Islanders Game 24 Preview vs. San Jose Sharks: Lines, Best Bets, How To Watch

The New York Islanders begin their longest homestand of the season tonight against the San Jose Sharks at UBS Arena. Here’s what you need to know ahead of time.

Nelson & Dobson Good To Go:

Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson were present at Islanders morning skate after missing practice on Monday due to maintenance. Head coach Lane Lambert said that both will play against the Sharks tonight.

Aho Takes First Step Toward Return:

Sebastian Aho took his first steps towards returning from injured reserve, skating with the extras following Islanders morning skate.

“He’s getting better on a daily basis,” Lambert said. “The fact that he was with a group today was really encouraging.”

Aho was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury retroactive to Nov. 24 and has missed the last four games. There is still no timetable for his return to the lineup.

Projected Lineup:

Lee-Horvat-Barzal

Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri

Holmstrom-Pageau-Gauthier

Fasching-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Romanov-Dobson

Bolduc-Pulock

Reilly-Mayfield

Sorokin

Varlamov

Last Time Out:

Without Mathew Barzal in the lineup, the Islanders’ depth stepped up to cap off a road trip with a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

Instant Islanders: Takeaways From 4-3 Win At Panthers

The Opponent:

It’d be easy to pencil this game in as a predetermined win for the Islanders, given how the San Jose Sharks (6-17-2) began their season.

But the Sharks are 4-5-1 in their last 10 contests, playing tight games against a few of the NHL’s top teams.

The New York Rangers had their hands full against San Jose on Sunday, narrowly pulling out a 6-5 win.

Even still, this is very much a game the Islanders should win. San Jose is dead last in the league in goals for and goals against and is one of the few teams worse than the Islanders on the penalty kill. They are, however, slightly better on the power play, ranking 19th.

Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks’ leading points generator with 18, while Fabian Zetterlund carries the load in the goal-scoring department with seven.

Kaapo Kahkonen is expected to start in the crease for San Jose tonight. In nine starts this season, he has a record of 3-6-0 with a 3.99 GAA and .896 save percentage.

For more Sharks coverage, follow Sheng Peng at San Jose Hockey Now. 

Best Bets:

The Islanders and Sharks are owners of two of the worst penalty-kill units in the NHL. You can bet on both teams scoring at least one power-play goal tonight using odds presented by Draft Kings.

How To Watch:

Puck drop between the Islanders and Sharks from UBS Arena is scheduled for just past 7:30 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on MSG Network and streamed on MSG + or  ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers. 88.7 FM WRHU will produce the radio feed of the game, which can also be heard on 1050 AM ESPN and 103.9 FM WRCN.

FOLLOW ANDREW FANTUCCHIO ON 𝕏: @A_FANTUCCHIO

FOLLOW NYI HOCKEY NOW ON 𝕏 AND FACEBOOK