Islanders vs Hurricanes: 2021 season opener, lines, TV listing, and more

The 2021-22 NHL season is finally here for the New York Islanders. Game one of the New York Islanders 2021-22 season will happen tonight as they travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to battle the Carolina Hurricanes.

It feels like it’s been a long offseason, but it hasn’t been really. Specifically when you consider how much downtime hockey fans had over the last two-ish seasons. But here we are, with just hours before puck-drop on Game 1 of the year. Here’s what you need to know about tonight’s game against the Hurricanes.

New York Islanders vs Carolina Hurricanes in 2021-22 season opener

These teams haven’t seen each other since March 7, 2020. The Hurricanes won that night 3-2 in overtime. Ryan Pulock and Josh Bailey scored for the Isles and Vicent Trocheck scored the OT winner.

I remember that game well, I was in the stands at that Coliseum that afternoon. I couldn’t believe my eyes that Trocheck’s goal counted and that it wasn’t overturned for high-sticking. Most of us learned something that night; that high-sticking isn’t as clear-cut as we imagined.

There have been some changes in the roster since then for both sides. Here’s how they project to lineup for tonight’s game:

New York Islanders Lineup

Lee-Barzal-Palmieri
Beauvillier-Nelson-Bailey
Parise-Pageau-Wahlstrom
Johnston-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Pelech-Pulock
Chara-Dobson
Greene-Mayfield

Sorokin (Schneider)

No surprises here, right? Trotz said that Matt Martin is close to returning to the lineup. But for now, Ross Johnston will stay there on the fourth line. It’s a role Johnston was seemingly born to play.

Semyon Varlamov is also close according to Trotz but he’ll remain on the sidelines for now. Just like Martin there’s no sense in rushing Varlamov back in if he isn’t 100% ready.

Carolina Hurricanes Lineup

Kotakniemi-Aho-Necas
Svechnikov-Trocheck-Teravainen
Niederreiter-Staal-Fast
Lorentz-Stepan-Martinook

Salvin-Bear
Skjei-Pesce
Cole-DeAngelo

Andersen (Raantta)

Source: Sara Civian

It’s the NHL’s first look at Kotkaniemi in a Canes jersey after the offer sheet drama. Will he be worth the price they paid to get him? At the very least you have to look at their top nine and realize that it’s very strong and could give the Islanders a number of problems tonight.

I’m less convinced at the rest of the roster. There’s certainly quality there, but did Carolina get better defensively and between the pipes after letting go of Dougie Hamilton and Alex Nedeljkovic? We’ll get our first glimpse of that too tonight.

From an Islanders perspective, you have to think that Barzal is looking forward to playing against Tony DeAngelo again.

TV Guide

Where can you get the game? That’s a more important question now since ESPN and TNT are broadcasting games. So here’s where you can get the game:

TV: MSG+, MSG GO, ESPN+
Radio: 88.7FM, 103.9FM, 1050AM