Game Preview: Islanders at Red Wings

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (11-7-2) AT DETROIT RED WINGS (12-7-1)

7 PM | LITTLE CAESARS ARENA

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The New York Islanders road odyssey will conclude with a contest against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night, as the team wraps up a seven-game trip.

The Islanders are 5-1-0 through the first six games of the road trip. Kyle Palmieri’s shorthanded goal stood as the game-winner in Tuesday night’s 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars. Bo Horvat also scored and Cal Ritchie found his first goal as an Islander. David Rittich made 22 saves in the win.

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 Shabanov

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

Ilya Sorokin

SOROKIN TO START

Head Coach Patrick Roy said that Ilya Sorokin will start for the Islanders on Thursday night. Sorokin is 4-1-1 in his last six games, along with a .931 SV% and a 2.00 GA.

He’s 4-4-2 lifetime against the Red Wings with a .911 SV%, a 2.47 GAA and one shutout.

HOLMSTROM’S STATUS UNKNOWN VS RED WINGS

Simon Holmstrom missed Tuesday’s contest in Dallas with an illness and his staus for Thursday is unknown. Holmstrom has nine points (4G, 5A) in 19 games this season while averaging 2:34 SH TOI/GP.

Max Shabanov started the game in Holmstrom’s place with Mathew Barzal and Jonathan Drouin, but Roy shuffled the lines as the game wore on.

Max Tsyplakov drew back in after missing Sunday’s contest as a healthy scratch. He recorded three hits in 8:56 TOI.

ROMANOV UPDATE

The Islanders placed defenseman Alexander Romanov on IR on Wednesday afternoon.

Romanov suffered the injury in the final minute of Tuesday’s win in Dallas after he was hit from behind by Mikko Rantanen and slammed into the boards. Romanov has one assist, 31 hits and 31 blocks through 15 games this season, averaging 19:27 TOI per game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Horvat scored his team-leading 13^th goal and 24^th point of the season on Tuesday.

Per NHL PR, Horvat became the third Islanders skater in the past 30 years with 24 or more points through their first 20 games of the season. John Tavares and Alexei Yashin are the others to do so.

ROAD WARRIORS

The Islanders are 5-1-0 on the road trip and improved to 7-4-1 on the road overall this season. Only the Rangers (9-2-1) and Kings (9-2-2) have more road wins this season.

“It’s tough to come on this road swing and collect that many wins,” Ryan Pulock said. “We got one more before we’re going home, so we’ll get our rest and be ready for Detroit. I feel like the team has done really well playing on the road and keeping it simple, grinding out these wins.”

A STRONG PK

The Islanders penalty kill ranks third in the NHL since Oct. 30, going 34-for-37 (92.0%) over that span. The Islanders five shorthanded goals lead the NHL.

SEASON SERIES

The Isles lead the season series 1-0-0 after an offensive clinic - a 7-2 win - on Oct. 23. Emil Heineman (2G), Tony DeAngelo (1G, 1A), JG Pageau, Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A) scored in the win.

ACROSS THE ICE

The Red Wings are riding a four-game point streak (3-0-1), collecting seven of a possible eight points in their last four games. Detroit is one of the league’s top teams on home ice, as their seven wins at home tie Colorado, New Jersey and Florida for second in the NHL.

Detroit defeated the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Lucas Raymond, Nate Danielson, Emmitt Finnie and Dylan Larkin (EN) scored for the Red Wings in the win and Cam Talbot made 20 saves.

Danielson recorded his first two NHL points (1G, 1A) in his fifth outing on Tuesday night. The 21-year-old center was drafted ninth overall by Detroit in 2023.