Game Preview: Islanders vs Golden Knights

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (24-22-5) VS VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (29-18-3)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
WATCH: MSGSN | MSGGO | ESPN+
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM
The New York Islanders are looking to go into the All-Star break on a winning note when they host the Vegas Golden Knights at UBS Arena on Saturday night.
The Isles are coming off a 2-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, snapping a six-game winless streak (0-4-2) in the process.

"We needed it tonight," Anders Lee said after Friday's win. "We needed it for a while, but tonight was an opportunity to stop it. I thought we played a really solid game and we did what we needed to do with two games left before the break."
Lee and Brock Nelson (1G, 1A) scored for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin recorded a 23-save shutout - his fourth of the season and 14th of his career, which ties Tommy Salo for fourth on the Isles' all-time list.
The Golden Knights have dropped three straight (0-2-1) heading into Saturday's tilt. Vegas fell 4-1 to the New York Rangers on Friday night after previously losing in overtime to New Jersey on Tuesday and in regulation in Arizona on Sunday. Phil Kessel scored the lone goal for Vegas in the loss.
The Isles are 2-0-1 in their last three games vs. Vegas and are 5-3-1 in nine overall meetings with Vegas.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Brock Nelson extended his point streak to five games with a goal and an assist on Friday. Nelson has six points (4G, 2A) over that span. Nelson leads the Islanders with 19 goals and 45 points this season.
  - Anders Lee scored a goal in Friday's win, notching his 400th career point in the process. The Islanders' captain has four points (3G, 1A) in his last four games.
  - Kyle Palmieri had a pair of assists in Friday's win and now has four assists in three games since returning to the lineup from an upper-body injury that kept him out since Dec. 16.
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  - Lane Lambert did not reveal his goaltender for Saturday night's game. Ilya Sorokin recorded a shutout on Friday night with a relatively light workload of 23 saves. While there is precedent for Sorokin starting on consecutive nights, especially heading into a break, Lambert tends to split starts between Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov.
  Varlamov made 35 saves on 37 shots in the Islanders' 5-2 win over Vegas on Dec. 17. Varlamov has only started three games since, as the 34-year-old left that game with an injury that kept him out until Jan. 6. In his most recent outing, Varlamov stopped 36-of-38 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Varlamov is 8-6-1 this season with a 2.80 GAA, a .912 SV% and one shutout.
  - The Islanders scored a third period goal on Friday night for the first time since Jan. 3, snapping an 11-game drought in the process.
  - The Islanders power play went 0-for-4 vs Detroit and is 0-24 in the last nine games and 3-63 in the last 22 games.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES:

• The Golden Knights (61 points) are currently third in the Pacific Division, tied with the Seattle Kraken, though the Kraken hold two games in hand, and one point back of the LA Kings (62 points) for the division lead.
  - William Karlsson is riding a three-game point streak (1G, 2A). Karlsson has 34 points (11G, 23A) in 50 games this season. Karlsson played in his 400th game with Vegas on Friday, which is tied with Jonathan Marchessault for the most in franchise history.
  - Chandler Stephenson leads Vegas with 43 points (11G, 32A) in 50 games, but only has three assists in his last nine games. Stephenson's 60.1 FOW% is fourth in the NHL among centers with at least 100 draws.
  - William Carrier leads the Golden Knights with five game-winning goals.
  - Logan Thompson is the expected starter for the Golden Knights after Adin Hill got the start vs the Rangers. Thompson is 19-13-2 with a 2.71 GAA, a .912 SV% and two shutouts this season. The goaltender will represent Vegas at All-Star Weekend in Florida.
  - Vegas has seven players with 30 or more points this season, which is tied with Florida and Tampa for second in the NHL, trailing Boston, who has eight.
  - Phil Kessel moved into a three-way tie for 99th on the NHL's all-time goals list with his tally on Friday. Kessel has 408 career goals, tied with Ray Ferraro and Patrik Elias.