Game Day : Utah HC vs. Islanders
Utah plays first NHL road game at UBS Arena Tonight!
Tonight, the New York Islanders kick off their 2024-25 regular season as they welcome the Utah Hockey Club to UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 PM ET and can be watched on MSGSN.
Enjoy our game preview.
WHERE THEY STAND:
Utah opened its history as a franchise on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, beating them by a 5-2 win at Delta Center. Dylan Guenther scored the first goal in franchise history in the first period, and Clayton Keller added one before the first intermission.
Barret Hayton and Teuvo Teravainen traded goals in the second before Nick Foligno made it 3-2 early in the third. However, Utah pulled away late with empty-net goals by Guenther and Lawson Crouse.
The Islanders kick off the 2024-25 campaign after a 39-27-16 record last season. After hiring Patrick Roy as their head coach on Jan. 20, the team went 20-12-5, earning a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their season came to a close following a five-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round.
OPPONENT LAST GAME: UTAH 5, BLACKHAWKS 2
ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINES:
Duclair-Horvat-Barzal
Tsyplakov-Nelson-Palmieri
Lee-Pageau-Holmstrom
Cizikas-MacLean-Wahlstrom
Pelech-Pulock
Romanov-Dobson
Reilly-Mayfield
Varlamov
Sorokin
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Isles D vs. Clayton Keller
Keller has had his share of strong performances against the Islanders in his career, with three goals and four assists for seven points in 12 games. He has three two-point games in his career against New York.
During the 2022-23 season, he finished with two goals and two assists against them.
However, the Islanders have kept him in check in recent matchups, going pointless against them in both of their meetings last season. With the Islanders looking for a revival on the blue line, Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech will have their hands full out of the gate. Scott Mayfield will pair with Mike Reilly in his return to the lineup after an ankle injury, making him another potential X-factor.
WHO IS HOT:
Guenther scored two goals in Utah's 5-2 win Tuesday over the Blackhawks. He was among four different players who had two points for Utah on Tuesday, joining Nick Schmaltz, Barrett Hayton, and Logan Cooley. Dating back to his days with Arizona, Schmaltz has points in three straight games against New York, totaling a goal and three assists in that span.
Meanwhile, Isles winger Mat Barzal scored four goals in the preseason and looks super comfortable with a new first line alongside Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair. Barzal led the team in points last year with 80. Brock Nelson led the team last year in goals with 34, and Noah Dobson led the team in assists with 70 in his breakout season.
OPPONENT NOTES:
Former Islander Robert Bortuzzo was scratched for the first game and will be a scratch on Thursday. The defenseman was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 9 in exchange for a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft.
Utah made several big splashes to their defense this offseason, most notably acquiring Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to Free Agency. He tallied an assist in his debut with the team, adding an assist in about 24 minutes of ice time. The team also added journeyman Ian Cole as a free agent, who skated just short of 21 minutes in their season opener.
After potting a goal on Tuesday, forward Lawson Crouse is two points shy of 200 for his NHL career. The forward enters tonight’s game with 104 goals and 94 assists for 198 points, all of them with the
QUOTABLE:
“If you're excited, if you're nervous, if you're anxious, it means you care. And you go out there, and you care about what you're doing. We care about our fans. We want our fans to be proud of our team, and we want to excite them. So I think if we do all this right, we'll have a good night.” — Patrick Roy
“We wanted to build off of last season. I think just his opportunity here to have a full camp with us, and us with him to implement all the little things that he wants to do, whether it's structurally, whether it's with their mindset, how we approach things, it was a great benefit for us to have that opportunity the last month to really take everything in.” — Anders Lee
“I think everyone is ready to go. It feels like it's been a long camp of good, hard work, laying the foundation, putting in some good days at the rink feeling good, and getting everybody prepared for this night. So I think everybody's excited. I think everyone's excited to get out at home, at UBS place, to be rocking, and we want to get off to a good start. We've been talking about how important it is, and tonight's the start of that for us. It's a good opportunity for us to go out there and play the game we want to and set ourselves up for a big year.” — Brock Nelson
“It's just another game and an important one for us. I mean, if we want to be competitive, down the stretch, every game is important, so we want to make sure we're starting on the right now.” — Dylan Guenther
“They're a big, heavy team. They like to get to the net, so we have to be good on our box outs. They obviously have some skilled players. We got to be involved with them all night and try to limit their chances.” — Logan Cooley
“He [Roy] is a great coach. Obviously, he was a great player, but he's a very good competitor. He's always intense. Patty and I, we connect on a regular basis, since we coached together [Colorado], and I always kept a good relationship with him” — Andre Tourigny
PUCK PEDIA OPPONENT LINES
CHANGES: Michael Carcone is in for Liam O’Brien on the fourth line.
THE ELMONTERS SUBSCRIPTION:
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Islanders Community Events & Calendar:
Islanders Opening Night Pregame Festivities in The Park – 5PM
Featuring alumni meet and greet with Shawn Bates & Mariusz Czerkawski!
EVENTS/ACTIVATIONS
Live Music
Pizza and S’mores on Us, courtesy of new partnership with Solo Stove. Solo Stove is bringing in Borrelli’s to assist in the cooking.
Pregame Skating on Northwell Pond
Brand new UBS Hockey Games to Test Your Skills – Bullseye Battle, Accuracy Challenge and Hardest Shot
Caricature Artist, 3D Flame photo op/Fire Up Isles photo op – courtesy of Solo Stove
Heineken Beer Garden
American Express Igloo Garden hospitality area
Sparky and Nyisles appearances
Kids Zone games featuring the Slap Shot Booth, Double Overtime Obstacle Challenge, Center Ice Moon Bounce, Northwell Mini Golf and the all-foam Dunk Tank
Penalty Box Photo Moment
Isles Lab Swag Shack
Complimentary Parking!
Once again for the 2024-25 season, those that drive a BMW can receive complimentary single-game parking in the Emerald Parking lot.
Please click the BMW | Islanders image below for parking registration information,
