Isles Day to Day: Practice Update

Following a day off, the Islanders got back on the ice for practice at Northwell Health Ice Center on Monday morning as they prepared for Tuesday's regular season meeting against the Washington Capitals.

REST AND REGROUP

The two days in between games provided the Islanders an opportunity to rest on Sunday and regroup on Monday after suffering two-straight losses to the Caps, including 6-3 result on Saturday night.
At this point in the season - and especially in a jam packed 56-game one - finding a balance between ample rest and time to fine-tune details is crucial.
"It's a bit of a balancing act at this point in the season," Bailey said of practice. "Our staff makes sure that we get plenty of rest. Then, a day like today, we get an opportunity to get out there and work on a couple things. It's good to get out there, get the legs going, get some touches and get ready for tomorrow."
Tweet from @NYIslanders: Practice before heading to Washington. pic.twitter.com/BJHcwepA9c

LINEUP CHANGES

With full attendance at practice on Monday, Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz confirmed that there would be some lineup changes to come during Tuesday's game.
"We're looking at moving some of the lines around," Trotz said. "Obviously, it's a road game for us so they'll have last change. They did a number of things. Part of it was they were able to do those things because we didn't play our game as much as we wanted to play their game. I'm going to have some lineup changes for sure. We're going to add some freshness to it and some urgency in our group."

PREPPING FOR THE LAST REGULAR SEASON MEETING

While most games this season have emulated playoff hockey - with little time and space, tight checking and miniscule margins of error - the regular season series against the Capitals from beginning to end has mirrored the intensity of postseason hockey.
Through seven meetings so far, the Islanders are 2-4-1 in the series while Washington is 5-2-0. The Islanders aren't pleased with their most recent losses to the Caps - who were without captain and leading goal scorer (24) Alexander Ovechkin - and will be seeking vengeance on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.
"They're playoff hockey games, that's the biggest thing," Scott Mayfield said. "We've got to raise our game to another level. It wasn't there the last two games. We know what we have to do. We can take some good things away from the games. Special teams were good, we got power play goals and PK was good when we needed it to. There's things you take away, but at the end of the day you've got to get two points. It's playoff hockey."

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