Tampa Time, Gm 5: Islanders vs. Lightning, Lineup Updates, Bailey Out?

The New York Islanders (2-2-0) are in Tampa as they face the Lightning (2-2-0) Saturday night for their first road game of the season. Puck drop is slated for 7 PM ET at Amalie Arena.

This is the first of a back-to-back situation as they face the Florida Panthers on Sunday night, at 5 PM ET.

“It’s good to get on the road and get the guys on the road,” New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said.”See where we stand here.”

“Big game here in Tampa. A great team, and you want to be tested. You want to be tested early, and it’ll start tonight,” New York Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “There’s next five will be a good hard challenge, and that’s what this is all about.”

READ MORE: Willy Goes Wild: Dufour Scores First Two Career AHL Goals, Including OT Winner

Following the morning skate, Josh Bailey, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston and Robin Salo remained on the ice, which means they are the likely scratches for the contest.

If Sebastian Aho (IR) is back in the lineup, that means he would need to be activated off IR, and either some player would need to be placed on IR, or someone except from waivers would need to be sent down.

The likely situation is that another player ends up on IR, or Robin Salo gets sent down (waiver exempt).

Josh Bailey is three games shy of reaching the 1,000-game milestone, which he was supposed to hit against the New York Rangers this upcoming Wednesday. But that milestone will have to wait.

Ilya Sorokin was in the starter’s crease at New York Islanders’ morning skate, as he will likely get the start against the Lightning.

For Tampa, they beat their cross-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, Friday night, by a score of 3-2 in overtime. Steven Stamkos scored his seventh goal of the season, but the most critical part of that contest was that Andrei Vasilevskiy started in goal.

That means Brian Elliott will start in goal against the New York Islanders. He owns a record of 9-2-9 against the New York Islanders over his NHL career.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Anthony Beauvillier— Mathew Barzal — Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee — Brock Nelson — Oliver Wahlstrom

Zach Parise — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Soshnikov

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

Alexander Romanov — Noah Dobson

Sebastian Aho — Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING LINES (PROJECTED)

Brandon Hagel — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn — Steven Stamkos  — Vladislav Namestnikov

Ross Colton — Nick Paul — Corey Perry

Patrik Maroon — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Cole Koepke

Viktor Hedman — Erik Cernak

Mikhail Sergachev — Nicklaus Perbix

Ian Cole — Philippe Myers

Brian Elliott

Andrei Vasilevskiy

NEW YORK ISLANDERS NOTES

Tonight, the New York Islanders visit the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first road game of the 2022-23 campaign. Tonight’s game is the first of three matchups between the two clubs this season, and the Islanders’ first visit to Amalie Arena since November 15 of last year.

The last time these teams met was April 29 at UBS Arena, the Islanders’ final game of the 2021-22 campaign. They finished last season with a 17-19-5 record in road contests.

BETTING CORNER

Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Tampa Bay Lightning? You can get the Islanders at +150, -215 at +105. The Lightning are the home favorites -125, +185 on the puck line.

The over for the contest is 6 at -120, with the over at under at +100.

New York Islanders forward Anders Lee has two goals in his last two games. He’s +1400 to score the first goal, +200 to score.

Head over to DraftKings to place your bets now!

HOW TO WATCH

Saturday’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.