The New York Islanders have a chance to put together their first winning streak of the season against the win-less Arizona Coyotes.
- New York Islanders (4-3-1, 9 points)
- Arizona Coyotes (0-7-1, 1 point)
- MSG+, WRHU 88.7 FM
- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Having won their last two games, the Islanders seek their first winning streak of the season against an Arizona team that has not managed to find their identity — or a win — through eight games.
Head Coach Doug Weight was chippy with his players during practice on Monday morning, saying the following, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday:
“Coming off a day off, maybe being a little lackluster,” Weight said. “Couple things we had issues with last game that are important to learn from. You can play as hard you can in practice but it’s not a game. You need to push yourself, exaggerate, whether it’s an offensive route or a battle, you need to work hard and repeat that stuff. Then it’ll happen in the game. I didn’t see it, so I didn’t like it.”
Weight has also already confirmed that Jaroslav Halak is in net tonight. Halak is 2-2 on the season, and will look to build off of his big win against the Rangers last Thursday.
Josh Ho-Sang, Ryan Pulock and Dennis Seidenberg are the three expected scratches for tomorrow’s contest after Weight announced that both Nikolay Kulemin and Scott Mayfield will return to the lineup, per Staple.
Alan Quine will report to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers after being cleared to play by the Islanders medical staff. Quine has yet to play a game this season, and with the play of most of the Islanders forwards, it doesn’t look like he will join the Islanders in the near future.
The Coyotes are off to a franchise-worst 0-7-1 start to their season, with only one point earned through eight games. Despite this, the Coyotes are feeling good about their team, as they believe it’s not indicative of the squad they have.
Brad Richardson, a Stanley Cup winner with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, said this about the team’s start:
“Things can get turned around, you just can’t let it go on for too long,” Richardson said. “We’ve had some good games. We were right there and then at the end they score with just a few minutes left. That’s happened a few times, but one win could change everything around and get some bounces going our way. Obviously you want to get off to a good start and that didn’t happen. We have to try to figure out a way to turn it around and just get one (win) and hopefully that can spur us and turn us the other way.”
Mathew Barzal is another presence to look for as he attempts to extend his point streak to four games (1-2-3 in his last three games).
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET tonight on MSG+.