The New York Islanders have been without first-year Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin for the last five games, as he's been unavailable after having to nurse an injury. However, there's good news to be shared on that front.
Drouin was a participant in Islanders practice for the second straight day, and according to the man himself, he'll be ready to play when the Islanders take the ice on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team he broke into the NHL with.
“I'll be ready to go tomorrow, I'm excited about that,” he said via NHL.com.
New York finds themselves only a single point out of a first-place tie for first place in the Metropolitan Division, and Drouin attributes it to the players buying in to Islanders head coach Patrick Roy‘s system.
“I think our system works and guys have bought into what we do,” he said. “We have an identity where we're more hard to play against, and we have more offense than people think. It doesn't matter who's playing on the lines, we still create a lot of chances and play our game.”
The Islanders and Lightning are scheduled to drop the puck on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Jonathan Drouin is playing in his first season as an Islander
Drouin, whom the Islanders signed to a two-year, $8 million contract over the offseason, has been a positive addition to a squad that has taken the rest of the NHL by surprise.
He explained that when he was deciding on his next NHL home after not being retained by the Colorado Avalanche, he liked what he saw from the Islanders lineup.
“On paper when I looked at the team, I liked what I saw,” he said. “Obviously last year, they had a lot of injuries, Barzy (Mat Barzal) missed 60 games. But if you look at the whole team from top to bottom and the two goalie we have, the defensemen and the forwards, there's a lot of good things that can happen with a team like that. We're off to a good start and gotta keep it going.”
Drouin, who is playing in his first season with the Islanders, has scored three goals while adding 12 assists.
