The San Jose Sharks and the New York Islanders are fighting it out to see which team will occupy the bottom of the standings at the end of the season. While the Sharks knew the team would be in this position from the get go, the Islanders most definitely did not.
The Islanders have a 17-20-7 record and sit at eighth in the Metropolitan Division, but are, amazingly, only eight points out of the second wild card spot. The trouble is, even if the Islanders made up that ground in points, there are six teams sitting between the team and the wild card. That’s a lot of luck if the Isle want to make the playoffs.
Anders Lee is the team’s top scorer with 36 points in 44 games. He also leads the Islanders with 20 goals. Ilya Sorokin is 13-14-4 this season with a 2.87 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.
One of the reasons the Islanders are doing so poorly is the special teams. The Islanders’ power play is operating at 11.9% success rate, 32nd in the league. What’s more, the 67% penalty kill rate is also 32nd in the league. The Sharks can win this game if it comes down to a special team’s battle.
In terms of the lineup, there will be some last-minute decisions for the Islanders. Head Coach Patrick Roy says forward Simon Holmstrom and defenseman Alexander Romanov will be game-time decisions. Holmstrom has missed seven games and Romanov has missed three. Both have some form of an upper-body injury, but were spotted skating with the team earlier this week.
Missing from the lineup will be 26-year-old rookie Max Tsyplakov. He’s serving the first of a three-game suspension for this hit on Ryan Poehling on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Maxim Tsyplakov gets a 3 gamer for this hit đź’Ą
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 17, 2025
pic.twitter.com/BXzu6i00NE
Tsyplakov has 19 points (7 G, 12 A) in 44 games.
As for the Sharks, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports there will be a few game time decisions as well. There’s an illness going through the Sharks’ lockerroom and so some players will have to wait to determine if they’re well enough to play. What we do know is that one of the players struck with the bug is Yaroslav Askarov, so Alexandar Georgiev will get his third straight start today.
This is the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. They play again on March 8 in San Jose.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
So, here’s what Peng reports the lines could look like tonight, barring any illnesses of course.
Forwards
Will Smith – Mikael Granlund – Fabian Zetterlund
William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Tyler Toffoli
Luke Kunin – Alex Wennberg – Carl Grundstrom
Barclay Goodrow – Nico Sturm – Ty Dellandrea
Defense
Jake Walman – Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Henry Thrun
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Jan Rutta
Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov
New York Islanders lines vs. San Jose Sharks
Islanders beat reporter Stefen Rosner is of the belief that Holmstrom and Romanov will both be back in tonight so these are the lines he’s predicting.
#Isles didn’t run lines this morning but would expect these tonight if Holmstrom & Romanov return based on Friday’s skate:
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) January 18, 2025
Lee-Horvat-Barzal
Duclair-Nelson-Palmieri
Holmstrom-Pageau-Cizikas
Engvall-MacLean-Gatcomb
Romanov-Dobson
Pelech-Pulock
George-Mayfield
Hogberg
Sorokin
Forwards
Anders Lee – Bo Horvat – Mathew Barzal
Anthony Duclair – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri
Simon Holmstrom – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Casey Cizikas
Pierre Engvall – Kyle MacLean – Marc Gatcomb
Defense
Alexander Romanov – Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock
Isaiah George – Scott Mayfield
Goaltenders
Marcus Hogberg
Ilya Sorokin
How to watch San Jose Sharks at New York Islanders Jan. 18, 2025
Sharks fans can watch the game on NBC Sports California. You can also listen live on the Sharks Audio Network.
Islanders fans can watch the game on MSGSN or MSG+ or listen on 88.7 FM and 103.9 FM.
The puck drops at 4:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. ET at UBS Arena.