Islanders Gameday News: Zeeker back, Middleton honored

November 29. We’re at the end of the month. Who would’ve thunk we’d be entering the last month of 2018 already? Time, man. Wacky stuff.

Speaking of time and being wacky, tonight’s Islanders game in Boston, their last game in November, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. But, the Bruins are retiring Rick Middleton’s no. 16 tonight. According to the Bruins website, the ceremony is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. This would indicate the start time wouldn’t be affected too greatly. However, Newsday writer Mark Herrmann offers this warning:

So who the hell knows when this game is set to go off. Hopefully the Isles are ready for the adjusted start time. The betting money is closer to 8:00 p.m., so get your FIGs in by then in this link.

Also, be on the lookout for a new episode, the 66th, of Islanders Anxiety today.

Islanders News

• Casey Cizikas is set to return to action tonight after missing the last two weeks. His presence has been missed, especially at 5v5, as Travis indicates. [LHH]
• NEW! Andrew Gross documents a day in the life of Barry Trotz and his coaching routine. Cool look behind the scenes that also includes this nugget:

“We look at analytics a lot more,” Trotz said. “There’s cross references. We do our own coaches’ analytics. To me, the marriage is there’s an analytic community that does the chances and high quality, low quality, all that. But the breakdowns within the system that allow those chances to happen are not in those numbers. You see this guy was on the ice but was he the primary guy or was he the guy covering up for the guy who made the mistake? That’s what the analytics community doesn’t really know.

“What we try to do is decipher between systematic error and results.”

• Devon Toews missed last night’s Sound Tigers game against Springfield due to dings suffered in Sunday’s game. Coach Brent Thompson calls him “day-to-day.” [Soundin’ Off]
• Perhaps his absence was felt, as Bridgeport fell 5-2 to the Thunderbirds despite firing 42 shots on goal. [CT Post | BST]
• Aho at the start and finish of this goal though:

• The Coliseum return, this Saturday against the Blue Jackets is special to all of us, but especially so to the Maven. [NHL]
• PHOTOS: Clark Gillies and Bobby Nystrom led a tour through the renovations of NYCB Live, home of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. [Islanders]
• The two Islanders legends also give their stamp of approval on the newly improved building. [Newsday]
• Down Goes Brown finds and fixes every team’s most painful draft regrets. The Islanders’ most painful draft, in retrospect, was 2011. They picked Ryan Strome, Johan Sundstrom, and Robbie Russo when they could’ve had Mark Scheifele, Nikita Kucherov, and Johnny Gaudreau. Oof. [The Athletic]
• The Isles’ wives and girlfriends have offered up a basket for auction, with the money going toward Hockey Fights Cancer. There are 14 days left to bid on it. [NHL]

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores. In the battle for Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, the Penguins Sidney Crosby recorded a natural hat trick to tie the game at 3-3, but Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche prevailed in a 6-3 final.

• Tonight’s opponent, the Bruins, are making waves throughout the newswire for remaining in the thick of the tough Atlantic Division race despite being decimated with injuries. Kevan Miller, who just returned from one month-long absence, will miss five weeks with another, a larynx injury suffered via puck to the throat. [SCOC]
• In honor of his no. 16 going up to the rafters of TD Garden, here are 16 fun facts about Rick Middleton. [Bruins]
• Disappointing news in women’s hockey as the CWHL has lost a major investor, Roustan Capital. The private equity firm claims the reason is a lack of transparency. [The Ice Garden]