The New York Islanders will host the Dallas Stars at UBS Arena on Thursday, March 26, in the second of two regular season meetings between the teams. The Islanders are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and have lost three of their last four games.
This matchup is significant for both teams’ playoff hopes. The Islanders, with 85 points, remain outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture due to tiebreakers and games in hand held by rivals such as the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Meanwhile, Dallas sits in second place in both their division and conference with 97 points but enters this game on a three-game losing streak.
The Islanders will see some lineup changes for this contest. Defenseman Isaiah George was recalled from Bridgeport ahead of Thursday’s game and skated alongside Scott Mayfield during morning practice. Ryan Pulock, who has missed two games with a lower-body injury, is considered a gametime decision according to Head Coach Patrick Roy: “the defenseman is an ‘option’ according to Roy and is expected to take warmups.” If Pulock returns, George would be scratched.
Team captain Anders Lee recently moved up franchise leaderboards by scoring his 305th career goal—passing Clark Gillies for fourth-most goals in team history—and earning his 545th point for tenth place all-time among Islanders players. Lee currently holds a three-game point streak.
For Dallas, Wyatt Johnston leads with impressive offensive numbers tied for third-most goals in the league at 40 this season while Jason Robertson ranks tenth overall with 85 points. Injuries continue to affect key players like Mikko Rantanen (who remains out since suffering an injury earlier this year), Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa, and Tyler Seguin—all listed as unavailable or not expected back soon.
