After earning a point against the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night, the New York Islanders (37-27-9) host the Buffalo Sabres (34-31-6) Saturday evening. Puck drop is slated for 5 PM ET at UBS Arena.
Both teams are on the second of back-to-backs. The Sabres beat the New Jersey Devils 6-5 on Friday night.
The Islanders are 8-4-1 on the second of back-to-backs.
With their point against Columbus, the Islanders now lead the wild-card race by three points. The Pittsburgh Penguins (three points back) host the Washington Capitals tonight, while the Florida Panthers (four points back) host the Rangers.
The Islanders did not hold a morning skate Saturday as head coach Lane Lambert will address the media at 2:30 PM.
With Ilya Sorokin getting the nod on Friday night, stopping 22 of 27 shots, the expectation is that Semyon Varlamov is in the pipes to face the Sabres.
Varlamov has not battled the Sabres once this season, but over his career, he owns a 1.98 GAA and a .934 SV% in 17 games.
Zach Parise enters the contest with goals in four straight games. Kyle Palmieri has three goals and four assists over his last four games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 27 of 31 against the Devils, which means either Eric Comrie or Craig Anderson will get the start.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)
Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Zach-Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech-Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov-Ryan Pulock
Samuel Bolduc-Noah Dobson
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
BUFFALO SABRES LINES (PROJECTED)
Jeff Skinner-Tage Thompson-Alex Tuch
JJ Peterka-Dylan Cozens-Jack Quinn
Casey Mittelstadt-Tyson Jost-Victor Oloffson
Zemgus Girgensons-Peyton Krebs-Kyle Okposo
Rasmus Dahlin-Henrij Jokiharkju
Owen Power-Ilya Lyubushkin
Kale Clague-Jacob Bryson
Craig Anderson
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
ISLANDERS NOTES
Tonight, the New York Islanders host the Buffalo Sabres in the third and final matchup between the two clubs this season.
These teams last met less than three weeks ago on March 7, when four Islanders recorded multi-point games, including Hudson Fasching and Alexander Romanov. The Islanders enter tonight's game with three straight wins against Atlantic Division opponents, and a 6-2-1 record in their last nine games.
They will cap off their 14th back-to-back series of the season tonight, after capturing a point in overtime in Columbus last night. The Islanders are 8-4-1 in the second game of a back-to-back series thus far this season, and have won three of their last four back-end games. (Via New York Islanders)
FANDUEL BETTING CORNER
Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Buffalo Sabres? You can get the Islanders at -172 & +132 on the puck line. The Sabres come in at +142 & -160 on the reverse puck line.
The over for the contest is 6.5 at --114, with the under also at -106.
Lines courtesy of Fanduel Sportsbook
HOW TO WATCH
Saturday’s contest will be available on ESPN+/Hulu. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU, and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.