After dropping back-to-back matinee affairs over the weekend, the New York Islanders (29-23-15) face the Carolina Hurricanes (42-20-6) in their final meeting of the regular season.
After dropping back-to-back matinee affairs over the weekend, the New York Islanders (29-23-15) face the Carolina Hurricanes (42-20-6) in their final meeting of the regular season.
Puck drop from UBS Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Islanders knocked off Carolina in their last meeting on Dec. 23. The Islanders jumped out to a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes of play, but Carolina consistently cut the deficit in half. Despite three Hurricane red lights, the Islanders had answers for two of them and kept them off the board late, holding Carolina off for a 5-4 win.
Where They've Been:
Carolina swept an Ontario back-to-back, most recently besting the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. Ottawa rallied from one-goal deficits twice across the first two periods, but Carolina blew it wide open across the second half of play. Seth Jarvis gave Carolina the lead in the final minute of the second, and four different Hurricanes added on in the third en route to a 7-2 win.
Dmitry Orlov was the star of the show for the Hurricanes, putting up two goals and two assists for the second four-point game of his career. The Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho recorded three assists for the fifth time this season.
Carolina will be without forwards Jack Drury and Teuvo Teravainen for Tuesday's game; both went down due to injury last week.
Players To Watch:
Ilya Sorokin left the ice first for the Islanders this morning, he will make his 49th start of the season (22-16-11, 3.03 GAA, .909 SV%). He started Sunday's game against the New York Rangers, surrendering five goals on 31 shots. Against Carolina, he is 3-4-1 with a 3.16 GAA and .908 SV%, winning his last matchup with 36 saves on 40 shots.
Bo Horvat had a goal and assist in their last meeting; the center has two goals and three assists across three games against Carolina this season. Horvat also enters play off a three-goal performance in the weekend's games.
Mathew Barzal has also had Carolina's number this season, boasting two goals and six assists against them this season. He also had a four-point night in Raleigh on Nov. 30, tying his season high.
After adding a goal in December, Nelson extended his lead in goals against Carolina among active Islanders to 14. Anders Lee leads New York with 16 assists against the Hurricanes, sitting in a tie with Nelson for the lead in points with 26.
Pyotr Kochetkov, who started two of the previous three matchups against New York for Carolina, will make his 35th start of the season on Tuesday (18-12-3, 2.40 GAA, .911 SV%).
He last started against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, making 36 saves to help Carolina stay in the game and earn a comeback win. Against New York, he is 2-1-1 with a 3.20 GAA and .838 SV%, taking a loss with five goals on 28 shots in a loss in their last meeting.
Carolina made a splash at this year's Trade Deadline, adding forward Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Michael Bunting and a package of prospects and picks. Guentzel has a three-game point streak entering Tuesday's game with a goal and four assists in that span. He also had two goals and an assist against them as a member of the Penguins back on Dec. 27.
Their other Deadline add at forward, Evgeni Kuznetsov, also has points in three straight, tallying two red lights and two helpers. He tallied one assist across four meetings as a member of the Washington Capitals earlier this season.
In addition to his three-game point streak overall entering Tuesday, Orlov has points in four straight matchups against New York; the defenseman has two goals and three assists in that span. The Hurricanes' Aho enters play with goals in six straight games against the Islanders.
Jordan Staal leads active Hurricanes in scoring across the board against the Islanders; the Carolina captain has 16 goals and 33 assists, 49 points, in 75 career matchups. Guentzel is averaging a point-per-game against New York, with 10 goals and 19 assists in 29 games.
New York Islanders Projected Lines:
Brock Nelson - Bo Horvat - Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Mathew Barzal
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck
Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
Carolina Hurricanes Projected Lines:
Jake Guentzel - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Brendan Lemieux - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Stefan Noesen
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Pyotr Kochetkov
Frederik Andersen
Betting Corner
The Islanders are the home underdogs tonight against the Hurricanes. You can get them at +136 on the money line, with the Hurricanes at -162. On the reverse puck line, New York is -198, with the Hurricanes at +164 on the puck line.
The over for the contest is 6 at -108, with the under at -112.
Betting lines via BettingNJ.
How To Watch:
Tuesday's game will be an ESPN+ and Hulu exclusive broadcast; Bob Wischusen and Kevin Weekes will be on the call. On the radio, Chris King and Greg Picker bring you the action on 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 LI News Radio, and 1050 AM ESPN.