Game two of a five game road trip sees the Canucks in the Big Apple to take on the Islanders.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs NEW YORK ISLANDERS

10:00 AM PST BARCLAYS CENTER, BROOKLYN, NY

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC. RADIO: SN650.

OPPOSITION BLOG: LIGHTHOUSE HOCKEY

Another bloody morning game for the Canucks as they are in Brooklyn to take on the Islanders today. Normally we look at these games as a potential for disaster, but with the Isles playing their first game after 10 days off, and the Canucks having won 4 straight and 13 of their last 16, there’s definitely reason for optimism in a real measuring stick game against a team that’s very comparable in the standings right now.

With the Oilers, Flames and Golden Knights (who won in regulation last night over tomorrow’s opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes), they can’t afford to drop a game right now, and they’ll have their hands full with a very good New York Islanders squad.

The Canucks lost both meetings between these teams last season, 5-2 at the Barclays Center, and 4-0 at Rogers Arena. One thing that could help the Canucks today is taking advantage of any power play opportunities. The Canucks have the most PP chances in the NHL, while the Islanders have the least. The Canucks are 7th overall in PP% right now with 23.5%. Courtesy nhl.com let’s take a look how these teams match up:

The Islanders get a huge amount of their offence from 5 guys, basically. Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier provide the bulk of their scoring, so if the Canucks can hold the line against them, they will have a good chance. If there’s an area where these two teams are similar, it’s in goal as the Islanders have a 1 and 1A goaltending tandem of Semyon Varlamov, who gets the start today against Jacob Markstrom, and Thomas Greiss, who has put up some very good numbers this season.

LINEUPS:

Courtesy nhl.com here’s what we’ll see from these teams today:

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson — Jake Virtanen

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Loui Eriksson

Antoine Roussel — Adam Gaudette — Brock Boeser

Tim Schaller — Jay Beagle — Brandon Sutter

Alexander Edler — Troy Stecher

Quinn Hughes — Christopher Tanev

Oscar Fantenberg — Tyler Myers

Jacob Markstrom

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Zack MacEwen, Justin Bailey, Jordie Benn

Injured: Tyler Motte (upper body), Micheal Ferland (upper body), Josh Leivo (fractured kneecap), Tyler Graovac (lower body)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle

Anthony Beauvillier — Brock Nelson — Josh Bailey

Michael Dal Colle — Derick Brassard — Tom Kuhnhackl

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Leo Komarov

Noah Dobson — Ryan Pulock

Devon Toews — Scott Mayfield

Nick Leddy — Johnny Boychuk

Semyon Varlamov

Thomas Greiss

Scratched: Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho

Injured: Cal Clutterbuck (wrist), Adam Pelech (Achilles)

The Canucks recalled Zack MacEwan and a well-deserved nod to Justin Bailey, but neither will play as Tim Schaller draws back in to replace Tyler Motte, injured in that garbage hit by Erik Karlsson Wednesday night in San Jose. The Islanders are relatively healthy by comparison.

GAME DAY CHATTER:

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN:

It may be a day game, but it’s definitely the Night Of The Witch! The first track from TESTAMENT’s ‘Titans Of Creation’ dropped yesterday and it’s an absolute scorcher! The album hits stores April 3rd on Nuclear Blast Records.