Islanders vs Sharks: Can they finally get a win?

After a two-game pause, the New York Islanders are back in action. Their COVID pause has seemingly helped stop the spread within the team and even allowed a few of their regulars to get off the list.

Captain Anders Lee, Josh Bailey, top pair defenseman Adam Pelech, and bottom pair guy Andy Greene are all back. Getting them back is a huge boost for a lineup that was basically an AHL squad for the last few nights.

What the lineup might be tonight against the San Jose Sharks isn't quite clear yet, but all of these guys, who are out of protocol, are likely in the lineup.

New York Islanders return against San Jose Sharks

Potential Islanders lineup against the Sharks should feature the return of these regulars that have been missing for a few games:

Lee-Barzal-Palmieri
Beauvillier-Pageau-Wahlstrom
Parise-Koivula-Bailey
Martin-Andreoff-Clutterbuck

Pelech-Dobson
Salo-Mayfield
Greene-Hutton


Sorokin (Varlamov)

The key is, essentially, the return of the top line. Getting Lee and Barzal back is very important for this club. The Isles are desperate for goals and Anders Lee should be a big factor in getting them back tp scoring regularly.

The defense is also getting a huge boost with the likely return of Adam Pelech. We've all seen what happens when Pelech is out long term (remember the 2019-20 season). Getting him back stabilizes the pairs a bit more.

I'm not too sure who Trotz inserts as a fourth-line center. We know he will have four lines tonight. Trotz indicated that he won't go 11F-7D today. I put Andreoff there on the fourth line. It's easily the best spot for him.

Betting Lines

According to WynnBET, the Isles, who are on an eight-game losing skid are still the marginal favorites today with a -120 money line.

We all hope they play like the favorites today. The next four games on the schedule are wildly important for the Isles. They feature what should be some winnable games, if the Islanders bring their A-game.