The Islanders have won three games in a row, coming off a 2-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Mat Barzal buried a power-play goal, while JG Pageau came up with two points (1G, 1A) in the win. Ilya Sorokin earned his third straight win in his fifth straight start, but his shutout bid was ended with 22 seconds left in the third frame.
The Kraken dropped a tough one at home on Friday night, losing 7-2 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers scored three goals in the span of 1:11 to build an insurmountable lead early in the first period. Daniel Sprong and Brandon Tanev scored for Seattle in the loss.
New York is fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 44 points, while Seattle is fifth in the Pacific with 40 points.
• Semyon Varlamov and Cal Clutterbuck skated with the team for practice on Saturday. Varlamov (IR, lower body) has not been in between the pipes for the Islanders since Dec. 17, while Clutterbuck missed the last six games with a upper-body injury.
"It was good to see them out there," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "I thought both of them looked pretty good."
Lambert did not update their status for Sunday's contest against Seattle.
• Simon Holmstrom and Oliver Wahlstrom were both placed on IR on Friday, both with lower body injuries, retroactive to Dec. 23 and 27, respectively.
• Zach Parise had a three-point performance (2G, 1A) in the Islanders previous matchup with the Kraken, resulting in a 5-2 win for the Islanders on Feb. 22, which knotted last year's season series at one.
• Mat Barzal collected five points in his last four games (4G, 1A) and will hunt for his 100th career goal in his 400th career NHL game on Sunday night. Barzal has goals in each of his past two games and tallies in three of his last four.
• Brock Nelson leads the Islanders in goals (15) and points (37), while riding a three-game point streak (4A) heading into Sunday's matchup against the Kraken.
ISLES AT KRAKEN
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
Fasching Fitting in with Isles
Isles DTD: Clutterbuck and Wahlstrom Practice
Isles DTD: Holmstrom and Wahlstrom on IR
Talkin' Isles: Thomas Hickey
GAME EXTRAS
Pucks and Paws
Reverse Retro Jersey
Talkin' Isles
• Since being called up on Dec. 4, Hudson Fasching has four points (2G, 2A) including an assist in Thursday's win. "It feels good to be playing good hockey right now, to carry that on the road," Fasching said. "It's a long road trip but to have good momentum going into it always helps."
• The Islanders improved to fifth place in the Metro, neck-and-neck with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, all tied at 44 points. The Islanders currently sit in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
• Daniel Sprong has been hot for the Kraken as of late, averaging a goal per game in his last four contests.
• Adam Larsson picked up an assist in Friday's loss to extend his assist streak to five games, setting a career-high.
• Jared McCann leads the team in goals (16). The winger scored the most goals for Seattle last season, with 27.
• Former Islander Jordan Eberle leads the Kraken in assists (19) and is second on the team in points (27).
• Sunday's matchup will conclude a three-game homestand for the Kraken, who will then head out on a seven-game road trip, marking the longest road trip of the season.
• After Seattle's losing inaugural season (27-49-6), the team is having a significantly better year, currently sitting one point out of a playoff spot. The Kraken are one point behind the Calgary Flames (41 points) with three games in-hand.
