Game Preview: NY Islanders @ San Jose Sharks

Last Game:

The NY Islanders found themselves down 2-0 halfway through the second period against the St. Louis Blues at UBS Arena. That was until they rattled off four straight goals to take the lead away, eventually winning 4-2. Kyle Palmieri started the Isles' rally with a great individual effort and was followed up about five minutes later by J.G. Pageau to tie the game entering the third period. Bo Horvat scored one of the nicest goals by an Islander all season just 55 seconds into the final frame to take the lead, and Mat Barzal finished the job by potting the empty netter. The Blue and Orange played great defensive hockey all game, as shown by Ilya Sorokin only needing to make 19 saves on 21 shots.

San Jose's last game was a crazy one, to say the least when they hosted the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. The Sharks built a 6-3 lead over the Stanley Cup-contending Stars early into the third, but it all unraveled after that, surrendering three goals in less than three minutes which knotted the score at six. Roope Hintz scored in overtime to take down the home team and complete the four-goal comeback. Anthony Duclair had two goals and two assists for the Sharks, and Fabian Zetterlund had three points of his own. Dallas was driven by both veterans and young bucks, with Wyatt Johnston netting three goals and two assists on a line with red-hot rookie Logan Stankoven who had two goals and two assists, along with Jamie Benn and Miro Heiskanen both registering four points each. It was not a good night to be a goaltender in this game, as Kaapo Kahkonen allowed seven goals on 40 shots in this wild game in California.

Historical Matchup:

The last time these two teams played was a game that had Islanders fans calling for former head coach Lane Lambert's job immediately after it concluded. As the Isles are known for doing this season, they blew a 4-1 lead and allowed a game to enter overtime that they should have won handily against (at the time) the worst team in hockey points-wise. Tomas Hertl scored the last two goals in regulation to complete his hat trick and tie the game with 1:30 left before the buzzer. As many saw coming, the Isles found a way to lose in overtime, with William Eklund beating Sorokin on a 2-on-1 with five seconds left to go in sudden death. This loss and the overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks this season may be the two games that Lambert is most remembered for in a frustrating stint behind the Islanders' bench.

Players to Watch:

It was announced earlier today that Anthony Duclair and Alexander Barabonov are sitting tonight's game out due to trade speculation. In goal, the Sharks turn to Magnus Chrona in goal tonight, making his third NHL start. In three previous appearances, the 23-year-old has a 5.20 GAA and .851 SV%. However, in his most recent appearance on March 2, he held the Dallas Stars to two goals, turning aside 38. The Isles will look to get to him early before he can build confidence.

Palmieri has been red hot lately for New York, with four goals and six points in his last three outings. In one of those games, he potted a first-period hat trick against the Boston Bruins leading to an Isles win. Palms is currently 5th in scoring for the Isles with 19 goals and 19 assists this year. After his last few strong games, fans hope this could be reminiscent of when Palmieri ignited in the second half of 2021-22, famously known as "second half Palms" among many Islanders' social media fan pages.

Projected Lines:

Islanders

Brock Nelson - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Anders Lee - J.G. Pageau - Kyle Palmieri
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov - Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Sharks

??? - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Filip Zadina - William Eklund - Luke Kunin
Just Bailey - Nico Sturm - Thomas Bordeleau
Giavani Smith - Ryan Carpenter - Mike Hoffman

Mario Ferraro - Kyle Burroughs
Henry Thrun - Jan Ruuta
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Calen Addison

Magnus Chrona
Kaapo Kahkonen