With one game left on their first road trip of 2024, the New York Islanders (18-10-10) face the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights (22-12-5) for the first time this season.
LAS VEGAS -- With one game left on their first road trip of 2024, the New York Islanders (18-10-10) face the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights (22-12-5) for the first time this season.
Puck drop from T-Mobile Arena is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.
New York is 1-1-1 thus far on this trip, most recently beating the Arizona Coyotes Thursday. The Islanders got off to a hot start, getting a power play goal from Bo Horvat and Mike Reilly tally to take a 2-0 lead after the first. Arizona responded well in the first half of the middle period, getting a power play goal from Nick Schmaltz to cut the lead to 2-1. However, Ilya Sorokin and company weathered the storm, allowing the Islanders to explode in the third. Goals by Anders Lee and Julien Gauthier less than a minute apart and a bookend tally by Horvat finished off a 5-1 win in the Grand Canyon State.
Morning Skate Updates:
The Islanders skated at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Sorokin was in the starter’s crease for the Islanders, as he’ll make his 26th start and 27th appearance of the season (12-6-8, 3.10 GAA, .912 SV%). This will also be his seventh straight appearance, making six starts and one relief appearance in place of Semyon Varlamov. Against Vegas, Sorokin is 1-0-1 in three games, two starts, and one relief appearance, including a 1.37 GAA, .961 SV%, and a shutout on Oct. 24, 2021, in Sin City.
Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said that Adam Pelech is getting close but won’t play against Vegas.
The Golden Knights skated at City National Arena.
Center William Karlsson suffered a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic against the Seattle Kraken. He will miss Saturday’s game.
Jesse Granger of The Athletic reported that Vegas will likely make two personnel changes. At forward, Keegan Kolsear took William Carrier’s spot on the third line. On defense, Lukas Cormier slotted in for Brayden Pachal at morning skate, as he will likely make his NHL debut Saturday.
Logan Thompson left the ice first for Vegas, he’ll make his 24th start and 22nd appearance of the season tonight (11-8-3, 2.87 GAA, .901 SV%). Vegas’ all star last season has also carried the load in net with Adin Hill on IR, making his fifth straight start. The netminder’s two career starts against New York both came last season, going 0-1-1 with a 2.44 GAA and .919 SV% between them.
New York Islanders Lines (Projected)
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Simon Holmstrom - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Julien Gauthier
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Alex Romanov - Noah Dobson
Samuel Bolduc - Scot Mayfield
Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho
Ilya Sorokin
Ken Appleby
Vegas Golden Knights Lines (Projected):
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Jonathan Marchessault
Pavel Dorofeyev - Chandler Stephenson - Mark Stone
Paul Cotter - Nicolas Roy - Keegan Kolesar
Grigori Denisenko - Michael Amadio - Brett Howden
Alec Martinez - Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague - Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb - Lukas Cormier
Logan Thompson
Jiri Patera
Islanders Notes
A Nature Boy says, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man,” and the Islanders did that in both of their meetings last season. In their most recent matchup on Jan. 28, New York outlasted Vegas in overtime. Lee and Carrier traded goals in the second period, the only goals of regulation, setting the stage for sudden death. After Semyon Varlamov stopped a Carrier penalty shot, Mathew Barzal scored the game-winner, finishing off a 2-1 victory.
Barzal tallied the 400th point of his NHL career on Thursday, becoming the 17th player in team history to accomplish the feat. The milestone watch now jumps to Brock Nelson, who sits five points shy of 500 for his career. He could become the 12th man in Islanders’ history to reach the half-century mark.
Horvat, a former Vancouver Canuck, leads active Islanders in scoring across the board against the Golden Knights. The Islanders’ top center has 10 goals and four assists, good for 14 points. Saturday is his first meeting with Vegas as a member of the Islanders, but he enters on a five-game goal streak against the Golden Knights.
Golden Knights Notes
Vegas enters Saturday’s game off a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights started off strong with a goal from Pavel Dorofeyev, but Florida had their eyes on payback. Sam Bennett got the Panthers even before the period’s end, with Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe scoring in the middle frame. Sam Reinhart added a power play goal in the final period, finishing off the victory.
Jack Eichel will represent the Golden Knights at this year’s All-Star Game. The Vegas center enters tonight’s game with four goals and, four assists, eight points, in his last 10 games, despite being kept off the board in his last two games. Their captain Mark Stone also enters this game hot, totaling four goals and nine assists in his last 10.
In addition to their recent accomplishments, Stone and Eichel have their share of success against the Islanders. Stone leads the team in goals against New York with five, while Eichel leads in assists and points with 12 and 15, respectively.
Betting Corner
With the defending champs taking their home ice, the Golden Knights come in as the favorite. They enter at -155 on the moneyline while the Islanders start at +130. The over/under starts at six goals, the over slightly favored at -115 to the under at -105.
All lines are courtesy of MGM Sportsbook.
How To Watch
Saturday’s matchup is available on MSGSN. On the radio, the contest will air on 88.7 FM WRHU, 98.7 ESPN, and 103.9 LI News Radio.
Matthew Page contributed to this report.