Barzal’s Return, Gm 46: Islanders vs. Kraken, Game Notes & More

On Tuesday, the New York Islanders (18-20-7) are in Seattle to face the Kraken (16-32-4), a team on a second of a back-to-back. The Kraken lost to the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Monday. Puck drop is slated for 10 PM ET at Climate Pledge Arena.

The New York Islanders are coming off a 3-2 shootout defeat at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens on home ice Saturday. Now they are on the road for five games, where they will face three playoff teams.

“It’s going to be a really tough trip. Obviously, there’s quality teams, there’s quality teams in the league,” New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re going to need consistency, like us not to be trailing after the first period it seems every game and we just need the consistency.”

The New York Islanders are in Seattle for the first time which means Tuesday is the first time Mathew Barzal will play in Seattle since his time as a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL (2013-2017). In his final season in Seattle, Barzal and the Thunderbirds won their first-ever championship.

Mathew Barzal was playoff MVP, with seven goals and 18 assists in 16 games. Over his career in Seattle, Barzal tallied 63 goals and 215 assists in 202 games. In 49 postseason games, Barzal recorded 17 goals and 48 assists.

“It’s cool coming back here,” Barzal said following Monday’s skate. ” I think people sometimes don’t know the full story. The Seattle Thunderbirds, where I played, was probably 25 minutes out of the city. So we came down here (Seattle) once in a while.

“I texted our assistant coach for when I was playing here. You know I think the whole Seattle Thunderbirds team’s coming and all the staff. It’s just honestly just awesome to be back…”

On Monday, goaltender Semyon Varlamov was back with the team after a stint in COVID-19 protocol. Head coach Barry Trotz stated that he will back up Ilya Sorokin against Seattle.

Trotz gave an update on the status of forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who missed Sunday’s contest due to an upper-body injury.

“He skated today and he seemed okay,” Trotz said. “We had a long flight and we’ll see how he feels later today and tomorrow before I can give you a definite answer.”

When the puck drops on Tuesday, New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara will play in his 1,651 NHL game, which will tie Chris Chelios for most games played by a defenseman in NHL history.

For Seattle, with Chris Driedger getting the start in goal on Monday, it is likely that Philipp Grubauer is in goal against the Islanders. In the last meeting between the two teams, Grubauer made 19 saves in a 3-0 win at UBS Arena for his first shutout of the season and first shutout in Seattle Kraken history.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Lee–Barzal–Palmieri

Bellows–Nelson–Beauvillier

Parise–Pageau–Bailey

Martin–Cizikas–Clutterbuck

Pelech–Mayfield

Chara–Dobson

Aho–Pulock

Sorokin

Varlamov

SEATTLE KRAKEN LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Johansson–Wennberg–Eberle

Jarnkrok–Gourde–Appleton

Donato–McCann–Donskoi

Geekie–Sheahan–Blackwell

Giordano–Larsson

Dunn–Lauzon

Soucy–Oleksiak

Grubauer

Driedger

GAME NOTES

The New York Islanders visit the Seattle Kraken tonight in their first-ever visit to Climate Pledge Arena.

It is the second of two meetings between the teams this season. These teams last met earlier this month, on February 2, at UBS Arena.

Tonight is the first of a five-game road trip for the Islanders, the second time this season they have played as many consecutive away games.

They will play five times in eight days and will play 37 games in the next 68 days.

BETTING CORNER

The New York Islanders are the road favorites against the Seattle Kraken, at -150. They are +190 on the puck line. The Seattle Kraken come in at +130, which carries a reverse puck line of -230.

The over for this game is set at 5.5, with the over at +115 and the under at -1335. These lines are subject to change.

HOW TO WATCH:

Tuesday’s contest will only be available to stream on ESPN+/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.