Projected Lineups for Islanders vs Sabres – 12/20/25

The New York Islanders take on the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center tonight. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

ISLANDERS (19-13-3) at SABRES (15-14-4)

5 p.m. ET; MSGSN, MSG-B

Islanders projected lineup

Emil Heineman — Mathew Barzal — Jonathan Drouin
Anders Lee — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Simon Holmstrom
Anthony Duclair — Calum Ritchie — Maxim Shabanov
Kyle MacLean — Casey Cizikas — Marc Gatcomb

Matthew Schaefer — Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech — Tony DeAngelo
Adam Boqvist — Scott Mayfield

David Rittich
Ilya Sorokin

Scratched: Maxim Tsyplakov, Marshall Warren

Injured: Bo Horvat (lower body), Kyle Palmieri (ACL), Alexander Romanov (upper body), Semyon Varlamov (knee), Ethan Bear (upper body)

Status report

Rittich will start after Sorokin was in goal for a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

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Sabres projected lineup

Peyton Krebs — Tage Thompson — Josh Doan
Noah Ostlund — Josh Norris — Alex Tuch
Zach Benson — Ryan McLeod — Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway — Josh Dunne — Beck Malenstyn

Mattias Samuelsson — Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram — Michael Kesselring
Owen Power — Jacob Bryson

Alex Lyon
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Scratched: Zach Metsa

Injured: Tyson Kozak (upper body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jason Zucker (upper and lower body), Colten Ellis (concussion), Jiri Kulich (blood clot), Justin Danforth (lower body)

Status report

Timmins is expected to miss 6-8 weeks; the defenseman was injured Thursday when he fell awkwardly in the third period of a 5-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. … Kozak, who was also injured Thursday, is day to day. The forward did not practice Friday, and Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he would skate early Saturday to determine his status. If Kozak plays, he would center the fourth line in place of Dunne. … Greenway did not practice Friday as part of Buffalo’s load management plan for him.

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