Game Preview: Islanders vs Blackhawks

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (5-10-4) VS CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (8-13-2)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA
WATCH: MSG+ | MSG GO | ESPN+
LISTEN: 1050AM | 88.7FM | 103.9FM
The New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks meet for the second time this season as they play a Sunday night game at UBS Arena. For both teams the contest is the second leg of their respective back-to-back sets.

For the Islanders, they picked up a much needed point, but fell 4-3 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena. The Islanders' special teams shined as Cal Clutterbuck scored a shorthanded goal and Oliver Wahlstrom scored twice on the power play. In net, Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves on 30 shots.
The Blackhawks faced the New York Rangers on Saturday night and suffered a 3-2 loss. Patrick Kane scored the game's icebreaker and after the Rangers scored three unanswered goals, Alex DeBrincat made it a 3-2 game with 1:19 left in regulation.
Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves on 31 shots.
The Islanders and Blackhawks last met on Oct. 19 in Chicago where the Islanders earned a 4-1 victory. Oliver Wahlstrom had scored twice while Anthony Beauvillier and Cal Clutterbuck also found the back of the net. Sorokin made 39 saves in the win, but his shutout was robbed by Chicago's late goal in the final 26 seconds of play by Mackenzie Entwistle.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Clutterbuck buried his third goal of the season and his first shorthanded goal of the season. The veteran winger has three points on as many goals through 19 games this season. The goal was Clutterbuck's 17th-career shorthanded tally and was the Islanders' first shorthanded goal of the season.
ISLES VS BLACKHAWKS
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
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The Bridgeport Report: Dec. 1, 2021
Isles Day to Day: Bellows Clears Protocol, Chara Skates
ISLANDERS VIDEO
Trotz Pregame: Coming Soon
Player Pregame: Coming Soon
GAME EXTRAS
Talkin' Isles
Isles STM Reserve List
• Wahlstrom scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season and his third and fourth strikes on the power play. With two PPGs, Wahlstrom now leads the Islanders in power play goals.
• Mathew Barzal assisted on both of Wahlstrom's goals and now has three points (1G, 2A) in his last two games after going without a point for five-straight games and it marked the second multipoint game of the season for him. The centerman now is tiedd with Brock Nelson for a share of the team's scoring lead with 11 points (5G, 6A) through 19 games.
• Sorokin made his 15th start of the season and has a 5-6-4 record now.
• Austin Czarnik made his season debut for the Islanders. He skated alongside Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom, logged 13:56 of time on ice and blocked two shots.
• Zdeno Chara and Kieffer Bellows returned to the lineup after being released from COVID-19 protocols. Chara totaled 16:39 of time on ice, including 2:11 on the penalty kill, took two shots, threw one hit and had one block. Bellows skated alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle Palmieri, totaled 13:09 ice time, including 39 seconds of penalty kill, had one shot, one hit and one block.
• Following a 2-for-3 execution on the power play against Detroit, the Islanders' man advantage jumped up to a 13.5% conversion rate and is ranked 29th in the NHL.
• With a perfect 3-for-3 showing on the penalty kill, the Islanders' PK unit ranks 12th in the league at 83.9%.
• While the Islanders picked up a point for the second-straight game, they have now gone 10 games (0-8-2) without a win.

BLACKHAWKS NOTES:

• Kane scored the icebreaker against the Rangers and buried his seventh goal of the season and also assisted on DeBrincat's late goal. The veteran winger now has a team-best 21 points (7G, 14A) through 19 games. His 21 points are tied with defenseman Seth Jones.
• DeBrincat extended his team lead in goals as he buried his 14th goal of the season and his second goal in as many games. The winger now has 18 points (14G, 4A) through 23 games and four points (2G, 2A) in his last two games.
• Jones assisted on both Kane's and DeBrincat's goals and now has 21 points (3G, 18A) through 23 games including four points (1G, 3A) through two games.
• In his eighth start of the season, Lankinen made 28 saves on 31 shots while his record fell to 2-4-2.
• Since the Islanders last faced the Blackhawks on Oct. 19 they have underwent a coaching change. Chicago relieved former Islander Jeremy Colliton of his coaching duties on Nov. 6 and in turn, promoted also former Islander Derek King, who was the head coach of the Rockford IceHogs, the Blackhawks AHL affiliate as interim head coach.
• On Dec. 3, the Blackhawks announced that defenseman Connor Murphy entered concussion protocol and provided an update that forward Tyler Johnson underwent neck surgery and is anticipated to return in approximately three months, per the team's site.
• On Dec. 2, Chicago dealt Malcolm Subban to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for future considerations. Subban was playing with Chicago's AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs where he had played in five games this season, recorded a 2-2-1 record, with a 3.38 GAA and .893 save percentage. In 17 career games with the Blackhawks, Subban posted a 6-8-1 record, 3.20 GAA and .900 save percentage.