PK Cronin
Bailey Fan Club Prez
- Feb 11, 2013
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NEW YORK ISLANDERS (17-18-7) VS OTTAWA SENATORS (21-18-3)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
WATCH: MSGSN | MSG+ | ESPN+
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP
HOW OPTIMUM SUBSCRIBERS CAN WATCH THE ISLES
The New York Islanders are back home and ready to dive into a season-long, seven game homestand when they host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday at UBS Arena.
The Islanders earned their third consecutive win when they grinded out a 2-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday in Salt Lake City. Mathew Barzal buried the game-winner with 1:25 to play after Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders while Marcus Hogberg stopped 21 of 22 shots in his first victory as an Islander in his second start of the season.
Flying high on the strength of season-high three consecutive wins, Head Coach Patrick Roy knows that his team can stay even-keel with a sole focus on Tuesday night’s challenge.
“When we're coming from a long trip from the west, it's always the first game back that’s the toughest one,” Roy said. “I think we have a lot of experience in this room, and it's the mindset that the guys like to have, to be even keel, take it one game and stay in the present moment.”
The Senators are coming off a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday, sweeping a back-to-back set after a 5-0 shutout over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Josh Norris, Tim Stützle and Matthew Highmore scored to build a 3-1 lead early in the third, but the Sens held on to win after Evgenii Dadonov netted a power-play goal for the Stars with under minute left to play. Leevi Merilainen started in both games of the back-to-back and made 53 saves on 55 shots faced.
MORNING SKATE UPDATES
Marcus Hogberg will start in goal on Tuesday, per Head Coach Patrick Roy. Hogberg will make his second straight start after picking up a win in Utah on Saturday. Roy said Ilya Sorokin (illness) isn't quite at 100%, but Hogberg's strong play in Utah is allowing the team to give Sorokin an extra day to recover. Hogberg will also face his former team for the first time as he was drafted by the Senators in the third round of the 2013 Draft and played parts of five seasons for the Senators organization.
Isaiah George will be a game-time decision, per Head Coach Patrick Roy, but the defenseman is expected to return to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Alexander Romanov
SEASON SERIES
The Islanders lead the season series 2-0-0 after a pair of 4-2 wins at Canada’s capital on Nov. 7 and Dec. 8.ISLES NOTES
- Isaiah George, who missed three games with an upper body injury, joined the team for practice on Monday morning, but his status for Tuesday's contest is up in the air.“He looked good,” Roy said of George after practice. “I don’t know if he’s going to play or not, we’ll probably know more tomorrow, but he looked good.”
- Ilya Sorokin, who missed Saturday's tilt against Utah with an illness, was back on the ice on Monday for practice and resumed the starter's crease.
- Nelson scored in back-to-back games and has four points (2G, 2A) in his last two outings, which followed a 17-game goal drought.
- The Islanders’ shorthanded units have been perfect for three straight games after they went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill on Saturday. On the other side of special teams, the power play is still struggling, as the Islanders are 0-for-24 on the man advantage over their last 13 games, which marks the longest stretch without a power-play goal in franchise history.
- Roy swapped Anthony Duclair and Max Tysplakov in the third period of a one-goal game on Saturday in Utah, which resulted in a 2-1 Isles win. The Russian forward was elevated to a line with Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri while Duclair skated with JG Pageau and Casey Cizikas. Those lines stayed the same for Monday’s practice, and Roy explained his decision to switch the two wingers while citing how well Horvat and Tysplakov play off each other.
“Every time we put Bo and [Tsyplakov] together, they have great games,” Roy said. “They played really well in that third period, and Pageau and Duclair played really well with Casey, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”
Roy went on to explain that it’s beneficial for Tsyplakov’s development to play with veteran centers like Horvat and Pageau.
“They’re two very good vets and they’re helping Max a lot,” Roy said. “All I’d like to see is a little more experience from [Tsyplakov], learning the game and making good decisions under pressure.”
- The Islanders are 7-9-2 on home ice this season.
SENS NOTES
- The Senators are three games above NHL.-500 with a record of 21-18-3. The Sens had a hot December with a record of 9-3-1 and a .731 winning percentage that ranked fourth in the NHL for the month. Ottawa went on a six-game winning streak from Dec. 11-21, immediately following a 4-2 loss to the Isles on Dec. 8.- Linus Ullmark (week to week) is sidelined with a lingering back injury and has not played since Dec. 22 in a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 22. Anton Forsberg and Leevi Merilainen have been holding down the fort in Ullmark's absence. Merilainen, 22, is 3-1-0 in his last four starts, with seven goals allowed over that span and a .937 SV%. Forsberg has been struggling as of late, with a record of 0-2-1 and 11 goals allowed over that span and a .861 SV% since Ullmark went down.
- Brady Tkachuk leads the Senators with 18 goals while Tim Stützle leads the team in scoring with 43 points.
- Ridly Greig inked a four-year contract extension on Jan. 10 that goes through the 2028-29 season. The 22-year-old forward has 13 points (6G, 7A) through 39 games of this third season with Ottawa. The Senators drafted the Lethbridge, Alberta native 28th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.
- The Senators power play converts at 24.1% and ranks 10th in the NHL.
- Ottawa is 10-11-2 on the road this season.
