Tonight is a night that all Islanders fans have been waiting for since July 1st.  The Islanders are in Toronto to take on John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first of three meetings between the two teams this season.
Both teams played last night and defeated their opponents.  The Maple Leafs were in Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets and the Islanders were in Brooklyn to face-off against the Ottawa Senators.
The Maple Leafs defeated the Blue Jackets thanks to, you guessed it, John Tavares, who scored twice en route to a 4-2 win.  The Islanders, on the other hand, defeated the Senators 6-3 after trailing 3-1 at one point.  Mat Barzal put up three points (two goals, one assist).
After the game last night, Barry Trotz was asked about how the Islanders are going to approach tomorrows (tonight) game.  His reply was exactly what Isles fans wanted to hear.
”I know John’s decision was personal…he’s got a bunch of close friends in the room but at the same time the guys gotta have a little bit of hurt because he decided he didn’t have to have them as teammates anymore.”
In other news, Jordan Eberle has been placed on the IR and Michael Dal Colle has been called up from Bridgeport.
Islanders Lines:
Lee-Nelson-Ho-Sang
Beauvillier-Barzal-Bailey
Kuhnhackl-Filppula-Komarov
Martin-Cizikas-Johnston
Leddy-Boychuk
Pelech-Pulock
Toews-Mayfield
Lehner
Maple Leafs Lines:
Johnsson-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen
Brown-Kadri-Nylander
Lindholm-Gauthier-Moore
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Ozhiganov
Sparks
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