The New York Islanders' Saturday home game against the Seattle Kraken has been postponed over weather concerns, the NHL announced Friday night. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a weather-related state of emergency earlier Friday with a winter storm expecting to bring "heavy snow and strong winds" to several New York counties this weekend.
Seattle and New York will now meet at UBS Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2. They were originally going to play Saturday at 2 p.m. The postponement will force both teams to play back-to-backs, as the Kraken will visit the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1 while the Islanders will host the Ottawa Senators that same day.
Hochul's state of emergency, which went into effect at 8 p.m. ET, applies to the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties. The Islanders play in Nassau County's Elmont, N.Y.
According to the state of New York, sustained winds could top 55 mph and Long Island -- where Elmont is located -- could see 10-16 inches of snow.
"We believe this storm will bring significant snowfall to Long Island and has a real chance at impacting New York City, with snowfall rates of more than one inch per hour," said Jackie Bray, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services commissioner. "The State's Emergency Operations Center is open and closely tracking the storm, but we need New Yorkers to get home early tonight and expect heavy snow this weekend. Avoiding travel, especially on Saturday, will be critical in allowing emergency response crews from state and local agencies to do their jobs in the hardest hit areas."
The Islanders (15-15-6) and Kraken (14-25-4) are both on the outside looking in regarding the playoff picture, as New York is 11th in the Eastern Conference while Seattle is 15th in the West.
