NFT: Islanders - Devils 7pm Game Thread

Cappy to address media at 5:30 with lineups, so no confirmation of netminder. Nilsson is expected to get the start.

Probable lines: Lee-Nielsen-Bailey, Persson-Nelson-Strome,
McDonald-Cizikas-Martin, Gallant-Halmo-Johnson

Another day, another rookie. 32 year old journeyman Justin Johnson has been called up from BPT to replace Johan Sundstrom who spent the night in the hospital in Montreal following last night's game. Humble native Alaskan; he came to Halmo's first game as an Islander at NVMC but refused to enter the players' lounge since he wasn't part of the team. Now he gets to. Another "reward" callup for a long career in the minors (5 seasons in the ECHL, 4 in the AHL).

From Isles statistician Eric Hornick:

Quote:

Johnson will be the 14th rookie (13 skaters + Anders Nilsson) to appear in a game this season for the Isles and the 7th to make his NHL debut since the Olympic break. The Isles used 15 rookies in 2009-10 but three of them were goalies, so the 13 rookie skaters is their most since they also used 13 rookie skaters in 2008-09.

And for those that like to see arrogance humbled (maybe it's just me living in the DC area and I constantly hear the know-nothing Caps fans talk a lot of smack), here's a link to a rare good, objective article from the Washington Post on the deep-seeded problems in the Caps organization: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/capitals/washington-capitals-problems-began-long-before-their-playoff-streak-ended/2014/04/11/3fc8ede6-c0f5-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html