After a rebound game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, the New York Islanders (11-7-7) host the best road team in the NHL: the Los Angeles Kings (16-4-3).
After a rebound game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, the New York Islanders (11-7-7) host the best road team in the NHL: the Los Angeles Kings (16-4-3).
After a rebound game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, the New York Islanders (11-7-7) host the best road team in the NHL: the Los Angeles Kings (16-4-3).
Puck drop from UBS Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
After letting a 4-1 lead slip away on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks, the Islanders started strong. Pierre Engvall opened the scoring early in the first period Thursday.
The start of the second period was all Columbus, as Emil Bemstrom and Adam Fantilli scored five minutes apart to give the Blue Jackets the lead. However, the Islanders had a big answer in the final 5:30 of the frame, as Cal Clutterbuck, Mathew Barzal, and Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders the 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
While Fantilli got Columbus back within one in the early stages of the third, the Islanders didn’t fall into the third-period traps. Barzal’s second of the game and two from Bo Horvat finished off a 7-3 New York win.
However, tonight’s matchup comes with a lineup change. Ryan Pulock was placed on the IR on Friday, which led GM Lou Lamoriello to swing a deal with the St. Louis Blues. The team acquired defenseman Robert Bortuzzo in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick. The defenseman is probable to make his team debut tonight.
Morning Skate Updates
The Islanders skated at Northwell Health Ice Center this morning.
Ilya Sorokin took the starter’s crease for New York, he will make his 17th start of the season tonight (6-4-6, 3.19 GAA, .911 SV%).
Matt Martin and Sebastian Aho both skated with the team once again but both will not be in the lineup tonight. Head coach Lane Lambert said Martin is close to returning to the lineup.
The Kings skated at UBS Arena on Saturday.
Cam Talbot left the ice first for Los Angeles, as he will make his 16th start of the season (12-4-1, 1.84 GAA, .933 SV%)
New York Islanders Lines (Projected)
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Simon Holmstrom - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Julien Gauthier
Hudson Fasching - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Alex Romanov - Noah Dobson
Mike Reilly - Scott Mayfield
Samuel Bolduc - Robert Bortuzzo
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
Los Angeles Kings Lines (Projected)
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Phil Danault - Trevor Moore
Alex Laferriere - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Carl Grundstrom
Arthur Kaliyev - Trevor Lewis - Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Cam Talbot
Pheonix Copley
Islanders Notes
Following his two-goal performance Thursday, Horvat remained white hot. The Islanders’ top center is riding a five-game point streak, totaling four goals and five assists in that span. Not far behind is Barzal, who has 11 points, four goals, and seven assists in his last four games despite being shut out Tuesday.
In other hot streaks, Engvall has goals in three of his last four games. Brock Nelson and Julien Gauthier each have three-game point streaks, with Engvall with two goals and assists and Nelson lighting the lamp once with three helpers.
Two members of the Islanders’ leadership group lead the team in scoring against the Kings. Anders Lee, the team’s captain, has eight goals in 16 games against Los Angeles to lead the team. Horvat, the former Vancouver Canuck, leads in assists and points with 13 and 17, respectively.
Ilya Sorokin has two career starts against the Kings in his career, both of them were losses last season. Between those two starts, he is 0-2-0 with a .891 SV% and 3.59 GAA.
Kings Notes
The Kings made history their last time out against the Montreal Canadiens. Drew Doughty and Quinton Byfield opened the scoring in the first period, and Los Angeles cruised from there. Byfield added a second goal, with Trevor Moore scoring one of his own, finishing a 4-0 win. Cam Talbot made 24 saves to earn the shutout, giving Los Angeles an NHL-record 11th straight road win to open the season.
Los Angeles has had the Islanders’ number over the past five seasons. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Kings are 5-1-0 against the Islanders, the lone defeat coming on Feb. 6 at Barclays Center. Los Angeles defeated New York 3-2 at UBS Arena on Feb. 24 and 5-2 at Crypto.com Arena on Mar. 14. Five different players lit the lamp for the Kings in their last meeting, with 14 earning a point.
Three Kings forwards enter tonight’s game white hot: Thursday goal-scorers Moore and Byfield, along with Anze Kopitar. Kopitar, the longest-tenured forward, has five assists in his last three games. Byfield, a former second-overall pick, has started to hit his stride as well, with a pair of two-goal games in his past three contests. Moore enters tonight on a three-game point streak with two goals and an assist in that stretch and four goals and a helper in his past five appearances.
Alongside his 24 points, 10 goals, and 14 assists, Kopitar leads the team in scoring against the islanders. In 25 games against New York, he boasts nine goals and 13 assists.
Cam Talbot will make his 12th career start and 14th appearance against the Islanders, with much of his experience coming as a member of the New York Rangers. The netminder has an 8-3-0 record, 2.48 GAA, and .923 SV% against New York lifetime.
Betting Corner:
Do you think the Islanders will beat the Kings? With their success away from the City of Angels, it’s the Kings who enter as the favorite at -140 on the money line, the home Islanders enter at +115. The over/under comes in at six goals, the over slightly more favored at -115 to the under’s -105.
All lines are courtesy of MGM Sportsbook.
How To Watch
Tonight’s game can be found on MSGSN. On the radio, the contest will air on 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 LI News Radio and 1050 AM ESPN.
Matthew Page contributed to this report.