New York Islanders

Islanders Gm 59: Battle With Bruins, Status of 2 Up in the Air

Published

1 year ago

February 18, 2023

New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield (24) fights with Boston Bruins left wing Taylor Hall (71) during the first period of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round game 4

BOSTON, MA — The New York Islanders (28-23-7) face off against the Boston Bruins (41-8-5) Saturday night, the second of a back-to-back after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Friday.

Puck drop is slated for 5 PM ET at TD Garden.

Islanders head coach Lane Lambert will address the media at 2:15 PM ET.

Player Updates

New York Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who has missed the last two games with an upper body, was placed on Injured Reserve on Thursday morning (retro Feb. 11). He is eligible to return against the Bruins, if he is ready.

The Islanders would not need to make any roster moves to activate him. However, it is likely Andy Andreoff is returned to Bridgeport if Pageau is good to go.

NYI Hockey Now asked Islanders head coach Lane Lambert before the game against the Penguins if Pageau would be making the trip to Boston, but they didn’t know yet.

The Islanders also lost Josh Bailey Friday night, who was not on the bench to start the third period, but Lambert had no update on his status postgame.

With Ilya Sorokin starting Friday night, stopping 40 of 44, Semyon Varlamov gets the nod against the Bruins. He’s been dominant against Boston over his career, with a .923 SV% and a 2.45 GAA in 26 starts.

The Bruins welcome back Jake DeBrusk, who hasn’t played since their Winter Classic matchup with the Penguins 17 games ago. He had suffered a fractured leg after a two-goal performance.

He returns to the lineup with 16 goals and 14 assists in 36 games.

The expectation is that Vezina-race leader Linus Ullmark will be between the pipes.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Mathew Barzal
Zach Parise-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Josh Bailey-Casey Cizikas-Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin-Andy Andreoff-Hudson Fasching

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

BOSTON BRUINS LINES (PROJECTED)

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jake DeBrusk
David Pastrnak-David Krejci-Pavel Zacha
Taylor Hall-Charlie Coyle-Nick Foligno
AJ Greer-Trent Frederic-Craig Smith

Matt Grzelcyk-Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort-Connor Clifton

Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman

ISLANDERS NOTES

Tonight, the New York Islanders visit the Boston Bruins in the third and final matchup between the two clubs this season.

The Islanders last visited TD Garden on December 13, 2022, when Josh Bailey, Noah Dobson, and Brock Nelson each tallied multi-point games to help the Islanders collect a point in the shootout.

The Islanders enter tonight’s matchup with points in six of their last seven contests, and they will finish their 12th back-to-back series of 2022-23 tonight following their fourth comeback win of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night at UBS Arena.

DRAFTKINGS BETTING CORNER

Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Boston Bruins? You can get the Islanders at +200 & -120 on the reverse puck line. The Bruins come in at -240 & +100 on the puck line.

The over for the contest is 6 at +105, with the under at -125.

Head over to DraftKings to place your bets now!