After falling 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night after a dominating road trip, the New York Islanders welcome their former head coach, Lane Lambert, and the Seattle Kraken to town.
Puck drop is scheduled for 5 PM ET on MSGSN.
Advertisement
Lambert, who was part of Barry Trotz’s staff, was named head coach of the Islanders following the 2021-22 season after Trotz was relieved of his duties following a trying season.
The longtime assistant went 43-31-9 in his first season as the bench boss, getting the Islanders back into the postseason before the Carolina Hurricanes swept them in the first round.
However, Lambert only made it 42 games into the 2023-24 season before then-general manager, Lou Lamoriello, relieved him, hiring Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender and former Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy.
While ultimately Lambert wasn’t getting the most out of his players, especially on that last road trip before Lamoriello pulled the plug, Lane was dealt a tough hand on Long Island.
Advertisement
He took over for his longtime mentor, who was able to get the most out of a flawed roster. Lambert’s squads weren’t able to play the fast-style of hockey that the NHL had shifted too.
Could he have been better? No question, and the belief was that he’d get another shot to be a head coach at some point down the line.
Lambert’s unemployment didn’t last long, but his next stop wasn’t as a head coach.
He joined the Toronto Maple Leafs bench as their associate coach for the 2024-25 season, before applying and being hired as the Kraken’s head coach.
He took over for Dan Bylsma, who was let go after just one season in which the Kraken went 35-41-6, finishing second-to-last in their division.
Advertisement
So far, the Kraken have been one of the surprise teams early on.
Right now, Lambert has his team sitting in second place in the Pacific Division, with an 11-5-5 record through 20 games.
While their offense has only scored 2.71 goals per game, which ranks 27th in their league, it’s their defense and goaltending that have propelled them up the standings.
They’ve allowed 2.67 games, for fourth best in the NHL.
Their goaltending has been phenomenal as well, a three-goalie group led by Joey Daccord.
Image
Like the Islanders, the Kraken are on the second of a back-to-back. However, they were victorious on the first leg, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime, courtesy of Brandon Montour.
This won’t be the first time Lambert’s back at UBS Arena since being behind the Islanders bench — he came back with Toronto — but, of course, this will be his first time back as a head coach.
