Afternoon Player Notes in the Playoffs (May 3)

Believe it or not, this series is only going into Game 3, despite getting started good and early.  The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders will finally open up in Brooklyn after a long layoff, series drawn up at 1-1 and there won't be any shortage of fresh legs out there.

Sounds like Josh Bailey is ready to return for the Islanders, which means that Ryan Strome is penciled to come out as a healthy scratch.  Bailey has two selections in the pool, while Strome has three, so if the pool is right... is this the right move for the Islanders?

The expectation is that the goaltending match-up doesn't change at this point... Ben Bishop for the Bolts, Thomas Greiss for the Isles.

San Jose is rolling along after their two wins at home, but this is kind of like what Nashville saw against Anaheim in the opening round, so they likely won't be afraid of dropping two games early, as they know that its possible to come back from it.  Okay, so the Ducks dropped their games at home to the Preds, but still... it's the same principle, just some key details are different.

There are no roster changes expected, as the walking wounded will continue to play for both teams and our starting goalies won't change here either.  Martin Jones and Pekka Rinne, head-to-head, once again.

The Central Division slugfest will continue tonight, this time in the Blues' barn in St. Louis, as the Dallas Stars bring their show on the road, hoping to light the lamp a few more times behind Brian Elliott.

The Blues will get a boost from their own crowd, as they try and grind down those Stars, who want to keep the pace up and their opponents on their heels.  It's a battle of wills in this series and momentum likely won't count for a whole lot, when it comes down to it.

Haven't seen confirmation of it yet, but since there was a Dallas loss, it is assumed that Antti Niemi will take to the Dallas crease again tonight.

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