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Islanders News: Barry Trotz is the talk of the town and the engine that drives the car

He can do it all, that Barry Trotz.

By Steven E. Smith

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Columbus Blue Jackets v New York Islanders
Look at that sigh of relief.
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Islanders did what they had to do to get a win last night and get themselves back on track against the Blue Jackets. They also got Anders Lee his first goal since November 1.

Hey, it’s December 1. The year flew by.

Coaching, and specifically Barry Trotz, are a theme in today’s Bits.

Islanders News

Recaps from a dethreading: LHH | Islanders | Newsday | NHL | NHL GC | NYI Skinny

Thomas Greiss pulled himself out of the game last night late in the first period and Semyon Varlamov had to come in cold, but he stopped everything he saw. [Newsday]

Varlamov was quite good:

Below is an excerpt from Trotz’s post-game press conference where he discusses what happened last night with Greiss. You can listen to and watch to the whole presser in this link.

  • Tom Kuhnhackl, who has been out since late October, and Nick Leddy, who missed Wednesday’s game against the Kings with a lower-body issue, both practiced on Friday. Leddy drew back into the lineup last night. [Islanders]
  • Leddy is an important part of what Trotz’s system is supposed to be. [Newsday]
  • Trotz has been trying to plug the hole of fourth center all season, and no permanent solution has come forward. [Newsday]
  • There was a “drift” in their game before last night’s contest, and Trotz wanted them to tighten up a bit. [The Athletic]
  • How Trotz has turned the Islanders into a powerhouse. [Sportsnet]
  • One of the tenets of his system is the dump-in, which, as he says, prevents plays in transition going the other way. Dump-ins are up around the league, possibly emulating Trotz’s system. [The Point]
  • The Duhatschek Notebook looks at how patience in the players plays a factor in coaching, and Trotz is cited as a benchmark for what patience in coaching is. Man, I love that Trotz is the coach of the New York Islanders. [The Athletic]
  • The NHL website experts made their mock All-Star selections and both Mathew Barzal and Greiss made the cut for the Metro Division. [NHL]
  • The Sound Tigers entered last night’s game on a four-game winning streak, including three straight wins over the Springfield Thunderbirds (here are Wednesday’s and Friday’s recaps) but the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins snapped the streak last night. [Soundin’ Off pre-game | Sound Tigers post-game]

Elsewhere

There was some action on Friday, including our opponent from last night beating the Penguins in regulation and the Sabres defeating the Maple Leafs in a wild 6-4 contest.

And some action on Saturday, as well, including shutouts of the Devils and Predators by the Rangers and Panthers, respectively. For Florida, it was goalie Chris Driedger’s first NHL start. Also, the Capitals beat the Red Wings and Alex Ovechkin had the 25th hat trick of his career—two of them last night were empty-netters, though.

  • Bill Peters officially resigned as Flames head coach. Make no mistake, though: he was forced out. And rightfully so. [TSN]
  • Dads trips are a part of NHL hockey culture and have been for years. But what happens when one son’s dads trip includes a game against the other son? Luke and Brayden Schenn’s father, Jeff, had to figure that one out for himself. [Lightning]

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