New York 'Islander' Aston-Reese carving niche

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — From the subterranean visitor’s locker room to the short walk — or in some players' cases on Monday, bus ride — from the team hotel, about a four-iron across the parking lot, many of the Penguins who entered the NHL prior to 2015 have some memories of the Nassau Coliseum.

As the Penguins’ only native New Yorker, Zach Aston-Reese’s connection to the Islanders’ former, and now part-time, home is a little more personal.

When Zach was a teen, the Aston-Reese family of Staten Island, N.Y., would make the 40 mile trip out to the Coliseum to watch the Penguins, his father’s hometown team, play the Islanders.

Though the Islanders of the late aughts weren’t exactly the dynastic teams of the early ‘80s with Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, it was the NHL and it's where he wanted to go. The building, dilapidated as it was back then, still holds some mystique to Aston-Reese.

Tonight’s game will be the first he actually plays in the Coliseum, now named NYCB Live after reopening its doors last year following an extensive 18-month, $165 million renovation. The thing that stood out to Aston-Reese on Monday was that the seat colors have changed. 

"I like the small atmosphere, it'll be cool," Aston-Reese was saying after the morning skate. "It's a little weird with the black seats, lose the puck a little bit. But I'm sure it'll be different when everyone's in here."

The Islanders will play 20 games this season at the 13,900-seat Coliseum, which is now the smallest NHL building by capacity. They will play their other 21 home dates at Brooklyn's Barclays Center while construction is under way for the team's permanent home near Belmont Park, about 14 miles to the west of Uniondale.

And, rest assured, Aston-Reese will have family and friends in the stands tonight. In addition to his father, who's here as part of the Penguins' dad's trip, Aston-Reese says he's had to buy nine other tickets. 

If Saturday night’s game in Ottawa is any indication, they’re coming at a pretty good time for Aston-Reese, who turned in perhaps his strongest performance to date in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Senators. 

Playing on the third line with Derick Brassard and Bryan Rust, Aston-Reese threw his weight around with abandon and even had to take a hit to make a nice carom pass to spring Rust on an odd-man break. He played 15:45, registered two shots on goal and tied for the team-high with four hits.

About the only thing Aston-Reese didn’t do was score a goal. That had been something he’d done three times in six previous games against the Senators, including the first two of his carer last Feb. 13, just five games into his NHL career.

Aston-Reese was originally called up last winter after Conor Sheary went on IR, but he quickly found himself taking the place of Patric Hornqvist after the power forward went down with a lower body injury.

The 2017 Hobey Baker finalist saw some ice time on the top line with Crosby and even as the net-front presence, Hornqvist’s job, on what was the league’s top power play unit last season.

“Having a chance to play with those top guys, Geno or Sid, it's always exciting knowing that you’re going to get a few chances a game, a few grade-A chances a game,” Aston-Reese told me. “It’s just a matter of being ready and bearing down, and putting those opportunities in.”

Well, Hornqvist is out again, he'll miss his fifth game in the last two weeks due to either a concussion or upper body injury. He's still day-to-day, per Mike Sullivan, but is making progress. 

Even if Hornqvist played it's doubtful that Aston-Reese would see much time on the power play. Since being recalled Nov. 6, Aston-Reese has been used only sparingly with the man advantage, just 2:25 all season, 29 seconds of it Saturday vs. the Senators.

Jake Guentzel, who endured a particularly dry spell last February, has been filling in for Hornqvist on the top power play unit while Brassard and Tanner Pearson have since solidified spots on the second unit. 

Sullivan says it’s a matter of managing minutes for Aston-Reese and his team.

“We happen to think Zach's a real good penalty killer, so depending on how the minutes play out and who we have at our disposal with the personnel we have right now, our second power play, for example with Brassard, Guentzel and whether it be Pears(on) -- Pears is a good net-front guy, as well — it gives us the ability to spread the workload across the different aspects of our overall team game.”

Indeed, in year two, Aston-Reese has emerged as a fixture in the bottom six and on the league’s seventh ranked penalty kill. He is averaging 1:55 per game shorthanded while adding 46 hits and nine blocks to go along with his two goals and an assist in all situations.

“When I was at Northeastern, that was kind of my role,” he said. “Started out on the fourth line killing penalties. It's something I take pride in and enjoy doing.” 

Time will tell if Aston-Reese evolves into a top-six power forward, but as a guy with 31 games experience, he’s not going to argue.

“Whatever’s going to help the team win,” he says. “I know it's cliche, but someone has to do the dirty work. It’s helped get me to where I'm at today.”  

THE ESSENTIALS

• Media notes

• Team statistics

• NHL scoreboard

• NHL standings

THE INJURIES

• Penguins: Hornqvist, right winger, is still out with an upper body injury sustained last Thursday vs. the Islanders. Sullivan said on Monday that he is still day-to-day but making progress. Hornqvist skated briefly before the start of the skate. ... Dominik Simon, forward, will miss his third game with a lower body injury sustained Tuesday. ... Matt Murray, goalie, is out longer term with a lower body injury … Matt Cullen, center, is out longer term with a lower-body injury. ... Both Cullen and Murray skated on their own again on Monday, prior to their teammates and then stayed on for the skate. ... Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.

• Islanders: Andrew Ladd, forward, is on IR with a lower body injury. He's been out since Nov. 15, missing nine games.

THE SKATE

• Nobody has more or better memories of playing the Islanders than Crosby. In 65 career games against them, many of which were played on the Island, he has 113 points, his most against any opponent.

"It's different being at this end, this was usually where the home teams was," he said Monday in the new visitor's locker room. "Good to be back here. It's always a great atmosphere."

More important than the commendations, though, is the ice. No one seemed to have any issue with it.

"It was pretty good," Crosby said when I'd asked. "For probably not getting a ton of use, it was good."

• Once again, Casey DeSmith was the first goalie off the ice. He'll make his fifth straight start.

• Matt Murray skated on his own prior to practice and then hung around for the skate.

Matt Murray skating on his own this AM. #dkps #penguins pic.twitter.com/PTixwloXGx

— Chris Bradford (@PghBradford) December 10, 2018

Sullivan said the goalie is making "significant progress." His return would appear to be imminent with a strong chance that he starts one of this weekend's back-to-back home games against the Bruins on Friday or the Kings on Saturday.

• Cullen also stayed on the ice for the skate and wore a grey, non-contact jersey.

• Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel will be scratched once again. Riikola, who has become a spare part since the acquisition of Marcus Pettersson, will miss his fifth in a row. That's nothing compared to Ruhwedel, who hasn't dressed since Nov. 19.

• Riley Sheahan had been to the old Coliseum once before but did not play that night. Having played for the Red Wings at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, he has an appreciation for the old building.

"You look at the banners and see a lot of history here," he said. "It's very similar to the Joe, and know that this rink has held a lot of cool moments, especially in hockey history. It's got a lot of character."

• If the Penguins can repeat Saturday's performance in Ottawa, save for the final score, Sullivan will gladly take it. He said his staff tracked just eight scoring chances against in the OT loss to the Senators.

"That's a pretty solid effort on both sides of the puck," he said. "The biggest part of it was our control of the puck and our control of territory for most of the game. There's a few areas where we think can be a little better and get a little more out of our zone time, and we'll point that out, but there's a lot of that game we liked. But there's little things we can control, like the overtime, when we have to do a better job with our discipline and our details."

• Among all the father's who are on the dad's trip, one stands out: Richard Oleksiak. At 6-foot-8, he's actually an inch taller than his son Jamie. Richard played tight end in college but gave up football to "become a hippie," according to his son. The Oleksiaks are a family of athletes. Jamie's sister Penny, who is 6-foot-1, won four medals in swimming at the Rio Olympics.

• Even though Pettersson's new to the team, his dad also made the trip from Skelleftea, Sweden. Prior to being traded from Anaheim for Daniel Sprong last week, his mother had visited the U.S. as part of the Ducks' mom's trip that included stops in Nashville, Tampa and Sunrise, Fla.

THE OTHER SIDE

• Barry Trotz's team held its skate at the Northwell Health Ice Center, their Long Island practice facility, just on the other side of the Meadowbrook State Parkway.

• The Islanders will have Josh Ho-Sang available to them but it remains to be seen if the prospect will see action. He was recalled from Bridgeport on Sunday after Tom Kuhnhackl suffered an undisclosed injury during Saturday's morning skate in Detroit and was unable to play that night. Kuhnhackl will be a game-time decision.

The 28th overall pick in 2014, Ho-Sang has appeared in 43 games over the past two seasons, putting up 22 points (six goals, 16 assists).

• After missing the last two games with an undisclosed injury, Robin Lehner will get the start in goal.

• The Islanders are hoping to build off their emotional 3-2 win over the Red Wings, a game in which Anders Lee was leveled by a booming hit from Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall. The Islanders immediately came to the defense of Lee, who was bloodied but returned later.

"It was awesome to see, a big character win," said Lee, Sheahan's former Notre Dame teammate. "Shows a lot of what we have in this room and how we believe in each other."

• After losing 6-2 to the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena last Thursday, the Islanders are 2-1 vs. Pittsburgh this season and can win the season series for the first time since 2014-15 with a win.

"We have to take it to them right away," said Scott Mayfield, New York's leading scorer among defensemen with 13 points in 26 games. "I think we gave them a little too much respect, a little too much space last week in Pitt."