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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
If the Isles lose the next three games, a lot of fans may feel the way Patrick Kane reportedly does - not interested in the Islanders.
The importance of tonight’s game (and tomorrow’s) cannot be overstated.
You can genuinely believe the Islanders can still make the playoffs - even after the last three games, and most of your fellow fans will think of you as innocently optimistic. But you’ll be viewed as suffering from a clinical state of denial if you still feel that way if they fall flat vs. Pittsburgh, and then tomorrow night against the Boston Bruins on Friday night.
During Tuesday night’s shootout loss, head coach Lane Lambert demoted (don’t call it a demotion) Josh Bailey and put Zach Parise up with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. At Thursday’s practice, the Barzal/Horvat duo had a new linemate in captain Anders Lee.
The line of Lee, Brock Nelson, and Kyle Palmieri had been rolling too well to break up after the acquisition of Horvat, but the line has cooled off, with Lee only having an assist since the All-Star Break.
This could be a line the coaching staff was always thinking about, or the injury of JG Pageau is forcing them to try something new. Either way, the combination of Lee and Horvat, two strong-bodied crease dwellers that can deflect the puck with the best in the league, make for intriguing linemates.
“Anders — we think he can provide a little bit more, and we’re looking forward to him doing that,” head coach Lane Lambert said. “He can forecheck extremely hard, and then he goes to the net, and so does Horvat. There’s a dual-threat net presence there, which gives Barzal an opportunity.”
Horvat and Barzal have shown instant chemistry meaning Lee is likely to see an uptick in chances, which had him sounding extra amped after practice.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of chances for all three of us,” Lee said. “It’s exciting. The guys had some pop today. We’ve got a big weekend ahead of us, and it starts tomorrow night. We know the importance of the next few, and I think we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be some hard-nosed hockey.”
A big weekend indeed, and things need to break the Islanders’ way for there to be more big weekends and big games ahead.
Coming up, Andy gets a chance after being dandy in Bridgeport and Matthew Maggio’s crazy OHL ride. Plus, Lane’s goal on Smitty, Offside Tavern is hiring, and Zach Parise is set to reach a rare mark.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: On Thursday, the Islanders placed JG Pageau on injured reserve retroactively to Feb. 11th and recalled Andy Andreoff from Bridgeport. We don’t know the extent of Pageau's injury, but it’s been classified as a lower-body injury. In 56 games, he's scored 10 goals and 29 points and is a team-best 56.5% of faceoff draws this season.
The 31-year-old Andreoff was a 2011 3rd-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings and is having one of his most productive professional seasons, scoring 20 goals and 18 assists in 46 games with AHL Bridgeport.
You can watch his media availability after practice HERE
◾️ WFAN.com’s Peter Schwartz focuses on the dominant OHL season prospect Matthew Maggio is having this year. “I’ve had a crazy ride here in the OHL,” said Maggio during a phone conversation with WFAN.com. “I wasn’t very good my first two years. I was on some great teams where I didn’t really play a lot.”
“What I do for the team is try to score and put up points, and if that helps the team, obviously, it’s great,” said Maggio.
“As far as the draft and going in the fifth round, it didn’t really matter what round. You hear it all the time, guys in the sixth and seventh rounds as well end up making it. Honestly, it’s a foot in the door.”
Maggio’s magical season continued on Thursday as he assisted on Windsor’s first two goals and now has multi-point games in seven of his last eight games.
◾️ Tomorrow is Billy Smith’s Legends night, and NewYorkIslanders.com’s Cory Wright asked Lane Lambert if he ever scored on the Hall-of-Fame goaltender.
“I did score on him,” Lambert said, chuckling. “Well, you know what, I think I did. But I got slashed by him, too.” And here is that goal…
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders open up a back-to-back tonight at home when they welcome Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins to UBS Arena.
Face-off is scheduled at 7:00 PM ET.
📊 STANDINGS: The Florida Panthers doubled up the Washington Capitals 6-3 on Thursday, jumping the Islanders in points, but the Isles have a game-in-hand. New York can go into the second wild card spot with a win tonight.
We’ve kept you up to date on the happenings of Offside Tavern 2.0, set to open in Alphabet City any day now. They. Are. Hiring.
If you can provide great customer service with one eye on the Islanders game, drop owner Nick Costa an e-mail on why you think you should work there.
📚 SOUND SMART: Zach Parise played in his 1,199th NHL game on Tuesday and is set to be the 126th player to appear in 1,200 games later tonight. “It’s a testament to his commitment to the game and to his craft,” Lambert said after practice. “We see it every day.” Parise has 422 career goals, good for 9th among actives, and tied with Owen Nolan for 85th place; Steve Shutt is 84th with 424.
🗓 ISLES REWIND: On February 17, 1992, Tom Fitzgerald scored at 2:55 of overtime in a President’s Day matinee at the Nassau Coliseum as the Islanders came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Winnipeg Jets of 5-4 in overtime.
“My eyes just lit up and there was nobody near me,” Fitzpatrick told Newsday’s Mark Herrmann. “I didn't even see Ray (Ferraro). I was just thinking net, net, net.”
Trailing 3-1 after 40 minutes, the Isles rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the third period on goals by Benoit Hogue, Hubie McDonough, and Steve Thomas. Pierre Turgeon assisted on both Hogue’s and Thomas’ tallies, as he became the first Islander since Mike Bossy (19 in 1983-84) to have a point streak of at least 16.
🔗 Islanders hoping Anders Lee can find groove with Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal by Joe Pantorno, amNewYork “The placing of Jean-Gabriel Pageau on injured reserve has sent the Islanders’ lines back into the blender and Anders Lee found himself practicing with the first line of Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal on Thursday”
🔗 Islanders Struggles Can’t Be Blamed on Lambert Entirely by Mike Fink, The Hockey Writers “It’s easy to assume that head coach Lane Lambert is in the hot seat, and recently, he looks like he’s coaching for his job; he has intensified practice, notably stopping drills and having the team do them again while also shuffling lines in the middle of games and benching players for multiple shifts.”
And we leave you with this…a sneak peek of our upcoming announcement.
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