Home Cooking: New York Islanders Begin Six-Game Homestand with Caps

The New York Islanders begin a six-game homestand tonight when they host the Washington Capitals at the Nassau Coliseum. New York will be looking to stop a two-game losing streak and curb a recurring issue they’ve been having over the last four games.

The Islanders have gotten off to sluggish starts over their previous four games, which has cost them in back-to-back contests against the Pittsburgh Penguins. A win tonight would tie the Islanders with Washington for the division lead, while a loss coupled with a Pittsburgh win would drop them down to third in the division.

Tonight also begins a month where the Islanders face Washington on five different occasions.

📹 Bailey Pregame Availability 📹 pic.twitter.com/WxiLBgr0rQ

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 1, 2021

“We know that there’s games to come against them as the month goes on,” Josh Bailey said this morning. “You really just focus one at a time. They’ve kind of had our number thus far. It goes that way sometimes and we still have opportunities here to get the wins.”

The Islanders have dropped all three previous meetings against Washington thus far this season. Their most recent loss came in the form of a 3-1 defeat in Washington D.C. on March 16. Four of their five meetings coming up will be at the Nassau Coliseum.

When the Islanders hit the ice they will do so without Michael Dal Colle for the third consecutive game. Dal Colle missed practice on Wednesday and has been dealing with a lower-body injury,

📹 Trotz Pregame Availability 📹 pic.twitter.com/CrXXLTFtl3

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 1, 2021

Despite Dal Colle not being available tonight, Kieffer Bellows will not be in the lineup. Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said Bellows made it a tough decision and that he will be a very good pro.

“He has a lot of detail. He can score,” Trotz said about Bellows. “He’s got a really good shot. I think down the stretch Kieffer is going to be a pretty important piece for us down the stretch.”

Noah Dobson will return to the Islanders lineup tonight after missing eight games due to COVID-19.

New York Islanders Lineup (Projected)

Leo Komarov — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle

Anthony Beauvillier — Brock Nelson — Josh Bailey

Ross Johnston — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

Nick Leddy — Scott Mayfield

Andy Greene — Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

Washington Capitals Lineup (Projected)

Conor Sheary — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie

Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Daniel Sprong

Carl Hagelin — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Brenden Dillon — John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov — Justin Schultz

Zdeno Chara — Nick Jensen

Ilya Samsonov

Vitek Vanecek

How to Watch

Tonight’s game will air locally on MSG+ and stream on NHL.tv. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN Radio, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.