New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils [Game 42 Thread]

For the second time in less than a week, the Islanders and the Devils will face off. This time, though, it will be at the Prudential Center. The host Devils will be wearing the heritage red, white, and green jerseys tonight, which pleases me.

I think they’re calling it Retro Night, and to top it off, they piped in their mascot, NJ Devil, to the opening credits of Superbad, complete with the funk:

Anyway, New Jersey will again be without Jack Hughes; maybe we’ll see the new kid in March or April. They’ll also be without Jesper Bratt, and Mackenzie Blackwood will be back in net. Blackwood performed admirably on Thursday night at the Coliseum, and he’ll get the chance to do it again.

The Islanders, on the other hand, have no lineup news other than Thomas Greiss being in goal for the first time since getting yanked in Chicago on December 27 after allowing 3 goals on 11 shots from the Blackhawks. Since they played last night, New York didn’t hold a morning skate and Barry Trotz made no lineup decisions publicly during his 4:45 p.m. media availability.

The only extras the Islanders have on the roster are defenseman Sebastian Aho and forward Ross Johnston, so we’ll see if they draw in for anyone tonight—this team also has an open roster spot dating back to when Cal Clutterbuck was placed on IR, and they’ve made last minute recall announcements before, so who knows if they added another player to the roster from Bridgeport.

Today is Noah Dobson’s birthday, so I don’t think Trotz would sit him tonight. But at the end of the day, winning a hockey game is more important to the lineup than someone’s birthday. Still, Dobson looked good against the Avalanche last night, so I’d like to see him stay in.

My prediction: the lineup remains the same, based on Trotz’s comments on last night’s game above. I know, very exciting. We’ll have to hope the same group of guys can get their offense going.

Last chance for FIGs here. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.