Game Preview: NY Islanders at Vancouver Canucks 1/3/2023

Coming off a rough 4-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken, the NY Islanders look to get back in the win column tonight as they travel to take on the Vancouver Canucks. The Islanders will look to shut down Elias Petterson, who has been an incredibly bright star for the Canucks who have had a lackluster season so far at 16-17-3.

Last Game

The Islanders enter tonight's game coming off a rough loss to the Seattle Kraken on New Year's Day. The only goal the Islanders scored came from Mat Barzal late in the first period to tie the game at one. Thanks to an assist by Casey Cizikas, and Josh Bailey, Barzal was able to find the net to put the Islanders on the board. Unfortunately, a win was not in the cards for the blue and orange on that night.

The Canucks enter tonight's game, ready to play their first game of the new year. The Canucks have lost their last two games to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, and a loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Petterson has picked up a point in each game, continuing to be one of the brightest spots on the Canucks team.

Historical Matchup

Tonight's game will be the first game between the two teams of the 2022-23 season. Last year, the Islanders and Canucks faced off twice. The first game was supposed to be on January 5, but it got postponed and moved to February 9th due to COVID Protocols.

On February 9 when the two teams finally played, the Islanders would best the Canucks, 6-3. In the second game of the season on March 3, the Islanders would fall to the Canucks, 4-3. Ilya Sorokin would go 1-0 against the Canucks last season, as Semyon Varlamov would fall to 0-1.

Player to Watch

Coming into tonight's game, Petterson is certainly the player to watch for the Canucks. Petterson picked up at least a point in the team's past five games. Over that span, Petterson has picked up four goals, and six assists, tallying 10 points in the last five games. The Islanders have to commit to slowing him down and making sure they don't let him get any easy passes off.

Projected Lines

Islanders

Josh Bailey- Casey Cizikas- Mat Barzal Anders Lee- Brock Nelson- Anthony Beauvillier Zach Parise- JG Pageau- Hudson Fasching Ross Johnston- Aatu Raty- Matt Martin

Alexander Romanov- Noah Dobson Parker Wotherspoon- Ryan Pulock Sebastian Aho- Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin Semyon Varlamov (1st game since being activated off IR)

Canucks

Ilya Mikheyev- Bo Horvat- Brock Boeser Andrei Kuzmenko- Elias Petterson- Lane Pederson Conor Garland- Sheldon Dries- JT Miller Dakota Joshua- Curtis Lazar- Will Lockwood

Quinn Hughes- Ethan Bear Oliver Ekman- Larsson- Tyler Myers Travis Dermott- Luke Schenn

Spencer Martin Collin Delia