Game Preview: Islanders at Mammoth

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (9-6-2) AT UTAH MAMMOTH (10-7-0)

9 PM EST | DELTA CENTER

WATCH/STREAM: MSGSN | GOTHAM SPORTS APP

LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP

Fresh off back-to-back OT wins, the New York Islanders look for their fourth-straight victory when they visit the Utah Mammoth on Friday night.

JG Pageau’s shorthanded OT winner – just the second shorthanded OT winner in team history – propelled the Islanders to a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Emil Heineman and Matthew Schaefer (PPG) had the Isles up 2-0 in the game, but Mathew Barzal scored late in the third period to force OT, where Pageau won it.

The Isles are 3-0-0 to start their seven-game road trip and it marks their second three-game winning streak of the season. They won four straight games from Oct. 16 to 23.

The Mammoth are coming off a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller each had a goal and an assist in the win, while Lawson Crouse, JJ Peterka and Nick DeSimone scored for the Mammoth.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Emil Heineman - Bo Horvat - Kyle Palmieri
Jonathan Drouin - Mathew Barzal - Simon Holmstrom
Anders Lee - JG Pageau - Anthony Duclair
Casey Cizikas - Cal Ritchie - Max Tsyplakov

Matthew Schaefer - Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech - Tony DeAngelo
Alexander Romanov - Adam Boqvist

David Rittich

Adam Boqvist will play for the second straight game after he drew into the lineup on Thursday against Vegas.

RITTICH TO START FOR ISLES

David Rittich is the expected starter for the Islanders on Friday with the team on the second half of a back-to-back set. Rittich is 3-2-0 in five games this season, with a 3.41 GAA and a .886 SV%.

SCHAEFER STATS PILING UP

Schaefer recorded a goal and an assist on Thursday, his 13^th and 14^th points of the season, which vaulted him to the top of the NHL’s rookie scoring race, one point ahead of Montreal’s Ivan Demidov.

Schaefer’s goal was his sixth of the season, which tied Colorado’s Cale Makar for the NHL lead among defensemen. Schaefer now has four power-play goals in his first 17 games – becoming the second player in Isles history to accomplish the feat, along with Bryan Trottier, per team statistician Eric Hornick.

HOT STREAKS

Bo Horvat is riding a seven-game point streak with 11 points (6G, 5A) over that span. Horvat picked up the primary helper on Heineman’s first period goal on Thursday night and a secondary helper on Schaefer's power-play goal.

Mathew Barzal five-game point streak with five points (2G, 3A) over that span. Barzal has goals in back-to-back games.

POWER PLAY ALSO HEATING UP

The Islanders power play has goals in three straight games after lighting the lamp in Vegas. The Isles went 1-for-5 against the Golden Knights and are 3-for-8 (37.5%) over the past three games. Overall, the Isles are converting 17.9% this season on the man advantage, which ranks 20^th overall.

UTAH MAMMOTH NOTES

The Mammoth (previously the Utah Hockey Club) are 10-7-0 to start the season. The Mammoth were the hottest team in the NHL in the back half of October, rattling off seven-straight wins from Oct. 15-26, but are 2-5-0 in their last seven games.

They’re 5-1-0 on home ice

Nick Schmaltz leads the Mammoth in goals (10), assists (11) and points (21) points in 17 games this season. Schmaltz is riding a two-game goal streak and a three-game point streak (2G, 1A).

Captain Clayton Keller is second on the team with 17 points and is tied with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev with 10 assists.

Logan Cooley, the third-overall pick in 2022, is second on the team with eight goals.

Karel Vejmelka is 8-4-0 this season with a 2.84 GAA and an .882 SV%.