The Islanders are 8-3 as they look to close out the month on a high.
The Islanders are finally back on the road for their third meeting of the month with the Philadelphia Flyers. The teams split the previous two meetings on Long Island, but now the Isles are looking to close out a month in which they’re 8-3 thus far.
Philadelphia is playing the second (but little travel) end of a back-to-back after losing badly in Newark last night, splitting a home-and-home with their neighbors.
The Isles, of course, have a shocking five-game win streak on the line and have won 8 of their last 10. The Flyers are one point ahead of them (but have played three more games) and are one of several teams standing between them and the wild card that they’re not going to get.
First Islanders Goal picks go here.
Islanders News
- Old friend Nick Leddy, on the IR with the Blues, gave Scott Perunovich some encouragement about the opportunity on Long Island. [Newsday]
- Perunovich said all the usual/right things. Patrick Roy says he’ll get some power play time, though of course there were none on Tuesday. [Isles]
- Roy said Perunovich had a really good debut; the newcomer felt he had a slow start but came around with help from teammates. [Post]
- The Skinny: “The Islanders extended the longest active winning streak in the NHL” are not words I expected to read at any point this season. [Isles]
- Momentum, despite the major injuries, has the Isles in a strange place. [Newsday]
- Island Ice podcast: “Did the Isles just save their season?” (No. No, they did not.) [Newsday]
- If you did not access or endure the ESPN broadcast the other night, John Buccigross said Brock Nelson signing with the Wild this summer is “like the worst kept secret in hockey.” [THN]
- Cal Clutterbuck is enjoying his turns on the MSG broadcast, and his former teammates are enjoying the fact it’s something he always said he’d never want to do. (I’ve been enjoying Shannon Hogan razz him a bit on recent broadcasts, too.) [Isles]
- Yesterday in Isles history: That freezing Yankee Stadium game and Trottier hits 1,000 points. [Isles]
Elsewhere
Last night’s NHL scores included the Flyers getting stomped 5-0 by the Hughes Devils.
- The Elias Pettersson rift is hilarious drama that appears beyond fixing, somehow, as management lead Jim Rutherford publicly acknowledges. [Globe & Mail]
- That kind of bombshell reflects just how poorly the Canucks have handled communications about this. [Vancouver Is Awesome]
- J.T. Miller had no comment on all that. [Sportsnet]
- Utah will hold an in-game vote for their name and logo. It’s presumably non-binding, like a Russian election. [NHL]
- After a catastrophic preseason ankle injury, Drew Doughty made his season debut. [NHL]
- Brandon Saad was waived by the Blues, but rather than report to the AHL he agreed to a contract termination with $5 million left on his contract. Thankfully he’s not a defenseman. [NHL]
- After six straight losses, Phillipp Grubauer is placed on waivers by Seattle. [NHL]
- Tough break, Cous’. Nick Cousins is out 6-8 weeks. [TSN]