Getting Minni With It, Gm. 37: Islanders vs. Wild, Lines & More

After falling to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, followed by the postponement of their Saturday contest against the Seattle Kraken, the New York Islanders (15-15-6) are back in action Sunday night as they host the Minnesota Wild (26-10-3). Puck drop is slated for 7:30 PM at UBS Arena.

“They have a real good fourth line mentality,” New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz regarding the Minnesota Wild. “They’re pretty relentless. Good on the forecheck. They’re very good late in games.”

“They do not give you much room to breathe and those are hard games.”

New York Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock was on the ice for a second-straight skate, as he works his way back from a lower-body injury. He was paired with Sebastian Aho during practice, as he does not appear to be game-ready just yet.

Kieffer Bellows, who was a healthy scratch for Kyle Palmieri on Thursday, will be a healthy scratch again Sunday. He practiced with Ross Johnston and Austin Czarnik (IR) on Sunday morning.

Palmieri remains in the lineup for a second-straight game, as he played in his first game since Dec. 16 back on Thursday.

Ilya Sorokin (12-7-5, 2.29 GAA, .926 SV%, 4 SO) was the first netminder off the ice at morning skate and will make his 25th start of the season.

The Minnesota Wild last played on Friday, as they spoiled “Henrik Lundqvist Night” at Madison Square Garden as they held on for a 3-2 victory. This will be the first time that the Wild play on UBS Arena ice.

The Wild hosted the Islanders early in the season and picked up a 5-2 win back on Nov. 7, Islanders Semyon Varlamov’s first game of the season.

Although not confirmed, it is likely that Cam Talbot (17-8-1, 2.92 GAA, .910 SV%) will get the start between the pipes for Minnesota on Sunday night.

Minnesota forwards Nick Bjugstad (IR), Nico Sturm (COVID-19) and defenseman Jon Merill (COVID-19) will not play in Sunday’s contest.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Josh Bailey

Anthony Beauvillier— Brock Nelson— Kyle Palmieri

Zach Parise— Jean-Gabriel Pageau —Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech — Scott Mayfield

Zdeno Chara— Noah Dobson

Robin Salo — Andy Greene

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

MINNESOTA WILD LINES (PROJECTED)

Kirill Kaprizov—Ryan Hartman—Mats Zuccarello

Jordan Greenway—Joel Eriksson Ek—Marcus Foligno

Kevin Fiala—Frederick Gaudreau—Matthew Boldy

Connor Dewar—Victor Rask—Brandon Duhaime

Alex Goligoski—Jard Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin—Mathew Dumba

Jordie Benn—Dmitry Kulikov

Cam Talbot

Kaapo Kahkonen

GAME NOTES

The New York Islanders host the Minnesota Wild tonight, the second of two matchups between the teams this season.

The last time these teams met was November 7, 2021, in St. Paul. It has been almost three years since the Islanders last played Minnesota at home, on February 10, 2019, a 2-1 Islanders win.

Tonight’s matchup is the fifth of eight consecutive home games for the Islanders, who are 6-3-1 in their last ten at UBS Arena.

By Wednesday, the Islanders will have faced three Western opponents in six days (LAK, MIN, SEA. They have a 6-4-4 record against Western opponents so far this season.

BETTING CORNER

The New York Islanders are the home underdog for Sunday night’s contest as they come in at +105 and are -230 on the reverse puck line. The Minnesota wild are the away favorites, as they are -126, with their puck line odds at +184.

The over for the contest is set at 5.5 at -104 while the under 5.5. is at -118.

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