New York Islanders Get a Visit from the Struggling Canucks

The schedule says the New York Islanders face the Vancouver Canucks tonight at the Barclays. It could have said the Washington Capitals and I wouldn’t be any more worried the Isles might go 0-2-2.

It’s pessimistic I know. But really, the way things are going right now for the New York Islanders I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Vancouver Canucks aren’t any better right now. After starting the season with a 4-0-0 run the ‘Nucks have lost eight in a row. That’s right eight. Being outscored 28-10 in that run, being shutout four times in the process.Things might not be going well for the Islanders, but the Canucks are worse. Does that

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Does that make you feel any better? Knowing that another team is worse off? At least in a hockey sense.

The Canucks still have a hockey first arena with perfect ice. A goalie duo, not trio, that content. Well, as content as Ryan Miller can be. So they have that on us right now.

The Isles need a win. Both in the win column and in the moral column. They need to feel good about themselves again. A big statement victory would be great. But, statistically speaking, the Canucks have to win at some point. And they probably have the Isles circled on the calendar

And the Canucks probably have the Isles circled on the calendar as the date to get that done.

Isles Starting Lineup:

Bailey-Tavares-Clutterbuck     Leddy-Pelech

Prince-Strome-Quine                Hickey-Boychuk

Lee-Nelson-Chimera                 de Haan-Seidenberg

Ladd-Cizikas-Kulemin               Halak (Greiss)

Coach Jack Capuano is going to continue with his top line experiment of having Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck surround John Tavares. It wasn’t a big hit against the Oilers. But then again it wasn’t a total failure also. So win-win, right?

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Halak gets the crease again. Which just adds credence to the saying: “He who screams the loudest, gets the most”. Even if the Isles have a third option they have yet to explore yet.

Canucks Starting Lineup:

D.Sedin-H.Sedin-Eriksson       Hutton-Gudbranson

Granlund-Sutter-Baertschi     Sbisa-Larsen

Burrows-Horvat-Virtanen       Stecher-Tryamkin

Chaput-Gaunce-Dorsett          Miller (Markstrom)

No big surprises from the Canucks here. Eriksson finds his way back to the top line, to reunite the Ikea line as Jannik Hansen has to bow out due to injury.

Matchup History:

Further cause for concern is that the Isles are 0-4-0 against the Canucks since 2010. Losing on average by a score of 4-2.

The Canucks will certainly hope they can keep that trend alive, while simultaneously killing their losing streak. The Isles will hope they can do the same.

It’s odd to have two bad teams face off against each other, and essentially want the same thing from the game, and have virtually the same narrative going into it.

Next: Complacency Is the Word

Where to Watch the Game:

Venue: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NYC
TV: MSG+
Radio: AM970 The Answer, 88.7FM WRHU, 103.9FM LI News