Isles Day-to-Day: Boqvist and Tsyplakov in vs Wild

Defenseman Adam Boqvist and winger Max Tsyplakov are expected to draw into the lineup on Saturday night as the New York Islanders visit the Minnesota Wild.

Boqvist is in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 19 against Vancouver and is expected to skate on a pairing with Scott Mayfield. The 25-year-old Swede has one assist in 12 games this season. Cole McWard is expected to come out of the lineup in a corresponding move.

Tsyplakov missed the past two games as a healthy scratch, but is expected to play on a line with Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb. The Russian winger has one goal in 23 games this season. Head Coach Patrick Roy said he wants to utilize Tsyplakov's physicality against a physical Wild team, who are ninth in the NHL in hits this season and boast the league's leading bodychecker in Yakov Trenin (220).

"We want him to be physical, and we think that he has a game to play against these guys," Roy said. "They're very physical, so we think that'd be a good timing for him to play."

PROJECTED LINES

Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Drouin – Cal Ritchie – Emil Heineman
Max Shabanov – JG Pageau – Simon Holmstrom
Max Tsyplakov – Casey Cizikas – Marc Gatcomb

Matthew Schaefer – Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech – Tony DeAngelo
Adam Boqvist – Scott Mayfield

NOTES ON THE LINES

Roy said he was looking to balance the lines ahead of Saturday's game.

Anthony Duclair will skate alongside Mathew Barzal. Duclair exploded for five points (3G, 2A) on Tuesday against New Jersey, with Barzal feeding him for the hat-trick goal. The two started last season together prior to Duclair's injury and have shown flashes when paired together.

"Duke's played well as late. I think anytime that I've played with him, we seem to have some good games," Barzal said. "With our lineup right now, the big thing is depth without Bo [Horvat] here. So we have made a few changes, just to maybe beef out the lineup a little bit. Having Duke on my line, I'm excited, and I know he is too."

Cal Ritchie is expected to center a line with Jonathan Drouin and Emil Heineman. Roy said he thinks the two veterans will help complement Ritchie's game, but praised the young player's skills.

"He's got beautiful skills," Roy said. "The goals that he's been scoring tells us that there's something there for us. We believe that he is capable playing a solid 200 foot game. And the fact that he's playing with Drouin and Heineman, they're going to help him also. Two solid vets playing with him. I think that's going to help his game."

SOROKIN TO START

Ilya Sorokin is expected to start for the Islanders.

Sorokin is coming off a 44-save shutout in his most recent outing, which set the Islanders franchise record for career clean sheets. The Isles goaltender is 13-10-2 with a 2.45 GAA, a .915 SV% and four shutouts this season.

Sorokin is 1-4-1 lifetime against the Wild.