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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It’s been a next-man-up mentality, but as early as tonight, head coach Patrick Roy will decide which of the ‘next men-up’ are going down (to be scratched).
Alexander Romanov took to the practice ice in Calgary on Monday, and though he’s categorized as a “game-time decision,” he appears likely to return to the lineup tonight for his first action since Nov. 1st in Buffalo.
Romanov’s return means that one of Dennis Cholowski, Grant Hutton, or Isaiah George will be a healthy scratch. Based on the defense pairings in practice, Hutton appears to be the odd man out, at least for now. Romanov was paired with Noah Dobson, George was with Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield skated alongside Cholowski. Three balanced pairs.
Hutton has done what’s been asked of him, even picking up his first two assists of his NHL career last Thursday vs. Vancouver. He’s looked every bit like a capable NHL defenseman. However, the emergence of the 20-year-old George is undeniable, and the fact that he’s averaging over 19 minutes TOI and has played over ~10 minutes more than both Hutton and Cholowski over the last three games indicates that he will be hard to remove from the lineup even when Adam Pelech is ready to return considering Monday’s alarming news with a silver lining about Mike Reilly is going to create an open spot beyond the end of the calendar year.
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