Islanders vs. Rangers: Battle of New York flu bug

The Battle of New York commences tonight in Brooklyn, with some interesting caveats to the expected clash between the Islanders and Rangers.

The Rangers are without former Islander and leading scorer (!) Michael Grabner, who is home in Austria due to a funeral. Thoughts be with the Gremlin and his family.

The Islanders recalled defenseman Scott Mayfield on emergency conditions because...oh boy:

The rest of the Islanders lineup will be determined closer to game time because of a flu bug going around the locker room. "There's something going around; I think everyone's getting hit with it a little bit here," coach Jack Capuano said. "We'll see where we're at. We've got a few game-time decisions tonight. If guys are healthy and ready to go, we'll play them. If not, we'll see what Plan B is going to be."

In these situations sometimes players who think they’re ready or are willing themselves to be ready end up being ill, and others who had no idea they caught the bug suddenly feel it mid-game.

So, we’ll see.

We do know the Islanders are starting Jaroslav Halak in goal — if he doesn’t get sick! — and the Rangers will deploy Henrik Lundqvist per usual.

How to Watch

You know, blanket MSG+/2/POWERPLAY GOAL on TV, plus radio with 970AM - The Answer, 88.7FM - WRHU, 103.9FM - LI News.

Leave your First Islanders Goal picks here by game time, which is 7 p.m. EST.