Game Preview: NY Islanders @ Carolina Hurricanes

The NY Islanders (8-7-6) head to Raleigh, North Carolina, to take on the Carolina Hurricanes (13-8-0) for their sixth divisional matchup of November.

LAST GAME

The Islanders are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, losing 5-4 despite leading for all three periods. The Isles got on the board early with a power play goal by Bo Horvat just five minutes into the first period. Mat Barzal has gotten his scoring touch back, scoring a breakaway goal that fans have been waiting for, and Cal Clutterbuck scored his third of the season to give the Isles a 3-2 lead in the second period. JG Pageau finally got the monkey off of his back ending a 21-game goal drought for his first of the season. In pure Islanders fashion, the Devils were able to tie the game during the third period. Curtis Lazar scored for the Devils with just 23 seconds left on the board, securing a Devils win. This was the 9th time this season the Islanders have blown a multi-goal lead during the third period and have been outscored 28-13 per Stefen Rosner.

The Hurricanes are coming into tonight's matchup with a win against divisional rivals Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. The Canes put up four goals on 36 shots and were able to hold the Flyer's offense to just one goal.

HISTORICAL MATCHUP

The Islanders last faced the Canes on November 4th at UBS arena, where they suffered a 4-3 overtime loss. Despite head coach Lane Lambert saying it wasn't a trend, the Islanders had a 3-goal lead over the Hurricanes until an absolutely disastrous third period led to them tying the game up and winning in overtime. The Islanders had a similar loss against the Detroit Red Wings two games prior. The Islanders scored once in the first period and twice during the second to head into the third period with a 3-1 lead. The Islanders let up on a dominant Hurricanes offense and allowed them to score twice in two minutes to tie the game with five minutes left. The Islanders were outshot in every period, but most notably 19-5 during the third period. Sebastian Aho, no, not that one, ended the game just one minute into overtime to give the Hurricanes the win.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brock Nelson has six points in his last five games despite being held off the scoresheet for the past two games. As NovemBROCK ends, Nelson looks to continue his offensive domination. Noah Dobson has been a warrior on the backend since the Islanders' loss of Adam Pelech and Sebastian Aho due to injury against the Ottawa Senators last week. Despite struggling defensively at the beginning of the season, Dobson has gained a lot of confidence in his own zone and has become the Islander's strongest defenseman over the past month. He is a +5 in his last five games and has four points over the same period, including two assists in the loss to the Devils.

For the Hurricanes, Seth Jarvis has eight points (4G, 4A) in his last five games and has played strong in both zones. The Swedish Sebastian Aho has five assists in his last five games and is a +6 in the same amount of time.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Semyon Varlamov was the first goalie off; Matt Martin, Grant Hutton, and Hudson Fasching stayed on the ice after the morning skate. Julian Gauthier will skate in his third straight game.