picture makes him look. [Buffalo Hockey Beat]
• FIG Picks: Leave your First Islanders Goal picks for tonight over here.

Sound Tigers Highlights, Interviews

Enjoy.

Beyond the Island

• Last night's NHL scores. The (still winless) Oilers lost again, which means the Canucks are still undefeated, but the Wild took their first loss.
  
• Speaking of which, have you been Jultzing? It looks fun. [Copper n Blue]
• And have you been Lucic-ing -- er, never mind, don't answer that. $5k fine though. [SCOC]
• TSN, which lost NHL broadcast rights, will televise 37 NCAA games, leading to more fun comparisons between manly collegians and skilled teen juniors. [SBN College Hockey]
• Daren Dreger on discussion of OT format and "dry scrape" (ouch), World Cup, and Methot. [TSN]
• Brilliant: Habs players read mean tweets. [HEOTP]
• Throwing jerseys on the ice is all the rage in Canada. Why didn't people do this with the 2007 RBK Edge designs? [SB Nation]
• Speaking of which, here are two prototypes for the Caps and Canucks that never made it to production. [Icethetics]
• If you were to project 2014-15 NHL standings using the Fenwick and Corsi of players, the Isles ... added some good ones. [Sporting Charts]