After dropping Bo Horvat’s return to Vancouver, the New York Islanders (5-6-4) return to the ice 24 hours later against the Seattle Kraken (5-8-4).
After dropping Bo Horvat’s return to Vancouver, the New York Islanders (5-6-4) return to the ice 24 hours later against the Seattle Kraken (5-8-4).
Puck drop from Climate Pledge Arena is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.
In Vancouver, the Islanders started off strong with goals from Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson. After J.T. Miller cut the lead in half, Horvat scored in his old haunts to restore a two-goal lead. However, further penalty trouble got Vancouver even on power play goals from Brock Boeser and Filip Hronek. In overtime, Quinn Hughes beat Ilya Sorokin on a breakaway, sending New York to a 4-3 loss, their sixth straight.
Morning Skate Updates
Neither team skated on Thursday morning, with both enter tonight on the second game of back-to-backs.
With Sorokin starting on Wednesday, Semyon Varlamov will be in goal tonight for his sixth start of the season (2-3-0, 2.04 GAA, .940 SV%).
Joey Daccord was between the pipes for Seattle last night, so Philipp Grubauer is projected to start tonight (3-6-0, 3.37 GAA, .891 SV%).
New York Islanders Lines (Projected)
Mathew Barzal - Bo Horvat - Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Hudson Fasching
Julien Gauthier - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov - Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho-Scott Mayfield
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
Seattle Kraken Lines (Projected)
Jared McCann - Matty Beniers - Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz - Alex Wennberg - Brandon Tanev
Eeli Tolvanen - Yanni Gourde - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Tye Kartye - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Kailer Yamamoto
Vince Dunn - Adam Larsson
Brian Dumolin - Justin Schultz
Jamie Oleksiak - Will Borgen
Philipp Grubauer
Joey Daccord
Islanders Notes
The Islanders split their meetings with the Kraken across their first two seasons. New York is 1-1-0 against Seattle on the road, losing their last matchup at Climate Pledge Arena on New Year’s Day.
Horvat’s goal in his return gives him a three-game point streak entering tonight’s game. From his time with the Canucks, he owns four goals against Seattle, leading all active Islanders.
Thursday will see a homecoming for Mathew Barzal, who played junior hockey with the Seattle Thunderbirds prior to being drafted. Barzal enters tonight’s game with four points in as many games, one goal and three assists.
In milestones, Noah Dobson recorded his 100th career assist. Engvall tallied his first goal of the season on Wednesday. He sits one point shy of 100 in his NHL career.
Varlamov has one career start against the Kraken, the first time these teams ever met in 2022. He came up short in the contest, yielding two goals in the third period on 30 shots.
Kraken Notes
Seattle enters tonight's game off an overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Seattle led 3-1 after the second period on goals from Jared McCann, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Alex Wennberg. However, the rest of the game was all Evander Kane; he tallied two goals to tie it and the overtime winner, sinking the Kraken to a 4-3 loss.
Vince Dunn, Seattle’s points leader, has been on a hot streak for Seattle’s offense. The blueliner has five points in his last four games, all assists, while Jaden Schwartz leads the Kraken with eight goals.
Seattle’s current goals leader against the Islanders, Andre Burakovsky, is out with an upper-body injury. On their active roster, Oliver Bjorkstrand has the most goals and points against New York lifetime with five and 15, respectively. He sits in a tie for most assists with Justin Schultz and McCann.
After missing most of last season due to injury, Grubauer will make his first start against the Islanders since 2022. In six games, five starts and a relief appearance, he has a 2-3-0 record, 2.53 GAA and .923 SV%.
Betting Corner
Do you think the Islanders will beat the Kraken? Seattle enters as a slight favorite on the moneyline, sitting at -115 compared to the Islanders’ -105. The over/under comes in at six goals, under at -115 and the over at -105.
All lines are courtesy of MGM Sportsbook.
How To Watch
Tonight’s game can be found on MSGSN. On the radio, tonight’s contest is available on 88.7 FM WRHU, 98.7 ESPN, and 103.9 LI News Radio.
Matthew Page contributed to this report.