Islanders Battle Golden Knights: Lines & Notes
The Islanders battle the best team in the NHL tonight, with puck drop coming your way at 10 PM ET.
After a strong recovery in Boston, the New York Islanders (15-18-7) head west to face the Vegas Golden Knights (28-9-3) for the first time this season.
Puck drop at T-Mobile Arena is scheduled for 10:00 p.m., and the game can be found on MSGSN.
Vegas swept the Islanders aside last season, starting with a 5-2 win in the Sin City on Jan. 6. The Golden Knights completed the sweep on Jan. 23 with a 3-2 win at UBS Arena.
The Golden Knights enter play on Thursday atop the NHL standings with 59 points.
LINEUP UPDATES:
Forward Simon Holmstrom was placed on IR on Tuesday. Hudson Fasching will not travel with the team after suffering an injury on Sunday.
Defenseman Grant Hutton was called up from Bridgeport, as he’ll serve as the seventh defenseman for the final two games of their three-game road trip.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Lee-Nelson-Barzal
Duclair-Horvat-Palmieri
Tsyplakov-Pageau-Cizikas
Martin-MacLean-Engvall
Romanov-Dobson
Pelech-Pulock
Cholowski-Mayfield
Sorokin
Hogberg
Who’s Hot:
Bo Horvat and Anders Lee each had a pair of goals in Sunday’s win over the Boston Bruins, with the former scoring the game-winner in overtime. Lee and Horvat each top the team’s goal list this year with 18 and 12, respectively.
Mathew Barzal has an assist in each of his last three games, giving him a total of 321 for his career. He’s two assists shy of tying Brent Sutter for ninth on the team’s all-time assist list with 323.
Horvat leads the Islanders in scoring lifetime against the Golden Knights. The former Vancouver Canuck has 10 goals and five assists for 15 points in 18 career matchups with Vegas.
Ilya Sorokin will make the start for the Islanders on Thursday. He picked up the win against Boston with 26 saves on 30 shots. Lifetime against Vegas, he is 1-2-1 with a 2.65 GAA and .918 SV% in five career appearances, taking a loss with three goals against on 27 shots in their last meeting.
Opponents Notes:
Jack Eichel has a four-game point streak entering Thursday’s game, totaling a goal and four assists for five points in that span. He leads the team in assists and points with 42 and 53, respectively.
Mark Stone has goals in three straight games, notching a red light and helper against the San Jose Sharks in their last game. In that span, the Vegas captain has three goals and two assists for five points.
Nick Roy was Vegas’ top offensive producer against New York last season, recording three goals and an assist in their two meetings. He had two goals the last time they met in Vegas.
Victor Olofsson comes into Thursday’s contest one goal short of 100 for his NHL career. In 333 career games, he has 99 goals and 97 assists for 196 points. He has a chance to reach the milestone against a team he leads active Golden Knights in scoring against with seven goals. Eichel leads in assists and points with 12 and 17, respectively.
Vegas has been running with a goalie rotation of Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov over the past few weeks. Samsonov started against San Jose on Tuesday, making Hill probable to start against the Islanders. He defeated the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 4 with 23 saves on 24 shots in his last appearance. Against the Islanders, he is 2-0-0 with a 1.49 GAA and .955 SV%, making 40 saves on 42 shots at UBS Arena in their last meeting.
Vegas Golden Knights Latest Lines:
NOTES: Hill will start.
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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,
Granted Lou’s timeline is different than a good portion of the fan base. All kidding aside they need to maximize the time until the deadline. Lou has to look beyond this year and set Patrick up for success in the future.
Lou we are giving away tickets buy one get one free. I just hope to God he is kidding. Of course he has to say all the right things. No one is buying season ticket or tickets in general.