Duck Season, Gm 2: Islanders vs. Ducks, Updates, Betting Odds & More

The New York Islanders are back in action Saturday night, as they face the Anaheim Ducks at UBS Arena after losing their season-opener Thursday. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 PM ET.

After Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, head coach Lane Lambert was not happy with his team’s transition game. He thought they slowed down plays rather than transition with speed.

Ahead of their contest against the Ducks, Lambert says his players understand what needs to be done.

“I think it [the message] has been pushed through. We’re looking forward to playing quicker.”

New York Islanders captain Anders Lee weighed in.

“You look at a couple of the plays. There were times when we wanted to do more of what we set out to do, and that was evident in, you know, not playing quite as fast as we wanted to, but that’s something we looked at, and we’re very much aware of.”

Ilya Sorokin was the first goaltender off the ice at New York Islanders’ morning skate. Lambert would not confirm that he would be in between the pipes. Sorokin stopped 26 of 28 in Thursday’s loss.

Kieffer Bellows, Nikita Soshnikov, Ross Johnston, and Sebastian Aho stayed on the rink following morning skate as they seem to be the scratches for tonight’s contest.

That means Oliver Wahlstrom is back in, along with Cal Clutterbuck. With Clutterbuck previously being on IR, a roster move would need to be made in order for him to play.

It’s up in the air who that will be, but the logical choices are either Ross Johnston or Nikita Soshnikov. Both would need to go through waivers.

The issue is that it takes 24 hours for a player to clear. So that means that someone would need to be placed on IR if Clutterbuck is coming back in.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Zach Parise — Mathew Barzal — Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee — Brock Nelson — Anthony Beauvillier

Josh Bailey — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

Alexander Romanov — Noah Dobson

Robin Salo — Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

ANAHEIM DUCKS LINES (PROJECTED)

Adam Henrique — Trevor Zegras — Frank Vatrano

Mason McTavish — Ryan Strome — Troy Terry

Maxime Comtois — Isac Lundestrom — Jakob Silfverberg

Max Jones — Derek Grant — Pavol Regenda

Cam Fowler — John Klingberg

Dmitry Kulikov — Jamie Drysdale

Nathan Beaulieu — Kevin Shattenkirk

John Gibson

Anthony Stolarz

GAME NOTES

Tonight, the New York Islanders host the Anaheim Ducks in the first of two matchups between the two clubs this season. The last time these two teams met was March 13, 2022, when Kyle Palmieri (two goals) and Josh Bailey (two assists) each recorded multi-point games in a 4-3 victory at UBS Arena.

Tonight’s game is the second in the Islanders’ season-opening four-game homestand. They look to capture their first win of the season after beginning the 2022-23 campaign against Florida on Thursday.

BETTING CORNER

Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Anaheim Ducks tonight on home ice? You can get the Islanders at -170, +145 on the puck line. The Ducks are the road underdogs at +145, -17 at +1.5.

The over for the contest is 5,5 at -120, with the under at +100.

Kyle Palmieri, who played five years for the Anaheim Ducks, is +310 to score a goal, +2000 to score the first goal.

Head over to DraftKings to place your bets now!

Saturday’s contest will be available on MSGSN for local viewers. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU, and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.