Islanders vs. Carolina: Must Win, Odds, Lineups, TV and more

The New York Islanders host the Carolina Hurricanes in a matinee matchup at the Coliseum. Here’s everything to know about the game.

The New York Islanders will drop the puck with the Hurricanes, shortly after 1p.m., in what is a huge game in the playoff race.

The Islanders come in to today with 78 points in 66 games. Carolina is right on their tails with 75 points in 65 games.

The Islanders are only holding on to the second wildcard spot by two points. The Rangers are right behind the Isles, but the Isles have a game in hand on them.

Interesting Stat of the Day:

On Thursday the Islanders dropped their fifth straight game (0-3-2) by losing to the Ottawa Senators 4-3.

Also on Thursday night, the Hurricanes lost to the Flyers 4-1 in Philadelphia. Carolina was down 2-0 entering the third and scored a goal early in the third to make it 2-1. But Philly Scored two quick goals less than two minutes after Carolina scored to put the game out of reach.

Today will start a back-to-back for Carolina. Tomorrow they will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins at 1:30 p.m.

A win today will give the Islanders much needed distance from Carolina in the playoff race. If the Islanders lose they can be out of a playoff spot real soon.

The Season Series

So far the season series between the Isles and Hurricanes has definitely been in favor of Carolina.

The first time these teams met was on October 11th in Raleigh and this game was lopsided. From puck drop the Hurricanes completely dominated the game. Carolina opened the scoring with a Teuvo Teravainen goal, but the Islanders answered back with a Brock Nelson powerplay goal. The Hurricanes scored again and the first ended 2-1 Carolina.

Johnny Boychuck scored just under two minutes into the second period on the powerplay to tie the game up. After that it was all Hurricanes. Carolina finished the game with three unanswered goals to win 5-2. The shots were 40-19 in favor of Carolina and Thomas Greiss was in net for the loss.

The next time the Isles played Carolina was on January 19th, again in Raleigh. This game was much closer than the first meeting. Andrei Svechnikov started the scoring in the first and the period ended 1-0 Carolina. Anders Lee tied the game in the second and that was it for the scoring.

The game eventually went into a shootout, which lasted eight rounds. Justin Williams scored on Greiss for the game winning shootout goal and Carolina won 2-1.

The Isles will face Carolina one more time after today. That game will be on Sunday March 22nd at the Barclays Center. Puck drop for that game is scheduled for 5pm.

Tale of the Tape

Betting Odds

The Islanders come in today as the the favorites, courtesy of the Action Network.

This matchup does not favor the Islanders. The Islanders have not look good in recent games and in recent seasons they have struggled against Carolina.