Good Morning, Islanders Country,
The Islanders (5-4-2) resume their 13-game road trip against the two-time Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, looking to snap a two-game losing streak and gain some positive momentum heading into Saturday’s much-anticipated home-opener at UBS Arena.
Barry Trotz threw us all for a loop on Saturday when he hinted at the idea of changes for the Islanders. It wasn’t the most transparent statement, but we’ll have more on that later. Plus, Andy Greene is set to receive a silver stick, Leo Komarov’s heartfelt goodbye, and Matt Moulson on that time he hung up on Garth Snow.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS
♻️ CHANGES? After losing 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, Trotz stated he is “considering personnel changes” for the Islanders. There were some changes to the lines at Saturday’s practice. Zach Parise moved up to Mathew Barzal’s line, and Josh Bailey skated with J.G. Pageau’s.
INCONSISTENT: “We’re getting two-thirds of our game where we’re playing pretty well and then we’ll have a period where we’re not, or we’ll have 10 minutes,” Trotz said. “We weren’t playing systematic Islander hockey with everybody where you know what you’re getting, first minute to the 60 or 65th minute, you know what you’re getting. That hasn’t been as consistent as I’d like. And probably for the players as well.”
STEP UP: “I said this to the players today, ‘I can’t go around the room and say, geez, we’ve got 80 percent of the guys going right now.’ “We need some guys to all step up.”
GOAL SHORTAGE: “Dating back to last season, goals continue to elude the Islanders,” said The Fourth Period’s, James Nichols. “They currently sit at 27th overall throughout the NHL with 2.45 goals-for per game. On Thursday, the Islanders’ powerplay went 0/3 giving up a short-handed goal in the process, and is a bleak 14.3% on the season. So, changes could be coming to the powerplay units themselves, or to the left and right of Trotz behind the bench.”
😞BAD MEMORIES: Tonight will be the Isles’ first game back at Amalie Arena since their 1-0 Game 7 loss to the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Lightning last June. Chances to make a Stanley Cup Final are rare, and as much as the organization has geared up to make another run, nothing is guaranteed. What particularly stings is that the Islanders would have been favorites with a home-ice advantage against the Montreal Canadiens. It will always feel as if Game 7 stood between them and hoisting the Stanley Cup in the Coliseum’s final season.
CAN’T FORGET: “It’s one of those things you don’t just turn the page and forget,” Josh Bailey said. “That being said, I think you try to use it as a motivator to get yourself back to a position like that. To keep you hungry.”
STICK WITH ME: “There’s things you don’t want to forget,” Trotz said. “You never want to forget the great moments in your life and you don’t want to forget the tough ones, because the tough ones are the ones that get you to have more good ones. For me, I don’t want us to forget that [Game 7]. That will stick with me for a long time.”
REVENGE: “We're not going to get our revenge by winning a game tomorrow night,” said Matt Martin. “But we can start building toward the team we want to be. The focus is a Stanley Cup. It's important for us to start playing better.”
👏 SKATING A THOUSAND: 39-year-old defenseman Andy Greene is set to become the 18th undrafted free agent to reach the 1,000-game milestone when he touches the ice in Tampa Bay.
TENURE: This is Greene’s third season with the Islanders since being acquired by Lou Lamoriello on February 16th, 2020, but due to the pandemic and shortened season, it’s only his Greene’s 77th regular-season game as an Islander.
TIME WITH ISLES: “It seems like it was almost four different seasons ago,” Greene told Newsday earlier this season. “You got the trade, the shutdown, the (playoff) bubble, then we started in January last season, and then the playoffs and the short summer and we’re right back in it.”
BATTLING TO STAY IN: “Not something you think about as you’re starting your career,” he said Saturday. “Like I’ve said multiple times, when you first start off you’re worried about your first game. … You’re battling to stay in. “That’s what I’ve tried to do throughout my whole career. Just kinda scratch and claw and go from here.”
LEARN MORE: To read much more about Andy Greene, the player, the person, and family man, check out this sensational long-read by Sasha Kandrach for NewYorkIslanders.com
⏭ NEXT UP: A back-to-back in the Sunshine State to end the Isles’ 13-game road trip before they finally return home to open up UBS Arena.
📊 STANDINGS:
😢 FOND FAREWELL: Leo Komarov, who was put on unconditional waivers for the purpose of termination last week, posted a goodbye note to his teammates and Islanders fans on Sunday.
Three things stand out:
He states he made the decision to leave for the KHL by himself.
His ‘extra big thank you’ to Lou Lamoriello for helping everyone in the organization become a better person/player.
He signed it ‘Uncle Leo’
💔 HATE TO WATCH YOU LEAVE: Trotz admitted on Sunday that he was “sad that Leo Komarov is leaving the club.”
PART OF THE IDENTITY: “He was a big part of the identity, he had the ability to play with top-end talent and play in a role,” said Trotz. “He was one of those guys who pulled you into the fight as a player,” Trotz said. “One of those guys on the ice who could get people off their game. A big part of the identity (of our team).
MADE HIM SPECIAL: “You talk about chemistry and culture, people that show up every day at work and bring a smile to your face. I’d love to be a player on a team with Leo Komarov. He keeps you laughing — just being Leo, Uncle Leo, that’s what made him special.”
👩🏫 SOUND SMART: Through 11 games with the Islanders, Parise has yet to fill the back of the net. However, the advanced analytics suggest he’s been more unlucky than ineffective. Currently, Parise is third among Islanders skaters in Corsi-for percent (48.76%), first in expected goals-for percent (60.55%), and third in high-danger Corsi-for percent (55.56%, among skaters in 10 or more games thus far.)
🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Islanders 2021 2nd round pick, Aatu Räty, turned 19 on Sunday. He kicked off the last of his teen years playing with the U20 Finnish national team for a November four-team tournament in Sweden. He continues to impress.
You can read more about his performance in the tournament over at Eyes on Isles.
🔗 Isles Coach Trotz Considering “Personnel Changes” by James Nichols, The Fourth Period: “It’s still just 11 games into the 2021-22 season, but Trotz speaking out on the possibility of changes this early speaks volumes to his level of comfortability in what’s been labeled a “cup or bust” season.”
🔗 Andy Greene brings both his skill and sense of togetherness to Islanders by Andrew Gross, Newsday: “Then-Devils boss Lou Lamoriello promised Andy Greene nothing more than a chance coming out of Miami (Ohio) as an undrafted free agent in 2006. That was 999 games and one organization ago."Coming out, that’s all you want, is a chance," Greene said on Saturday after the Islanders’ practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. "I knew if I got a chance, I’d be able to make it, and I was fortunate enough to do that."
🔗 Barry Trotz switches up lines in effort to spark struggling Islanders by Ethan Sears, NY Post: “Drawing conclusions from 11 games is a fool’s errand, even when the factor of a five-week road trip to start the season isn’t in play. And the Islanders haven’t looked particularly bad — even against the Devils, they had more chances in 5-on-5 play. They have, however, looked overwhelmingly average.”
🔗 Islanders’ Andy Greene scratched and clawed way to doorstep of 1,000th game by Ethan Sears, NY Post: “Yeah, I won’t be getting to that number,” Greene said of Zdeno Chara’s 1,619 career games. “I promise you that. It’s unbelievable. It’s remarkable.”It served as a good reminder of a couple things: the collective age of the wizened Islanders and the minor miracle that Chara can still put on skates. It also served to let you forget about Greene, whose career is in its swan song on the Island after putting in 14 years with the Devils.”
And we leave you with this…it comes as no surprise that Matt Moulson was unhappy to be traded from the Islanders to the Buffalo Sabres for Thomas Vanek in 2014. Appearing on the Splittin’ Chiclets podcast, Moulson told the story of when Garth Snow called him to break the news. It was not a long conversation.
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