After Cup final, Trotz gets another chance to tame the Golden Knights
Seeing the man behind the opposing bench Wednesday night at Barclays Center may have served up some cold sweats for the visiting Golden Knights.
Barry Trotz earned that right after he guided the Capitals in shutting down the expansion team last season in the Stanley Cup finals.
Nobody had been able to tame the Golden Knights in their inaugural playoff run until Trotz’s club did in his final feat before taking over as the Islanders’ head coach. Vegas was 12-3 in the postseason before losing to the Caps in five games.
“I just think once we figured out [goalie] Marc-Andre [Fleury], that really got them thinking a little bit and backed them off a little bit,” Trotz said. “I can’t give you the real secret … but that was one of them. But once we got Marc-Andre to feel like he was mortal again, then we had a chance.”
Josh Ho-Sang’s season debut will have to wait. The polarizing winger was a healthy scratch for the second straight game since being summoned Sunday from AHL Bridgeport.
Leo Komarov missed the team’s morning skate with what Trotz described as “stiffness” — opening the possibility for Ho-Sang to play — but the veteran remained in the lineup, relegating Ho-Sang to street clothes.
When and if he does get a chance to play his first NHL game since last Dec. 14, the 22-year-old Ho-Sang said he won’t feel the need to make his case in his first stint under new management.
“I’m not here to prove anything, really,” he said. “I just want to step on the ice and have some fun.”
In 26 games with Bridgeport this year, Ho-Sang had recorded two goals and 20 assists. While general manager Lou Lamoriello said Sunday he needed to shoot more, Ho-Sang described finding that balance as “a process.”
“Sometimes I wonder why there needs to be so much balance,” he said. “I think if you have an exceptional playmaker and he creates, he should be with guys who can score. I think it goes hand in hand.”
Robin Lehner entered Wednesday getting the Jacob deGrom treatment from the Islanders. In his previous two starts, against the Bruins and Penguins, the goalie had allowed just one goal in each game before taking the loss in a shootout both nights.
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“He’s that pitcher in baseball who is pitching very well and not getting any run support. That’s on us, that’s not on Robin,” Trotz said. “He’s doing his job.”
Jordan Eberle and Cal Clutterbuck both left the third period of Monday night’s loss to the Penguins with injuries, but after taking the off day Tuesday to recover, both said they were feeling fine and returned to the lineup.
Tom Kuhnackl, meanwhile, missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury.