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Islanders Gameday News: Lightning shot, Sound Tigers sloppy, Kings up next

The Islanders drop a point to the Lightning but hold their head high with the Kings incoming.

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Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Islanders
We can rassle two nights in a row, no problem.
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

No victory, but a valuable standings point and essentially a 41-save shutout for Thomas Greiss last night against the Lightning. We’ll take it, especially for the first game after a nine-day break (and the beginning of a very busy February).

The Islanders are right back at it tonight against the Kings. Check this FanPost for more pre-game meetup activity. (Speaking of which, who’s up for an Isles fan meetup in Jersey?)

Leave your FIG picks for tonight here.

Islanders Reading

  • About last night: Bummer to lose, but good effort coming off the break to shutout the league’s top team. [LHH | Newsday | Isles | NYI Skinny | Raw Charge]
  • The Sound Tigers’ game was a polar opposite: Bridgeport took the loss in a 7-5 goalfest against the Phantoms. [CT Post | Josh Ho-Sang: “All games are weird.” Thompson “At times Josh is dynamic, at times he tries to do too much.” Soundin’ Off | BST]
  • Barry Trotz concedes he misses ties a bit, as the shootout is a bit too individual. But as he put it concisely, “From a fan standpoint, they [or Gary Bettman] want to see an end result.” [Newsday]
  • He didn’t start last night but the accolades continue: Robin Lehner was named NHL 2nd Star of the Month. [Isles | Newsday]
  • Casey Cizikas has always had some real offensive talent (we remember tracking him as a draft pick), and this season more of it is showing. [Athletic]
  • Thomas Hickey and Andrew Ladd are skating, but no timetable for their return. [Isles]
  • Stan Fischler recalls how Mike Bossy was targeted by the league’s most violent beasts, but that was nothing new for the greatest pure goal scorer of the 20th century. [Isles]
  • Sound Tigers announcer Chris King did double podcast duties: Isles Buzz | PTIsles
  • The Railers lost also, with some tough luck, 5-2 in Newfoundland. [Railers]

Kucherov was fined for that slew-foot on Scott Mayfield in the first period last night:

Barry Speaks

“Coming out of the break you don’t know what you’re going to get, and you’re playing one of the better offensive teams with a couple of games already under their belt.”

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores include the Penguins and Capitals each winning at home. The Isles hang on to first place, for now.

  • The Penguins got rid of their poor fit in Derick Brassard, acquiring big Nick Bjugstad from the Panthers in a multi-player, multi-pick deal. [NHL | PensBurgh | Litter Box Cats | Post | Why Hockey Podcast] Jim Rutherford discusses Brassard, Bjugstad. [Athletic]
  • We associate Alex Ovechkin with that left-circle one-timer but it wasn’t always so, and it took a little while to become a go-to thing. [NHL]
  • Mid-season draft rankings. Still Hughes to lose. [THN]
  • “I have brain damage.” Daniel Carcillo talks to Broad Street Hockey.
  • George McPhee discusses how he’s pretty happy with the team he has. [Knights On Ice]
  • Auston Mathews’ little tribute to Patrick Marleau at the All-Star Skills Competition in San Jose was appreciated. [Fear the Fin]