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The New York Islanders are set to host the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The Islanders are down 0-2 in the series after losing Game 1 3-1 and then dropping Game 2 5-3 after leading 3-0. New York coach Patrick Roy has already made a big change to the lineup, as Ilya Sorokin will start in net instead of Semyon Varlamov.
On offense, the Islanders will remain the same, according to DailyFaceoff:
- Casey Cizikas - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
- Simon Holmstrom - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
- Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Pierre Engval
- Matt Martin - Kyle Maclean - Cal Clutterbuck
On defense, New York will keep the pairings together for Game 3:
- Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson
- Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock
- Mike Reilly - Robert Bortuzzo
The Islanders will be starting Sorokin, as coach Patrick Roy said this was already the plan.
"We knew we would have to use both goalies," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said, via NHL.com. "They are both sharp and [Varlamov] faced a lot of shots in the last game, so it would be good to have someone fresh tomorrow."
Sorokin finished the season with a record of 25-19-12 with a 3.01 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage and two shutouts in 56 games.
New York Islanders eager to play in front of home fans
The New York Islanders return home down 2-0 in the series after blowing a 3-0 lead in Game 2.
Although New York is down 0-2 in the series, the Islanders are eager to play in front of their home fans.
"Now we get to come home and play in our building, play in front of our fans who I know are going to be excited," forward Mathew Barzal said. "[We'll] try to give them a good show for two games and play our best hockey of the year and that's what we need."
Center JG Pageau added:
"We're going back home, it's like a totally new series. That's going to be our mindset. Now we have the energy and the crowd on our side, we know they're going to be super loud, and we need that. They're our seventh man out there."
Despite being at home, the Islanders are +136 underdogs against the Carolina Hurricanes.
