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Thomas Hickey was injured in the New York Islanders' 3-1 preseason loss to the Washington Capitals, but the severity was unclear after the game.
Other notable reports from the un-televised games included Eric Boulton's frequent but unconsummated pursuit of spring playoff villain Tom Wilson, Kirill Petrov's nice snipe for the Islanders' only goal, and the...rather high pitch of the goal horn that had many fans honked off during the game.
You can hear the goal horn (and see Petrov's goal) here. It created more jokes on Twitter than I can count.
@MichaelWillhoft @Schultz88 @thechrismcnally i wasted 8 dollars on this... http://t.co/9HUaKPzUrY i only slightly regret it. #blessed
— Johnny Isles Fan (@john_islesfan) September 29, 2015
There wasn't much on Hickey's injury other than:
Capuano said he did not have an update on Hickey after the game. "He’ll see the doctors Tuesday and then we’ll figure it out," Capuano said.
...and:
Hickey has an upper-body injury. Won't be back. He took a high stick in the first.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) September 29, 2015
Boulton v. Wilson (Incomplete)
As for Boulton, who has been signed to a series of one-year contracts the last few seasons but is currently in camp on a PTO, he unapologetically looked to exact frontier justice on Tom Wilson, who knocked Lubomir Visnovsky out of the playoffs and out of his Islanders career with a baiting check last spring.
Now Boulton comes in and knocks Wilson down during play... And gets a penalty for something.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) September 29, 2015
Eric Boulton on Tom Wilson's refusal to fight: "He kept turning me down. He wasn't interested. He was scared to death." #Isles
— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) September 29, 2015
Tom Wilson: "I thought maybe the change of scenery, everybody would have forgot about last year."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) September 29, 2015
Evidently Wilson was told by his coach not to bother:
Trotz said he told Wilson to back off. https://t.co/WbgEFoPIxo
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) September 29, 2015
That's either really smart, or dodging hockey's "code," or both. Boulton's probably retired within the month, so Wilson could avoid him without too much worry. Then again, most "physical" people in hockey tend to alternately act like proud code-upholding citizens one moment and then hypocrites the next depending on the situation, so...onward then.
Much more on the confrontation or lack thereof, in Newsday and in the Washington Post, as Wilson said he both "respects" Boulton's role but knew he "didn't play at all" last year and probably won't this year either. Touche.
I didn't enjoy Season 1 of "Battle of Wits: Tom Wilson vs. The Islanders" and I think I'll pass on Season 2.
— Dan Saraceni (@cultureoflosing) September 29, 2015
The Rest
In goal, the new backup Thomas Greiss played the full 60 -- well, aside from being pulled for a sixth attacker -- and gave up two goals on 24 shots.
The Isles generally described their play as "sloppy," but Petrov's goal came off a nifty feed from Michael Dal Colle to make it 2-1. An empty net goal gave the Caps the insurance goal.
Otherwise, not much coming out of this one. The Isles now have almost a full week of practice before their final preseason game against these same Capitals, next Sunday in D.C.
But to close this game that didn't matter and few saw, some Caps reactions to the new areener:
Philipp Grubauer said he could tell Barclays was made for basketball. Why is that? The shower heads are wayyyyy up there.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) September 29, 2015
Barry Trotz thinks Barclays is nice, but loved the Coliseum, so he said this gem: "I don't mind getting hit with a beer once in a while."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) September 29, 2015