Royalty At The Stable, Gm 36: Islanders vs. Kings, Lines & More

The New York Islanders (15-14-6) welcome the Los Angeles Kings (21-16-6) to UBS Arena Thursday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM, not the usual 7:30.

The New York Islanders come into the contest after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers for a third time in a week to pull into fifth place in the wild-card race and sixth in the Metropolitan Division.

At Thursday’s morning skate, the Islanders welcomed back defenseman Ryan Pulock, who has been out of the lineup with a lower-body injury sustained on Nov. 15.

“It’s amazing…He’s a great guy to be around and just to see him skating with us today after all the hard work that he’s put in day in day out to come back, it’s big.”

“Everyone was happy to see him, everyone had a smile on their face.”

Kyle Palmieri, who has stayed on with the extras following practice or the optional morning skates that he has attended, did not on Thursday. Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Austin Czarnik, Sebastian Aho, and Ryan Pulock were the extras following practice.

It is likely that Palmieri returns to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 16 against the Boston Bruins.

Semyon Varlamov was the first netminder off the ice at morning skate as he will start Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.

Per Brian Compton, it looks like Cal Petersen will start tonight for the Los Angeles Kings.

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty is expected to play in his 1,000th game tonight against the New York Islanders.

The Kings have three players on IR: Sean Walker, Alexander Edler, Andreas Athanasiou.

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

Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin

LOS ANGELES KINGS LINES (PROJECTED)

Alex Iafallo—Anze Kopitar—Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore—Phillip Danault—Viktor Arvidsson

Carl Grundstrom—Quinton Byfield—Dustin Brown

Brendan Lemieux—Blake Lizotte—Arthur Kaliyev

Mikey Anderson—Drew Doughty

Olli Maata—Matt Roy

Tobias Bjornfot—Sean Durzi

Jonathan Quick

Cal Petersen

GAME NOTES

The New York Islanders host the Los Angeles Kings in the first of two meetings between the clubs this season.

The last time these teams met was nearly two years ago, on February 6, 2020. Kieffer Bellows, Matt Martin, and Anders Lee each scored in a 5-3 Islanders win.

Tonight is the Islanders’ eighth home matchup in their last nine games and their second against a Pacific Division opponent this month. The Kings enter tonight in the third of a six-game-long road trip. The Islanders are 7-2-1 in their last ten home games.

BETTING CORNER

The New York Islanders are the home favorites for Thursday night’s contest as they come in at -126 and are +220 on the puck line. The Los Angeles Kings are the road underdogs, as they are +105, with the reverse puck line odds at -280.

The over for the contest is set at 5.5 at +120 while the under 5.5. is at -148.

Local fans can take advantage of the lines now since majority of the New York sports betting apps launched earlier this month and it’s so much easier to get bets in now.  There is still time to do so before puck drop. Shop around to find a site that offers the best spread.

HOW TO WATCH

There is no local broadcast for Thursday night’s Islanders game. To watch, you must subscribe to stream on ESPN+ or Hulu. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.