New York Islanders
Islanders Gm 47: Backend in Buffalo, Sabres on Their Tail
BUFFALO, NY — The New York Islanders (23-19-4) are back in action for the second leg of a back-to-back as they face the Buffalo Sabres (21-19-3). Puck drop is slated for 7:30 PM at the Keybank Center.
Before puck drop, around 6 PM, the Buffalo Sabres will be inducting Ryan Miller into their hall of fame and retiring his no. 30 jersey.
The New York Islanders did not skate Thursday morning, but head coach Lane Lambert wil speak with us around 4:15 PM to provide updates.
This morning, William Dufour was sent back to Bridgeport, per the NHL’s media site, as Simon Holmstrom likely returns to the lineup.
With Semyon Varlamov playing against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, Ilya Sorokin is back between the pipes against the Sabres. He goes against Ukko-Pekka Luukkonn in what should be a fun goaltender matchup.
The Islanders go head-to-head with former player Kyle Okposo, who is in his first season as captain of the Sabres. They also go up against the son of Bridgeport Islanders head coach Brent Thompson, Tage Thompson, who is having a monster season with 32 goals and 27 assists in 43 games.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)
Zach Parise-Mathew Barzal-Josh Bailey
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Simon Holmstrom
Anthony Beauvillier-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Dennis Cholowski-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
BUFFALO SABRESÂ LINES (PROJECTED)
Sabres’ lines/pairs at the morning skate:
Skinner-Thompson-Tuch
Asplund-Cozens-Quinn
Mittelstadt-Jost-Olofsson
Girgensons-Krebs-OkposoSamuelsson-Dahlin
Power-Jokiharju
Bryson-Lyubushkin
Clague is the extra
UPL in starter’s— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) January 19, 2023
ISLANDERS NOTES
Tonight, the New York Islanders visit the Buffalo Sabres in the first of three matchups between the two clubs this season. The last time these teams met was April 23, 2022 in Buffalo. The Islanders play their first road game since January 6 tonight, and four of their last five meetings against Buffalo have been on the road at KeyBank Center.
The Islanders enter tonight’s matchup with a 4-1-1 record in their last six matchups against Atlantic Division teams, and they will cap off their ninth back-to-back series of the season tonight, after hosting the Bruins last night at UBS Arena.
DRAFTKINGS BETTING CORNER
Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Buffalo Sabres? You can get the Islanders at +100 & -250 on the reverse puck line. The Sabres come in at -120 & +215 on the puck line.
The over for the contest is 6 at -110, with the under at -110.
Head over to DraftKings to place your bets now!
HOW TO WATCH
Thursday’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.