Casey Cizikas ‘did what he had to do’ to hit Islanders’ 900

ELMONT, NY — Casey Cizikas has built a career on an old blue-collar mantra: It's not glamorous work, but it's an honest day's work.

That's how Monday afternoon's matinee against the Winnipeg Jets began. Two minutes into the game, he won a face-off in the Jets' zone, led the pressure that sustained possession on that end of the ice for nearly 40 seconds, and then he threw his body at defenseman Logan Stanley in the corner.

Cizikas, standing at 5-foot-11, is eight inches shorter than the 6-foot-7 Stanley.

Four minutes later, he was successfully killing an Anders Lee slashing penalty.

This has been Cizikas' M.O. for 15 years now, and on Monday, those shifts officially made him the sixth player in Islanders franchise history to appear in 900 games for the team. With it, he tied club legend