The Tavares-less, Vanek-less, Grabner-less Islanders return to the Coliseum to face San Jose tonight and Buffalo tomorrow. Be sure to sign up for the fan protest that best suits your needs before game time.
FIG picks versus the fearsome fish can be registered here.
Islanders news:
- Your new first line winger is Anders Lee, who has made quite an impression despite his team's playing out the string. [New$day]
- More Lee numbers and analysis from Islanders This Week.
- Kevin Czuczman takes in his first practice with the Islanders and the team showed off their new defenseman with a story and video.
- The mystery Sound Tiger called up to replace Michael Grabner is forward Johan Sundstrom, who gets his first NHL look this weekend. Turns out that playing with less than 12 forwards only works in NHLPA 93 with the line changes turned off.
- Wednesday was the Islanders annual Casino Night and the official site has a full story on what was a record-breaking evening. The article also includes a photo gallery, and my favorite picture is the one of Matt Carkner in shirt sleeves pointing at the table and looking at a card player like a pit boss who caught the guy cheating and is going to tear his arms off and beat him with them.
Also from the Casino story is this clipping, which is either an amazing coincidence or someone trolling Garth Snow's goaltending philosophy this season:
Elsewhere:
- Last night's NHL scores. Oilers and Blues played a gong show in St. Louis and the Blue Jackets did the Islanders a favor by taking the Sharks to a shootout.
- Friedman's 30 Thoughts has a lot on the Canucks and a little on the Islanders, including when they need to choose which pick to give to the Sabres and some thoughts on Sebastien Collberg.
- Rich Peverley is recovering from his collapse on Monday night, but his season is over due to his heart ailment. [Defending Big D]
- The GMs meetings wrapped up on Wednesday with no major changes on the horizon. [Toronto Star]
- Game fixing in Denmark! Say it ain't so (or we'll send Frans to straighten everything out). [Puck Daddy]
- Fans sue hockey arena over shady beer sizing. Arena responds, "OK, we'll just add more water." [Deadspin]
- What the NHL would look like with a three-point standings system. Doesn't help the Islanders much. [SB Nation]
- The sad story of junior player Terry Trafford's disappearance and death through the eyes of his parents. Really affecting story by the frequently insufferable Steve Simmons.
- Down Goes Brown looks at eight NHL players that returned to the sites of their greatest glories well after their glories were over.
- Which NHL teams are the worst at closing out games? Take a wild guess who's the worst? [Puck Daddy]
- FX series The Americans trolls the Capitals with some period-appropriate insults that work for both the expansion Caps and their current incarnation. [Washington Post]
- Blake Comeau was suspended two games for boarding Detroit's Brendan Smith. As the video shows, Comeau was such a nice boy before he left the Islanders... what a shame to see a wayward youth waste his life like that.
In case anyone forgot, the last game these teams played against each other was pretty bananas.