NHL Picks: Islanders bounce back against injured Lightning – CBSSports.com
Welcome to the NHL Daily Picks where hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters make their selections for all of the day’s games.
New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 p.m. ET
When we last checked in with the New York Islanders they were getting crushed on their home ice on Saturday afternoon in a game that pretty much all of them knew was embarrassing. It wouldn’t be fair to say that the Islanders’ playoff spot is in jeopardy at this point (the only team on the outside that can knock them out is three points behind them and only has three games to play; the Islanders still have five games to play), but they aren’t really going into the playoffs playing strong hockey.
The team enters Monday’s game just 5-7-1 in its past 13 games, while giving up 42 goals during that stretch. Injuries to starting goalie Jaroslav Halak and then Travis Hamonic, one of their top defensemen, have certainly not helped them at this point.
But when it comes to injuries, perhaps no team heading into the postseason has been hit harder by injuries to key players than the Islanders’ Monday night opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Already playing without their second best defenseman, Anton Stralman, after he fractured his leg in a recent game against the Islanders, but they found out over the weekend that their best forward, Steven Stamkos, is going to be sidelined for 1-3 months due to a blood clot issue in his right arm. Both of those players could miss the entire postseason. And this as the Lightning have won 15 of their past 22 games to get back into contention for the top spot in the Atlantic Divison. No matter how good the rest of your team is — and the rest of the Lightning team is pretty good — you can not just simply replace two players of that ability.
Even though these are two teams that have been going in opposite directions in the standings over the past few weeks, and both have their share of big injuries, the ones in Tampa Bay are a bit more significant at this point. Even without Hamonic on their blue line the Islanders still have Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk to play the big minutes on defense, while Thomas Greiss has a .924 save percentage in 38 games this season in net. They come back from Saturday’s disappointing performance and pick up the two points. Pick: New York Islanders 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 3
The rest of Monday’s picks
Rangers 4, Blue Jackets 1
Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 1
John Tavares and the New York Islanders could use a win on Monday night. (USATSI)