UBS Keys to the Game: Islanders at Canucks

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (16-17-6) AT VANCOUVER CANUCKS (21-20-6)
10:30 PM ET | ROGERS ARENA
WATCH: TNT
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Back on the road.
After playing 22-of-26 games on home ice, the Islanders are heading on their first of two west-coast trips this month. Their first kicks off with a meeting against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.
The Islanders enter the matchup coming off a 3-0 shutout loss to the Seattle Kraken in the first-ever meeting between teams. Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves on 30 shots in the loss.

Leading up to All-Star break, the Islanders went 2-3-0. With this upcoming trip including meetings against Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Buffalo, the refreshed and recharged Islanders know it's a crucial stretch of games to collect much-needed points.
"It's not all fun and games, it's back to business. We know where we are at and it's not acceptable to be where we're at," Mathew Barzal said after practice on Tuesday. "We've been working hard and everyone seems to have their wheels and their focus. We're looking to get off on the right foot tomorrow."
The Islanders and Canucks have not met since March 10, 2020 in what was the final game before the severity of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic required the league to pause the rest of the season. In that meeting, the Islanders collected a point, but lost 5-4 to the Canucks in a shootout.
Vancouver is coming off a 5-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat each had a goal and an assist, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson had three assists.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• The Islanders allowed the opening goal for a sixth-straight game in their loss to Seattle. They are 12-4-4 when scoring first and are 4-13-2 when allowing the opening goal.
  - The shutout loss marked the fifth time this season that the Islanders have been shut out this season.
  ISLES AT CANUCKS
  ISLANDERS ARTICLES
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  Pelech's Ascent to All-Star
  ISLANDERS VIDEO
  Dobson and Pulock Pregame

GAME EXTRAS
Talkin' Isles
Isles Deposit
- Varlamov made 28 saves on 30 shots. The veteran Russian netminder has a 3-9-1 record, a 2.57 GAA and a .916 SV%.
- Trotz has been alternating between Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin in net. Sorokin boasts a 13-8-5 record, 2.31 GAA, .924 SV% and four shutouts through his sophomore season.
- Barry Trotz surpassed Joel Quennville for second place for most games coached in NHL history. Trotz has coached more games and recorded more victories than any other active coach in the league. Trotz's NHL record is 893-652-60-164 in 1,769 games.
- Despite getting shut out 3-0 to Seattle, since Dec. 30, the Islanders have allowed only 28 goals in their last 13 games; their 2.15 goals against average is the lowest in the NHL in that span, according to team statistician Eric Hornick.
- Coquitlam, BC, native Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders in scoring with 28 points (10G, 18A) through 36 games. Barzal has points in five of his last eight games with six points (3G, 3A) in that span.
- Brock Nelson leads the team in goals with 14 through 30 games. The centerman also has 22 points this season.
- Kyle Palmieri will not play on Wednesday, as he and his wife had a baby. Palmieri is expected to join the team in Edmonton.
- Forward Austin Czarnik was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.

Noah Dobson & Ryan Pulock](https://www.nhl.com/video/c-10503634)

CANUCKS NOTES:

• Brock Boeser extended his point streak to three games (2G, 1A) with a tally against the Coyotes. Boeser has eight points (4G, 4A) in his last 10 games and 13 goals and 12 assists in 41 games this season.
  - Miller has 17 points (7G, 10A) in his last 15 games and leads the Canucks with 46 points (16G, 30A) in 45 games this season.
  - Pettersson has nine points (6G, 3A) in his last 10 games.
  - Quinn Hughes leads all Canucks defensemen with 34 points (2G, 32A) this season and is 10th overall among NHL blueliners.
  - Since Bruce Boudreau took over as Canucks coach on Dec. 6, the Canucks have allowed the fewest goals against per game at 2.05. (The Islanders are second at 2.26 GA/GP.) The Canucks are 12-5-4 under Boudreau.
  - The Canucks named Patrik Allvin as the 12th General Manager in team history on Jan. 26. Allvin previously spent 16 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, most recently rising to Assistant GM. Vancouver also hired Emilie Castonguay as an assistant GM, making the former agent the first woman to be an assistant GM in the NHL.
  - In the offseason, the Canucks forwards Jason Dickson, Conor Garland, defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Nate Schmidt, former member of the Islanders organization Kyle Burroughs, Luke Schenn, and goaltender Jaroslav Halak.