Islanders News: Jordan Eberle’s floodgates may have finally opened

The Islanders don’t play again until tomorrow, so I suppose we’ll have to, like, talk and stuff. Hey, maybe we can have one of those practice things that Barry Trotz always talks about!

New York’s next game is against Trotz’s old team, the team he spent 16 years with. The Predators have struggled this season despite great expectations, while Trotz’s Islanders sit near the top of the league. Hmm.

Islanders News

Winning is fun. Let’s watch more winning, which definitely isn’t boring, especially against the Sabres:

• Jordan Eberle is heating up now after a slow start. He looked good next to Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson. [Newsday]
• Devon Toews is starting to get recognition, and apparently he was undersized as a kid? He’s pretty tall now, I’d say. Perhaps a little lanky, never really paid attention much. [Sportsnet]
• The latest episode of the PTIsles Podcast discusses Beauvillier, Taylor Hall, and Pierre Turgeon. [LHH]
• A local guy tended goal for the Railers last night in their home win over the Reading Royals. [Railers]

The Islanders are running a toy drive on Saturday afternoon when they host the Ducks:

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores include the Jets whooping the Flyers 7-3, which is good for Metro Division purposes, and the Golden Knights beating the Canucks 6-3.

• Winnipeg blew out Philadelphia, but they lost Mathieu Perreault to injury after Joel Farabee hit him way late. Late enough that Farabee got a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct, late enough that he’ll have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety. [NHL | Yahoo]
• The Wild lost to the Blackhawks, but Minnesota’s Eric Staal recorded his 1,000th point in the effort. [NHL]
• VIDEO: On Saturday night, it appeared that the Coyotes had pulled away from the pack in the Taylor Hall sweepstakes. [Sportsnet]
• Yesterday afternoon, when a trade with Arizona had yet to be consummated, Chris Johnston updated to say that GM Ray Shero would like to have him dealt by the holiday roster freeze. [Sportsnet]
• As of last night, it looks like the Devils may be weighing more than one offer, according to Elliotte Friedman. [Sportsnet]
• The Sabres have assigned Casey Middlestadt, no. 8 overall in 2017, to AHL Rochester. [NHL]
• Referee Tim Peel broke his leg in a collision with Jonathan Toews and will probably miss the rest of the season. [RMNB]
• The Maple Leafs have released Rasmus Sandin to Team Sweden for World Juniors, which means they probably feel okay about Tyson Barrie’s status after he left the game last night. [Sportsnet]