
EAST MEADOW, NY -- The New York Islanders hit the ice Monday morning after an off day on Sunday. The Arizona Coyotes come to UBS Arena Tuesday night, a team the Islanders lost two twice a season ago.
Defenseman Scott Mayfield was the lone absentee, as he took a Rasmus Dahlin slapshot off the left ankle in the third period of the Islanders 3-2 over the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night.
He limped heavily to the bench but was on the ice when the game ended, as the Islanders were defending a 6-on-4 situation.
The Islanders gave the 31-year-old a seven-year deal worth $3.5 million annually on July 1st.
"He should be fine," Lambert said during his postgame availability.
Here's what he had to say Monday morning.
"He's day-to-day," Lambert said. "He's got some swelling, and there's maintenance there. We'll see how he is tomorrow."
If Mayfield is unavailable Tuesday, 23-year-old Samuel Bolduc will make his season debut, likely alongside Sebastian Aho.
Lambert wants to see the young defenseman be more assertive, something that was an issue in his second NHL stint a year ago.
The second-year head coach said that Aho is also comfortable playing the right side, so no issue there.
Here's how the Islanders lined up:
Mathew Barzal -- Bo Horvat -- Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall -- Brock Nelson -- Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Extras: Julien Gauthier, Oliver Wahlstrom
Adam Pelech -- Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov -- Ryan Pulock
Samuel Bolduc--Sebastian Aho
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
The Islanders' power-play unit remained the same. Wahlstrom took some shifts as the left-wing one-time option on power-play two in Pulock's spot. He did score on a one-timer from the high slot.