Islanders Gameday News: Back home after a long time away

The longest road trip of the season is over, and the Isles host St. Louis tonight.

There’s nothing like home cooking. After two weeks on the road taking them all over the Pacific Northwest, Canadian prairies, and back east to Detroit, the New York Islanders are back on Long Island hosting Dom’s St. Louis Blues to close out the season series with them.

Back in October when the Islanders visited the Blues, they couldn’t score a goal against Joel Hofer, costing them the extra point and wasting a brilliant performance from Ilya Sorokin. They’ve also scored only four goals in the last three games. Here’s hoping they can break the dam tonight.

FIG picks go here.

Islanders News

• A preview of tonight’s game.
• No lineup changes, and Sorokin is probably starting.

• A new episode of Island Ice, called “Groundhog Day.” That sounds about right.
• Andrew Gross also has three takeaways from the road trip. For example, they do not look like a playoff team at the moment and thus need to consider trading Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri if they don’t sign by the deadline. [Newsday]
• It’s always the same thing with this team, leaving us with only blind hope. [NY Po$t+]
• If only Cole Eiserman could step in right now and score goals the way he is as a freshman. He notched two more goals last night, and they were clutch goals: the tying goal about four minutes into the third period and then the eventual game-winner seven minutes later. [THN]
• Stefen Rosner asks the question: With seemingly no combination working on the fourth line, should the Islanders bring Cal Clutterbuck back? [THN]

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores include only two games: the Jets beating the Penguins on the road, and the Sabres coming back from down 2-0 to steal an overtime win from the Ducks.

• Connor Bedard is off to a bit of a sophomore slump to start the season, scoring only three goals so far and none in almost a month, but he hopes to break the funk soon. [NHL]
• Our old friend and new Seattle Kraken captain crashed into the boards last week and needed hip surgery, the recovery from which will last three months. Get well soon old friend; I’ll always have a soft spot for Ebs, and he should’ve never been made available in the expansion draft. [NHL]
• Building a roster with guys who have been healthy scratched this season, which includes some pretty good players. [Sportsnet]
• Jumbo Joe Thornton, one of the best players that I have had the fortune of watching since I was a little kid, will have his No. 19 retired by the Sharks tonight. [NHL]
• His banner will join his running mate Patrick Marleau’s in the rafters in the Shark Tank, which is only right since the two future Hall-of-Famers will be inextricably linked forever. It’s really a shame that San Jose team never won a Cup; they were one of the most dominant teams for almost two decades, most of my hockey-watching life. [NHL]