Islanders Gm 46: Battle With the Bruins, Dufour Recalled

EAST MEADOW, NY — The New York Islanders (23-18-4) are off back in action Wednesday night, as they host the Boston Bruins (34-5-4) before flying to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Thursday. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 PM at UBS Arena.

The Islanders have gone 1-1-2 on their homestand, with one more game to salvage to finish the trip at .500.

The Bruins have been dynamite this season, with just nine total losses in a season where the expectations were not high at all, given all the injuries they had to deal with. But backed by Linus Ullmark, who leads the Vezina race, the Bruins have an 11-point lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs for first in the Atlantic.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES

Prior to the skate, netminder Ilya Sorokin was on the ice with Ross Johnston, Kyle Palmieri, and Adam Pelech.

Semyonv Varlamov will make his first start in four games, after allowing four goals on 21 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Jan. 6.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who was on the wrong end of an Alex Ovechkin hit Monday night, was at morning skate and is expected to play.

William Dufour and Dennis Cholowski have been recalled as both are expected to be in the lineup. Simon Holmstrom did not take part in line rushes as he will serve as an extra.

Cholowski manned the point on the Islanders second power-play unit.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Josh Bailey-Mathew Barzal-Willam Dufour
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck

Dennis Cholowski-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Noah Dobson
Sebastian Aho-Scott Mayfield

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

BOSTON BRUINS  LINES (PROJECTED)

Prax lines:

Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak
Hall-Coyle-Frederic
Foligno-Nosek/Koppanen-Greer

Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Clifton
Zboril

Ullmark
Swayman

— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) January 17, 2023

ISLANDERS NOTES

Tonight, the New York Islanders close out their season-long five-game home stand as they host the Boston Bruins in the second of three matchups between the two clubs this season.

The last time these teams met was December 13 in Boston, 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 begin their ninth back-to-back series of the season tonight, and they enter tonight’s matchup with a 4-0-1 record in their last five games against an Atlantic Division opponent.

DRAFTKINGS BETTING CORNER

Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Boston Bruins? You can get the Islanders at +150 & +-175 on the reverse puck line. The Bruins come in at -175 & +150 on the puck line.

The over for the contest is 5.5 at -110, with the under at -110.

Head over to DraftKings to place your bets now!

HOW TO WATCH

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