Times and Transcript checked in with an update Monday.
Tambellini played left wing on the second line with center Josef Vasicek and right wing Miro Satan. Matched against the top line of Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko in Sunday's scrimmage, the second line produced three goals, two by Tambellini and one by Satan, in a 4-3 win in regulation time.
"This is the year I can step up and show these guys I can play full-time in the league and be an impact guy."
"It takes a great shot to beat Ricky," Tambellini said. "I think I kind of surprised him halfway up with the first one. I think he thought it was going up, and it kind of handcuffed him and went through midway. The second one, I kind of outguessed him."
"Miro is an elite player in this league, and Vasicek is kind of like Kozlov, a big center," Tambellini said. "My goal is to get these guys the puck as much as I can, get open and get in on the forecheck and really use my speed. With the loss of Blakey, that's a role I'm going to look to get into. I want to be a player who can jump into that small, speed role and bring that to our club."
NYI Fan Central Comments:
Tambellini is making a strong early statement in the scrimmages he can play as a top six forward on this Islander team. As he said he has to continue to be an impact player in the upcoming games so we'll see what happens.
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