Saturday, December 1, 2018 – 7:00 EST
NYCB Live: Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (that’s seriously what it’s called now), Uniondale, NY
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 102.5 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Lighthouse Hockey
Columbus Blue Jackets (15-8-2, 32 points, 2nd Metro, 5th East)
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New York Islanders (12-9-3, 27 points, 5th Metro, 9th East)
In April 2015, the Islanders played what everyone thought was their final regular season game at Nassau Coliseum. The opponent? Our Columbus Blue Jackets, who won in a shootout. Tonight marks the return of the Isles to Nassau as they split time between that renovated barn and Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn while their new arena is built. Let’s get funky!
(Side note: this clip is a perfect demonstration of how Blues Brothers 2000 is a stupid and bad film, but also how much the soundtrack bangs.)
Player to Watch
Thomas Greiss
A big part of the Islanders’ success this season is their ability to keep opponents from scoring. Collectively, their goaltending tandem of Greiss and Robin Lehner have a 5v5 save percentage of .931, good for 4th in the league. Overall, Greiss is 8-4-1 in 13 starts with a 2.45 GAA and .925 save percentage. Lehner played on Thursday, which is why I expect Greiss tonight.
Jackets Notes
ICYMI, the Blue Jackets won their last game on Thursday night…The big question tonight is whether Oliver BJORKSTRAND did enough to stay in the lineup, or whether Anthony Duclair will return…After a 12 game drought, Artemi Panarin has scored goals in two straight games. Riley Nash ended a drought of his own on Thursday, scoring his first goal as a Blue Jacket…We have Cleveland Monsters hockey on TV this afternoon! They play on Sportstime Ohio at 1 p.m. and the game thread is here.
The Other Bench
No one expected much from the Islanders after the departure of longtime captain John Tavares, but here they are in contention for a wild card berth. That may not last, but there is still forward talent on the roster, led by Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal. Credit to new coach Barry Trotz. It will be interesting to see what new GM Lou Lamoriello does next offseason. He’s expected to pursue one or both of our pending Russian free agents…New York also played on Thursday, but lost in a shootout to Boston.
Season Series
12/01/2018 CBJ @ NYI
02/14/2019 NYI @ CBJ
03/11/2019 CBJ @ NYI
03/26/2019 NYI @ CBJ
Stats
| NY Islanders | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.00 (17) | GPG | 3.52 (6) |
| 2.83 (12) | GAPG | 3.16 (21) |
| 16.0% (24) | PP% | 17.1% (22) |
| 77.9% (21) | PK% | 78.7% (18) |
| 45.92% (28) | EV Corsi % | 49.05% (20) |
| 103.3 (2) | EV PDO | 101.2 (8) |
| Brock Nelson, 9 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 16 |
| Mathew Barzal, 18 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 20 |
| Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey, 21 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 27 |
| Cal Clutterbuck, 26/td> | PIM Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 32 |
| 6-3-2 | Home / Road | 8-4-1 |
| 4-5-1 | Last 10 | 7-2-1 |
Projected Lineups
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Boone Jenner | Josh Anderson |
| Brandon Dubinsky | Alexander Wennberg | Oliver BJORKSTRAND |
| Lukas Sedlak | Riley Nash | Markus Hannikainen |
| Zack Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Ryan Murray | Markus Nutivaara |
| Scott Harrington | David Savard |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Anthony Beauviller | Mathew Barzal | Josh Bailey |
| Anders Lee | Brock Nelson | Jordan Eberle |
| Tom Kuhnhackl | Valtteri Filppula | Leo Komarov |
| Matt Martin | Casey Cizikas | Cal Clutterbuck |
| Nick Leddy | Johnny Boychuk |
| Thomas Hickey | Ryan Pulock |
| Adam Pelech | Scott Mayfield |
| Thomas Greiss |
| Robin Lehner |