Josh Bailey to play 1,000th game for Islanders on Friday

RALEIGH, N.C. — Josh Bailey, known more for a cerebral approach to hockey than fiery outbursts, anticipates he will be emotional when he plays his milestone 1,000th NHL game. That’s expected to occur on Friday night against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena.

“It’s tough not to get emotional thinking about it,” Bailey, the longest-tenured Islander, said after scoring his first goal of the season in Wednesday night’s 3-0 win over the Rangers at UBS Arena. That could have been Bailey’s 1,000th game, but coach Lane Lambert made him a healthy scratch for last Saturday’s 5-3 road loss to the Lightning.

“I had a lot of family and friends here tonight,” Bailey said. “People that mean a lot to me. They’re riding the wave with me with the highs and lows and it will be just as special for them as it will be for myself. You wouldn’t be here without a great support system and that includes everyone in this room here and it’s been a fun ride.”

Bailey said his parents will make the trip for Friday’s game and that he will have another large crowd of friends and family at Saturday night’s home game against the Avalanche, when his achievement will be recognized before the game. No doubt, the fans will serenade him with the Josh Bailey song.

Bailey, 33, trails only Hall of Famers Bryan Trottier (1,123) and Denis Potvin (1,060) in games played for the Islanders.

The ninth overall pick in 2008 from Bowmanville, Ontario, made his debut on Nov. 11, 2008, as a teenager ineligible to play in the AHL. His lone minor-league stint after coming out of the junior Ontario Hockey League was 11 games with Bridgeport in 2010-11.

“Just a kid, a teenager,” Bailey said of his NHL debut, a 3-1 loss to the Flyers at Nassau Coliseum. “I feel like my eyes were wide open. I was just trying to soak it all in. My mom and dad and brother were there for that one, too. It was something I had dreamed about since I was a little kid. You always remember that first game. Looking across at warmups, seeing guys that you’ve watched on TV and played video games with.

“To be on the other side of it now is pretty cool.”

The 6-1, 200-pound forward has 177 goals and 379 assists in 999 games, plus 16 goals and 34 assists in 71 playoff contests.

And, to hear his coaches over the years discuss him, plenty of things that don’t show up on the scoresheet.

“He means so much to the organization for so many years,” Lambert said. “He’s a cerebral player. He’s a smart player. You can trust him. You can count on him. You can count on him defensively and he provides offense as well. A lot of the things that he does aren’t noticed as much as maybe us coaches notice them. But a very valuable guy from that standpoint.”

Notes & quotes: MSG Networks has added former Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey as an in-studio analyst for the team’s broadcasts. He will make his debut on Friday.