Isles Day to Day: Palmieri Takes Maintenance Day

In the midst of their first two-day break since March 8-9, the New York Islanders held a practice in Raleigh, NC on Thursday afternoon.
Kyle Palmieri was the lone Islander to not skate in the team practice on Thursday, as the forward took a maintenance day and is expected to be available for Friday's game, per Head Coach Barry Trotz.
Palmieri has 27 points (13G, 14A) in 56 games this season for the Islanders, with 20 points (12G, 8A) coming in 27 games since Feb. 15, tied for fourth on the team in that span.

Coincidentially, April 7 marked the one year anniversary of Palmieri's acquisition by the Islanders, as he and forward Travis Zajac were picked up from the New Jersey Devils.
"He's hard on pucks. He's got the real good release. He's good on the walls. He can he can make plays under duress," Trotz said of Palmieri. "Those are things that you saw in the playoffs. I didn't see them really at the start of the year as much as you have in the second half. And he's a real important piece in terms of being able to play against. He plays in almost every situation, he's he's killed penalties a little bit this year, which, you know, we didn't have him do before and you know, he's an important piece culturally, because he's a hard player, and he usually plays the right way."