Islanders vs. Blue Jackets: Meddlers in the middle [Game #65]

The home-and-home between the Mediocre Metro Mid-Tier begins tonight in Columbus, at the very not-Belmont time of 7:00 p.m. EDT.

The Blue Jackets haven’t won in 10 games, but they at least fetched consolation points from their weekend, which is more than the Isles can say.

Leave your First Islanders Goal picks here.

The Islanders enter tonight trailing the Blue Jackets by four points but with two games in hand. Columbus is 15 points behind the final wild card holders in Washington. So the stakes are low, or out of reach.

In today’s media availability, Barry Trotz said Ilya Sorokin is doing alright and should be back soon (but not tonight). He also said Sebastian Aho is still out but “very close” to returning; in Aho’s stead, Grant Hutton played, and Trotz said he did well after arriving under short notice, and playing against Lightning’s more physical line.

“His game is going to be, you know he’s a defender, he can move the puck out, he’s got a decent skill set — he’s not gonna be an offensive guy, but if he can play with a little bit of an edge and be consistent with that, he’s got a chance.”

For Blue Jackets news, check out The Cannon.