Game Preview: Islanders & Golden Knights Joust On Long Island

With Patrick Roy’s first win in the books, the New York Islanders (20-15-11) face the Vegas Golden Knights (27-14-5) for the final time this season.

Puck drop from UBS Arena is scheduled for 7:30.

Just over 24 hours after Roy was named head coach, the Islanders topped the Dallas Stars in overtime on Sunday. Alex Romanov opened the scoring in the first period, but Dallas responded with two goals from Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist to take the lead into the third. 

Hudson Fasching tipped home a Noah Dobson shot to tie the game early in the final frame, forcing the game to extra time. 40 seconds into overtime, Mathew Barzal found Bo Horvat on a breakaway; the center beat Scott Wedgewood glove side to finish a 3-2 victory.

The Islanders skated at Northwell Health Ice Center on Tuesday.

Ilya Sorokin left the ice first for the Islanders, as he will make his 34th start and 35th appearance of the season (14-11-9, 3.17 GAA, .910 SV%). Tuesday’s game marks his 10th straight start and fifth career appearance against Vegas. He is 1-1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and .925 SV% against the Golden Knights lifetime, earning a shutout on Oct. 24, 2021.

While Sorokin has carried the load, he may not have to for much longer. Semyon Varlamov was activated off the Islanders’ IR on Monday.

Mike Reilly comes in for Samuel Bolduc as the only change. Pierre Engvall was in a regular jersey and expects to be back soon. 

Vegas did not skate this morning, they are on the second game of a back-to-back.

Logan Thompson started for the Golden Knights on Monday, so Adin Hill will likely make his return from the IR against the Islanders (10-2-2, 1.93 GAA, .933 SV%). Tuesday marks his first start since Dec. 17th and second start against the Islanders. He made 24 stops in a 2-1 overtime win as a member of the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 2, 2021. However, head coach Bruce Cassidy said plans could change depending on Monday night’s game.

Anders Lee -- Bo Horvat -- Mathew Barzal

Hudson Fasching -- Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri

Simon Holmstrom -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Julien Gauthier

Matt Martin -- Kyle MacLean -- Cal Clutterbuck

Alexander Romanov -- Noah Dobson

Adam Pelech -- Sebastian Aho

Mike Reilly – Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

Ivan Barbashev -- Nicolas Roy -- Jonathan Marchessault

Pavel Dorofeyev -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

Brendan Brisson -- Brett Howden -- Paul Cotter

Jonas Rondbjerg -- Byron Froese -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Brayden McNabb -- Kaedan Korczak

Adin Hill

Logan Thompson

Noah Dobson earned his 40th and 41st assists of the season on Sunday. He is the first Islanders defenseman to reach the 40-helper mark since Mark Streit did it in 2011-12.

Brock Nelson earned a secondary helper on Fasching’s goal against Dallas. The Islanders’ forward needs just one point for the 500th in his career, he can become the 12th player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

After short offensive slumps, Horvat and Barzal have gotten back on track. Horvat boasts a three-game point streak with two goals and an assist in that span; Barzal has three assists in his last two games. Horvat also leads active Islanders in scoring against Vegas with 10 goals and five assists, 15 points.

Vegas dropped the front end of their back-to-back against the New Jersey Devils. It was a back-and-forth affair, starting with Pavel Dorofeyev’s goal to open the scoring. The Devils then rallied for three straight goals from Nico Hischier, Curtis Lazar, and Tyler Toffoli. With Vegas down by two in the second, the Golden Knights rallied for four consecutive goals of their own, two from Jonathan Marchessault and tallies from Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy.

Just as the Golden Knights had the answer, New Jersey had a comeback for themselves, starting with Toffoli’s second of the game before the end of the period. Lazar’s second got the Devils even in the third, forcing overtime. In the extra session, Toffoli completed the hat trick and a 6-5 win for New Jersey.

The Golden Knights took their first matchup with the Islanders on Jan. 6. Jack Eichel and Barzal traded goals in the first period, but Vegas rallied for three straight. Dorofeyev and Roy scored the only goals of the second, while Eichel scored his second of the game less than a minute into the third. Matt Martin snapped Vegas’ scoring run two minutes later, but Roy’s second of the game put the contest out of reach, pushing Vegas to a 5-2 final.

With a three-point game against the Devils, Marchessault extended his point streak to four games; the original Golden Knight has five goals and two assists in that span. Chandler Stephenson also owns a five-game point streak of his own, totaling two red lights and four helpers in that stretch.

Nobody on the Golden Knights has been hotter than Mark Stone. Vegas’ captain currently owns a six-game point streak with three goals and seven assists and leads the team in scoring against New York. Vegas’ captain owns five goals and seven assists, 12 points, in 17 career matchups. Eichel leads the Golden Knights in scoring outright, but he will miss Tuesday’s game due to a lower-body injury.

Despite Vegas winning the first matchup of the year, it’s the Islanders who enter this matchup as the favorite. They sit at -150 on the moneyline, while Vegas starts at +125. The over/under starts at six goals, the under a slight favorite at –115, and the under at -105.

All lines are courtesy of MGM Sportsbook.

Tuesday night’s game will air on MSGSN. On the radio, the contest will air on 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 LI News Radio and the ESPN NY App. 

Matthew Page contributed to this report.