New York Islanders
BEAU NO! Islanders Lineup, Matchups & Game Notes vs. Washington
The prospects of Anthony Beauvillier being in the New York Islanders lineup against the Washington Capitals isn’t looking good.
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz did not have an update on Beauvillier when he spoke with reporters this morning. He hoped to have an update on the Islanders’ top-six forward later in the day.
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The loss of Beauvillier would be a loss for the Islanders lineup, who has relied a lot on the top-six for most of its scoring production through the first five games.
“Beau’s obviously an integral part of our offense,” Mathew Barzal said Beauvillier’s potential absence from the Islanders lineup. “He plays the half wall on the power play and brings a dynamic presence with speed that’s tough to find. It’s obviously unfortunate that he’s out, but we have some guys that are going to come in and do their best. That’s all you can ask for right now.”
Through the Islanders’ first five games, they have scored nine goals in that span. Only one of those goals has come from outside of the top-six, and that was Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s goal against Boston on Jan. 18. Since then Only Barzal, Anders Lee, Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson have scored this year for the Islanders.
For now, Trotz is likely to make a one-for-one switch if Beauvillier isn’t available to play, And while they would like to score more goals, the competitiveness of the games makes it harder to do so.
“For the most part, our game has a lot of substance to it,” Trotz said. “Obviously last game we’d love to have gotten on the scoreboard. We out-chanced them, but we didn’t do enough to find the back of the net and we have to do that a little harder. It’s not easy to score right now. It’s playoff hockey. It’s difficult, especially in this division everyone is in playoff mode.”
Semyon Varlamov will likely get the nod for New York in their first rematch with Washington since they knocked them out of the playoffs last year. There was a good chance that the Islanders lineup would look different at some point this week with the team on a five-game road trip and Trotz hinted that he could change things up over the course of it.
Washington is still without Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov, Â Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov are out of the Caps’ lineup due to COVID-19 protocols. Washington head coach Peter Laviolette didn’t reveal much about his lineup, only saying that Tom Wilson was a game-time decision.
New York Islanders Lineup (Projected)
Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier — Brock Nelson — Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Ross Johnston
Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock
Nick Leddy — Scott Mayfield
Andy Greene — Noah Dobson
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
Washington Capitals Lineup (Projected)
Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Richard Panik — Lars Eller — Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Daniel Sprong — Michael Sgarbossa — Conor Sheary
Brenden Dillon — John Carlson
Zdeno Chara — Justin Schultz
Jonas Siegenthaler — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Vitek Vanecek
Craig Anderson
Game Notes
At 3-0-3, Washington has six points through their first six games. It’s a feat that they have accomplished only once before. … Nicklas Backstrom leads Washington in both points (7) and goals (4) this season. He was second on the team in points (54) last season as well. … Washington is 6-4-0 in their last 10 games against the Islanders. … Tonight will mark the fifth time the Islanders have faced Washington on the road since Barry Trotz took over as head coach. The Isles have won all four of those previous matchups. … The Islanders have held the edge in faceoffs through their first five games and lead the league with a 58.0 FOW%. … Semyon Varlamov is one of only three goalies in Islanders history to go 3-0-0 in their first four games of the season. He joins the likes of Chris Osgood and Jaroslav Halak.
How to Watch
Today’s game will air on NBCSN. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.