The Blue & White Scrimmage

The Islanders met the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the Blue & White scrimmage tonight in front of an estimated 2,500 fans (Arthur Staple).  Team Blue was made up of a mostly Isles roster while Team White was comprised of the Sound Tigers with Ryan Strome and Griffin Reinhart.  It was a tightly contested game, going back and forth on the score board.  The game ended in regulation by the score of 5-3 White, and a final score of 6-5 win for the Blue Islanders team, winning the shootout 3-0.  Nabokov and DiPietro switched nets half way through the contest to play with both squads.

While the Sound Tigers have gone 38 games into the season and have their team chemistry and routines in tact, the Islanders have only been together a couple of days and will only get a couple more until Saturday's opener vs. the New Jersey Devils.  Special teams were the difference in the game and need to be a focus of Isles camp.

For the Sound Tigers, I thought Nino Neiderreiter, Matt Donovan, Aaron Ness, Chad Costello, Johan Sundstrom, Ty Wishart and Griffin Reinhart stood out.  I also liked the play of Mike Halmo and Brett Gallant.  Jack Combs and Scott Campbell contributed in a big way.

For the Islanders, Matt Moulson, David Ullstrom, Kyle Okposo, Casey Cizikas, Colin McDonald and Jon Landry.  Newcomers, Thomas Hickey and Joe Finley played really well.

Rick DiPietro started the game strong making some big saves, including quite a few sprawling saves going side to side in the shootout.  Evgeni Nabokov looked comfortable, composed and ready for the season.


Per islanders.nhl.com:

Blue Team

Forwards
26 Matt Moulson - 91 John Tavares - 21 Kyle Okposo
40 Michael Grabner - 51 Frans Nielsen - 24 Brad Boyes
41 David Ullstrom - 53 Casey Cizikas - 13 Colin McDonald
17 Matt Martin - 16 Marty Reasoner - 36 Eric Boulton

Defensemen
2 Mark Streit - 4 Radek Martinek
47 Andrew MacDonald - 3 Travis Hamonic
14 Thomas Hickey - 7 Matt Carkner
52 Joe Finley - 43 Jon Landry

White Team

Forwards
22 Nino Niederreiter - 29 Brock Nelson - 10 Ryan Strome
42 Brandon DeFazio - 28 Johan Sundstrom - 16 Sean Backman
40 Mike Halmo - 4 Scott Campbell - 20 Blair Riley
44 Brett Gallant - 18 Chad Costello - 5 Jack Combs

Defensemen
46 Matt Donovan - 6 Ty Wishart
27 Aaron Ness - 8 Nathan McIver
72 Griffin Reinhart - 2 Dallas Jackson

 

 

Per Neil Sheely ,Lubomir Visnovsky said he looks forward to reporting to the NYI after tending to "personal reasons" which have kept him from reporting.  Matias Strozyk adds, Visnovsky "I've asked permission to play for Slovan for the next 2 weeks. If I don't get it, I'll just practice in Bratislava." - pluska.sk, "I still can't fly, need to stay for at least 2 wks. My son has health issues. Nothing serious, but recovery will take a while."

NHL Notes:

 

Here is a list of available free agents via NHL.com.

Other Notes:

Today marks the 112th Birthday of Frank Zamboni. The Inventor of the modern ice resurfacing machine.