You know how Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard made a save last night in overtime and then alertly sent the puck up ice to set up a breakaway (stopped by Thomas Greiss), since NHL regular season OT is now a three-on-three game of fetch?
Well, Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith also tried that last night. But it didn’t go as well.
Mike Smith with a turnover of the year candidate in overtime pic.twitter.com/dOJW7HlUqA
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 7, 2017
Welp!
Although, I can’t blame Smith because: 1) I mean OT is a chaotic free-for-all, might as well flip a coin for a chance at a breakaway, and 2) the Coyotes’ season is even more doomed* than the Islanders, so...why not?
*granted, “more doomed” is kind of like “more pregnant” or “more dead,” but whatever
Anyway, both teams lost on the road in overtime last night, the Islanders on that power play goal in Denver and the Coyotes on that Smith oops in Anaheim.
So, with both teams traveling there were no morning lineup updates.
The Isles suffered no known injuries last night, but do have three healthy players in reserve (Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech, Stephen Gionta) who were healthy scratches last night.
And though the Islanders have a perfect opportunity to get newly anointed #2 Jean-Francois Berube some work after Thomas Greiss faced a barrage of shots last night, coming off a long break Jack Capuano had indicated to Newsday’s Arthur Staple that they might consider using a goalie (i.e. Greiss) back-to-back on this trip.
Details
As with last night, this game is properly relegated to MSG+2 (twice the plus!).
This is the teams’ second and final meeting of the season after the Isles had a 3-2 win in Brooklyn in the game that broke Ryan Pulock, who still hasn’t returned to the Isles lineup (and is now dealing with a new injury in Bridgeport).
The Coyotes are one point above the Avalanche for second-last in the West, the Islanders are two points behind the Devils for last in the East — though a win would tie the Isles with the three teams above them.
Find more Coyotes coverage at Five For Howling.
Leave your First Islanders Goal picks for tonight here by game time, which is 8 p.m. EST.