Islanders Gameday News: Thanks kid. Good luck out there.

Good morning, gang. Happy Martin Luther King Day.

The Islanders try to keep the good times going in Montreal tonight, their first game against the Canadiens this season. And it’s on NBCSN! Brendan Burke and Brian Boucher will have the call.

Leave your FIG picks here. Don’t pick Casey Cizikas.

How about one of these guys?

Islanders readings

• [Late addition] On the Belmont arena front, Jim Baumbach canvases the experts and finds the arena realistically wouldn’t be ready to play until 2021-22, needing three years to complete. The Isles hope their pre-legwork means “as soon as possible.” [Newsday]
• The “Rangers Hangover” isn’t something we’ve talked about in a while, but it was a real thing for a few years there. There’s no time for that now. [Newsday]
• With Cizikas out, the Islanders have recalled Tanner Fritz from Bridgeport, and the Sound Tigers made two call ups of their own. [CT Post]
• Torgo’s here with the power rankings and the Islanders are looking better.
• A feature on Railers forward Frankie DiChiara, the four-year player from Yale and Ronkonkoma native that’s found a home in Worcester. [Telegram]
• Great bit from that DiChiara story:
  “My father (Ernest), when he was younger, was a pizza delivery boy. Early in his high school days, when the Islanders were on their Stanley Cup run, he delivered pizza to an apartment, and Mike Bossy opened the door. There were like four or five Islanders sitting in there, and he had them all sign the pizza box.
  
  He still has the pizza box.”

Around the NHL

• Last night’s NHL scores. Here come the Penguins.
• Andrew Cogliano’s 830-game iron man streak will end due to a two-game suspension for a hit. Ouch. [NHL.com]
• Tough guy J.T. Brown was picked up by the Ducks off waivers from the Lightning. [Raw Charge]
• A big feature on Kevin Stevens, who had it all and then lost everything in a very scary and public way. [Sportsnet]