Anders Lee likely received a text from John Tonelli – the retired No. 27 reaching out to that jersey’s current captain occupant – prior to the Islanders’ Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Lightning on Wednesday night.
“I was talking to JT,” former Islanders captain Patrick Flatley told Newsday on Wednesday morning. “He was telling me in 1980, they lost to Philly 8-3 (in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final). I think he was going to send Anders a note just to say, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, you can come back.