Islanders Battle League's Best As the Capitals Visit Brooklyn

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ISLANDERS BATTLE LEAGUE’S BEST AS THE CAPITALS VISIT BROOKLYN Posted by Mark Weiner on Jan 7, 2016 15:15

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Islanders Battle League’s Best as Enter your email address to subscribe Capitals Visit Brooklyn to Islanders Insight and receive notifications of new posts by email. When: Thursday, January 7, 2016 Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY [email protected] Time: 7:00 PM EST TV: MSG + (Howie Rose, Butch Goring) Subscribe Radio: WNYE 91.5 FM, WRHU 88.7 FM and WRCN 103.9 FM (Chris King, Greg Picker)

The New York Islanders will have a chance to beat one of the league’s best squads for the second consecutive game as the Washington Capitals visit Brooklyn for the first time this season. Washington leapfrogged the Dallas Stars for the NHL’s top spot after the Stars dropped three in a row including a 6-5 loss to the Islanders.

The Islanders and Capitals have not played since last season’s exciting playoff series that went the distance. The division rivals met four times in the regular season last year and three of the four contests needed overtime. “After a playoff series like the one we had last year, it kind of builds that rivalry feeling.” Matt Martin told WRHU at Wednesday’s Islanders practice.

The Capitals currently have a healthy division lead, 12 points in front of the second place Islanders and have only lost seven games in regulation during the 2015-16 campaign. Since the last time these two teams met, the Capitals added two notable right handed forwards, T.J Oshie and Justin Williams.

“They are a heck of hockey team,” Kyle Okposo recently told WRHU. “They are probably the best team in the league right now. We have to make sure we come http://islandersinsight.com/islanders/islanders-battle-leagues-best-once-again.html 1/7 4/7/2016 Islanders Battle League's Best as the Capitals Visit Brooklyn - out and play our game.”

Starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak was recently activated off injured reserve and will be in net for the first time since December 21 against the Ducks. The Slovakian net minder is 10-6-3 on the year with a 2.09 goals against average.

“He had a good practice (on Wednesday),” Capuano said. “He’s feeling well. It’s a good sign that he was on the ice early and went through a full practice with no problems.”

Players To Watch

Islanders- Nick Leddy – The smooth skating defenseman has recorded points in five straight games, including his first goal of the season against Pittsburgh. In the last game against Dallas, he recorded two points in a game for the third time this season. With Johnny Boychuk out of the lineup for the next four to six weeks, Leddy will be one of the key players asked to fill the void.

Capitals – Braden Holtby – The recently named all-star has been phenomenal for the Capitals this season. He is 25-4-2 and a 1.93 GAA, which is second in the league. Over the last 19 games Holtby has a record of 17-0-2. He is the first goaltender to have earned a point in at least 19 straight decisions since Roberto Luongo had points in 21 straight games in the 2010-11 season. Washington has been known for its offensive fire power in recent years but this season, Holtby has taken them to new heights.

Game Notes

-Jack Capuano will coach his 400th regular season NHL game. Since Tom Coughlin resigned as Giants head coach, Capuano is the 2nd longest tenured coach in New York behind Joe Girardi of the Yankees.

-Capitals forward Zach Sill has been suspended for two games by the league for boarding Bruins D-man Adam McQuaid in their last game.

-Washington agreed to a one year contract with forward Mike Richards formerly of the Los Angeles Kings. Richards’ contract was terminated over the summer for what the team called a breach in contract. The 30-year-old met with the NHL and was cleared to resume his NHL career. Last season, Richards had 16 points in 53 games with Los Angeles and averaged 13:22 of ice-time.

Lineup (Projected)

Forwards

Anders Lee– John Tavares – Josh Bailey

Kyle Okposo– Frans Nielsen – Nikolai Kulemin

Brock Nelson – Mikhail Grabovski – Ryan Strome

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck

Defensemen $ SAVE 71% | 29.99 Nick Leddy – Travis Hamonic Free shipping

Calvin de Haan – Adam Pelech New York Islanders Cuce Thomas Hickey – Marek Zidlicky Shoes Women's Enthusiast II Rain Boots – Black Goalies

Jaroslav Halak (Starter) X 00:11 $ Thomas Greiss

Injured: Jean-Francois Berube (lower body) Johnny Boychuk (upper body) Want to see more deals like this? Download benjamin app today. Scratched: Steve Bernier, Eric Boulton, Brian Strait

CAPITALS (Projected) http://islandersinsight.com/islanders/islanders-battle-leagues-best-once-again.html Islanders Insight Twitter 2/7 4/7/2016 Islanders Battle League's Best as the Capitals Visit Brooklyn - Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie Islanders Insight Twitter

Andre Burakovsky – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Justin Williams Tweets by @IslesInsight Jason Chimera – Marcus Johansson – Tom Wilson Islanders Insight Brooks Laich – Michael Latta – Stanislav Galiev @IslesInsight The Insanity of Losing on Purpose, Why Islanders Matt Niskanen – Karl Alzner Must Win ift.tt/1oFCOHs #isles

Dmitry Orlov – Nate Schmidt

Aaron Ness – Taylor Chorney

Braden Holtby (projected starter)

Philipp Grubauer

Injured: Brooks Orpik (lower body), John Carlson (lower body), Jay Beagle (upper body) 2h Scratched: Ryan Stanton, Mike Richards Islanders Insight Suspended: Zach Sill @IslesInsight

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