Game Preview: NY Islanders vs Vegas Golden Knights

Last Game

In Patrick Roy's coaching debut on Long Island, the NY Islanders snapped their losing skid by taking down the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime. The Isles got on the board early courtesy of an Alexander Romanov snipe, extending his season-high in goals to five. The Stars took the second period for themselves, with Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist scoring four minutes apart. Hudson Fasching deflected the tying goal home in the third, which sent the game to OT, where Bo Horvat converted on a breakaway to give the Isles a much-needed two points and a morale boost under their new coaching regime. Ilya Sorokin saw 42 shots and stopped 40 of them in a bounce-back effort for him as well.

Last night, the Vegas Golden Knights suffered a heartbreaking defeat in New Jersey, losing to the Devils 6-5 in overtime. After being down 3-1 early in the second period, Vegas scored four unanswered goals, coming from Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Roy, and Jonathan Marchessault, who scored twice to take a 5-3 lead. New Jersey was resilient and tied the game at five to force OT, where Tyler Toffoli capped off his hat trick to win the game for the Devils. Logan Thompson started for the Knights, making 32 saves on 38 shots.

Historical Matchup

The last time these two teams faced off was about two and a half weeks ago in Nevada, where the Isles took a 5-2 loss. Jack Eichel and Nic Roy scored two goals each for Sin City, along with Pavel Dorofeyev. Mat Barzal and Matt Martin scored in the loss, while Sorokin could only muster 24 saves on the 29 shots he faced. This loss arguably started the poor stretch of play for New York, as they went 1-4-1 after this loss, leading to the eventual firing of head coach Lane Lambert.

Last season, the Islanders won both matchups against Vegas. When they were on the road, the blue and orange were the ones that won 5-2 at T-Mobile Arena. Simon Holmstrom's first NHL goal proved to be the game-winner. When the Golden Knights last visited UBS Arena, Barzal scored in overtime to take them down in a defensive battle that ended in a 2-1 Isles victory.

Players to Watch

Holmstrom is our player to watch this time around. He has been a strong third-line contributor this season, and people have begun to see everything he brings to the team. The former first-round pick has 16 points in 45 games, which may not sound like a lot, but he averages around 13 minutes of ice time in his first full season as an everyday player. The most impressive part is that he has five shorthanded goals this season, the most league-wide, and while the Islanders' PK has not been great at killing penalties this season, he and JG Pageau are always a threat to catch an odd-man rush while down a man. Having said all of this, the Swedish forward has not scored a point in his last eight games, so he will need to break his cold streak tonight against the team he scored his first NHL goal.

Star players Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, and Shea Theodore are all out for the Golden Knights tonight, so our player to watch is Mark Stone. Stone has been talked about as one of the best defensive forwards around the league throughout his career, and along with that is a great offensive play driver. The former 6th-round pick has 15 goals and 34 assists for 49 points in 47 games this season, on pace to break his season high by 12 through 82 games. Stone is also riding a six-game point streak, scoring 10 points during that span, so the Isles will have to turn off his heater to take two points against Vegas.

Projected Lines

Islanders:

Anders Lee - Bo Horvat – Mathew Barzal Hudson Fasching - Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri Simon Holmstrom – J.G. Pageau – Julien Gauthier Matt Martin – Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck

Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson Adam Pelech – Sebastian Aho Mike Reilly – Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin Semyon Varlamov

Golden Knights:

Pavel Dorfeyev - Chandler Stevenson– Mark Stone Ivan Barabashev - Nicolas Roy - Jonathan Marchessault Brenden Brisson - Brett Howden - Paul Cotter Jonas Rondbjerg - Byron Froese - Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez - Alex Pietrangelo Nicolas Hague – Zach Whitecloud Brayden McNabb - Kaeden Korczak

Adin Hill Logan Thompson