Islanders Gameday News: Nashville Shakes; “Perfectly Average,” Back to School

The Islanders are in Nashville awaiting the Predators, who played last night in Chicago and won 2-1 thanks to 43 saves from Pekka Rinne. So Jussi Saaros will probably play tonight. Not that that will make things any easier for the Islanders.

FIG Picks go here. If this was an AHL pool, Josh Ho-Sang would be a smart pick. But it’s not. So it isn’t.

Islanders stuff

• Doug Weight is shaking up the lines and power play units because that’s basically all he can do at this point. Last year’s top line of Tavares-Bailey-Lee might reunite. [LHH | Newsday]
• The outside world is catching on to just how horrific the Islanders power play is. [SBN]
• At The Athletic (subscribers only), Tyler Dellow breaks down the Top-6, Bottom-6 stats for the Eastern Conference. He doesn’t say much about the Islanders after saying they, "might be the most perfectly average team in the NHL." Sounds about right.
• More on Anders Lee’s friendship with Matt Olsen, a paralyzed hockey player from Minnesota. [Star Trib]
• And if you haven’t read this great piece on Mathew Barzal and the lessons learned from his dad Mike, you really should. [Islanders]
• Mark Parrish recounts a prank he played on former Islanders teammate Shawn Bates. [Islanders]
• With Ho-Sang and Alan Quine back in the line-up (and against a Hartford team whose number they’ve had), the Sound Tigers beat the Wolf Pack 5-1 last night. A goal and an assist each for Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle. [CT Post | Soundin Off | BST]
• The Railers lost 5-4 in overtime at Utah last night. Eamon McAdam made 27 saves and T.J. Syner had three assists. Adam Pelech’s brother Michael had three points for Utah. Not cool, bro. [Telegram]
• Roommate Stuff: Mikhail Prokhorov is selling 49% of the Nets to Taiwanese billionaire Joseph Tsai. Whether it impacts the Islanders or not depends on many factors. It probably won’t [Nets Daily]. Also, the G-League Long Island Nets will honor the one-and-only Dr. J at their home opener on November 4th at the Coliseum. Long Island native, basketball deity, and owner of one of the most legendary sports hair cuts ever. [Nets Daily]

Other stuff

• Last night’s NHL scores. The Golden Knights may never lose a game again. Monday at Barclays might be a bloodbath.
• Take Heart: The Oilers’ special teams are worse than the Islanders. [Edm. Jour.]
• Travis Green has been using some lessons from Al Arbour to keep the Canucks afloat so far. [Province]
• The scoop on that #BoyleStrong mural painted on a New York City building. [PHT]
• The sounds of hockey are indelible and, apparently, very hard to replicate for movie makers. [SI.com]