New York Islanders

Islanders Game 38 Preview at Arizona Coyotes: Lines, Notes & How To Watch

Published

4 months ago

January 4, 2024

The New York Islanders (17-10-10) continue their four-game road trip tonight in the desert as they take on the Arizona Coyotes (19-15-2) at Mullett Arena. Here’s what you need to know before puck drop.

Bortuzzo On IR; Varlamov Day-To-Day:

The Islanders continue to be hit with injuries. The team added defenseman Robert Bortuzzo to their injured reserve list yesterday with a lower-body injury he suffered on Tuesday against Colorado.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov also sustained an injury in that game. Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said today that Varlamov’s injury is lower-body, and he is considered day-to-day.

Who Will Be The Isles All-Star?

The first round of selections for this year’s NHL All-Star game will be revealed tonight, with one player representing each team. Who will it be for the Islanders? There are a few worthy players.

Projected Lineup:

Lee-Horvat-Barzal

Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri

Holmstrom-Pageau-Gauthier

Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Romanov-Dobson

Bolduc-Mayfield

Reilly-Aho

Sorokin

Appleby

Last Time Out:

The Islanders never trailed in the game but couldn’t withstand the pressure from the high-powered Avalanche, falling 5-4 in overtime on Tuesday night. Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winning goal for Colorado on the power play 32 seconds into overtime.

The overtime loss was the Islanders’ league-leading 10th of the season.

The Opponent:

The forever-rebuilding Coyotes are beginning to pull themselves out of the dregs of the West and currently hold claim to the conference’s final wild-card spot.

Clayton Keller’s 31 points leads the Coyotes, while Lawson Crouse paces the team in goals with 16.

Rookie forward Logan Cooley has struggled in his first NHL season, managing just 18 points with three goals.

Arizona comes into tonight’s action, missing a key piece of their lineup. Forward Jason Zucker was handed a three-game suspension by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety yesterday for boarding Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins in the Coyotes’ 4-1 loss on Tuesday.

Connor Ingram will make his 23rd start of the season tonight. The 26-year-old holds a 2.49 GAA and a .919 save percentage with a record of 13-7-0 that includes four shutouts.

The Coyotes have the league’s 11th-ranked power play and 19th-ranked penalty kill.

In their previous matchup this season, the Islanders shut out the Coyotes 1-0 at UBS Arena back on Oct. 17 behind 14 saves from Ilya Sorokin.

How To Watch:

Puck drop between the Islanders and Coyotes from Mullet Arena is scheduled for just past 9 p.m. EST. The game is available to watch on MSGSN and can be streamed on MSG Plus or ESPN Plus for out-of-market viewers. 88.7 FM WRHU will produce the radio feed of the game, which can also be heard on 1050 AM ESPN or 103.9 FM WRCN.