Isles news and notes

Lots of news about the Isles this morning:

Ryan Strome has been returned to the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL.  Strome is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the IceDogs host Belleville.  The IceDogs can use him -- they lost all three games last weekend as Strome spent the first week of the season with the Isles (Per capgeek, he is paid pro-rata on his $925,000 salary for the days he was with the club.  The contract will now roll forward to next season.)  Strome tweeted "Thanks NY for the opportunity and experience.  I loved every minute of it. Cya next year.  Back to Niagara now."

Per Katie, Evgeny Nabakov will back up Al Montoya tonight.  It will be the first time Nabakov dresses for an NHL game (not counting pre-season) since he was the losing goalie in game 4 of the 2010 conference finals against Chicago as the Hawks swept the Sharks (5/23/10).  Nabakov is 7 wins away from becoming only the 26th goaltender in NHL history with 300 wins; his next win will be #294, and will tie him with Mike Liut for 27th all-time. (Ron Hextall has 296 wins).

Rick DiPietro, on the other hand will be re-evaluated.  Doctors have not ruled out a concussion.

Also per Katie, Trevor Gillies is expected to be activated to take Strome's place on the roster.

Reminder -- tonight's game vs Tampa Bay is on MSG (Not MSG +2 as shown on the original schedule, or on MSG+ which is the team's usual home).  The change is a result of the NBA lockout.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick