PITTSBURGH – Luca Sbisa keeps a patch he received from the Las Vegas police either in his dressing room stall or, sometimes, in his hockey bag. It’s a show of the respect the Islanders defenseman has for first-responders and a reminder that tragedy can occur anywhere, at any time.
The Islanders conclude a three-game road trip on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins’ first home game since Saturday’s anti-Semitic mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue that left 11 dead and four police officers among the injured.
For Sbisa, it’s an awful reminder of his first home game last season with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, days after a gunman killed 58 and injured more than 700 at an outdoor music festival.