Stefen Rosner
On Wednesday night, the New York Islanders play their first game following the All-Star break as they face a Vancouver Canucks team who played on Tuesday. The Canucks defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-1.
The New York Islanders were not at their best their last time out, a 3-0 loss to a struggling Seattle Kraken team on home ice. But there is still confidence, that despite the season struggles, the Islanders can get back to their game in the second half, starting Wednesday.
“I have a lot of faith in this group,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said following Wednesday’s morning skate. “We haven’t played to you know, expectations I’m going to say. That’s collectively and individually we just (need to) be better.”
“So all we can do is go forward here and see if we can get this process going. start winning on a consistent basis on the road here and just play…”
On Tuesday, the New York Islanders officially announced that forward Kyle Palmieri had been placed on their Non-NHL roster (paternity).
He is the only Islander not available for Wednesday’s contest. It is likely that Kieffer Bellows takes his place on the second line.
Trotz also stated that Robin Salo is not an option right now as he is in Bridgeport (AHL).
Forward Austin Czarnik was placed on waivers and the Seattle Kraken scooped him up.
Although not confirmed, it is likely that Ilya Sorokin (13-8-5, 2.31 GAA, .924 SV%) gets the nod in goal.
The New York Islanders will be facing an old friend as they face former Islanders netminder Jaroslav Halak (2014-2018) this evening after Thatcher Demko got the start in goal on Tuesday.
Vancouver defenseman Kyle Burroughs was drafted in the 17th round of the 2013 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders and played 313 games over six seasons in Bridgeport (2013-2019).
On October 11 of 2020, the Islanders traded Burroughs to the Colorado Avalanche for forward A.J. Greer.
The Vancouver Canucks have five players unavailable for Wednesday’s contest: Brandon Sutter (IR), Travis Hamonic (IR), Tucker Poolman (DTD), Quinn Hughes (COVID-19), Matthew Highmore (COVID-19).
NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)
Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier— Brock Nelson— Kieffer Bellows
Zach Parise— Jean-Gabriel Pageau —Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech — Scott Mayfield
Zdeno Chara— Noah Dobson
Andy Greene—Ryan Pulock
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
VANCOUVER CANUCKS LINES (PROJECTED)
Tanner Pearson—J.T.Miller—Brock Boeser
Jason Dickinson—Bo Horvat—Conor Garland
Vasily Podkolzin—Elias Pettersson—Nils Hoglander
Tyler Motte—Juho Lammikko—Alex Chiasson
Oliver Ekman-Larsson—Noah Juulsen
Luke Schenn—Tyler Myers
Brad Hunt—Kyle Burroughs
Jaroslav Halak
Thatcher Demko
NEW YORK ISLANDERS GAME NOTES
After a six-day break for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game, the New York Islanders visit the Vancouver Canucks tonight, the first of two match-ups between the teams this season.
The last time these teams met was March 10, 2020 in Vancouver, when Brock Nelson scored twice in the Islanders’ final game before the season was paused.
Tonight begins the Islanders’ Western Canada trip and is the first of nine road games they will play in the next three weeks.
The Islanders have played just one road game in the last month, a 4-3 shootout win on January 18 in Philadelphia.
BETTING CORNER
The New York Islanders are the road favorites for Wednesday night’s contest as they come in at -130 and are +205 on the puck line. The Vancouver Canucks are the home underdogs, as they are +110 with their reverse puck line odds at -250.
The over for the contest is set at 5 at -130 while the under 5 is at +110.
HOW TO WATCH
Wednesday’s contest will be available on TNT. There is no local broadcast. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.
