Game Preview: Islanders at Wild

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (24-15-5) AT MINNESOTA WILD (26-11-8)

8:00 PM ET | GRAND CASINO ARENA

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The New York Islanders will continue their seven-game road trip as they face the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

The Islanders are coming off a 2-1 shootout defeat against the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. Simon Holmstrom scored New York’s lone goal against the Predators while David Rittich saved 26 of Nashville’s 27 shots and two of their three shootout attempts in the 2-1 loss.

PROJECTED LINES

Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Drouin – Cal Ritchie – Emil Heineman
Max Shabanov – JG Pageau – Simon Holmstrom
Max Tsyplakov – Casey Cizikas – Marc Gatcomb

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

Read more on the line changes in today's Isles Day-to-Day.

BOQVIST, TSYPLAKOV IN

Defenseman Adam Boqvist and winger Max Tsyplakov are expected to draw into the lineup on Saturday night as the New York Islanders visit the Minnesota Wild.

Boqvist is in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 19 against Vancouver and is expected to skate on a pairing with Scott Mayfield. The 25-year-old Swede has one assist in 12 games this season. Cole McWard is expected to come out of the lineup in a corresponding move.

Tsyplakov missed the past two games as a healthy scratch, but is expected to play on a line with Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb. The Russian winger has one goal in 23 games this season.

SOROKIN TO START

Ilya Sorokin is expected to start for the Islanders.

Sorokin is coming off a 44-save shutout in his most recent outing, which set the Islanders franchise record for career clean sheets.

Sorokin is 13-10-2 with a 2.45 GAA, a .915 SV% and four shutouts this season.

Sorokin is 1-4-1 lifetime against the Wild.

BALLISTIC BARZAL

Mathew Barzal enters Saturday’s contest on a three-game point streak. Barzal has recorded six points (1G, 5A) in that stretch, including three points (1G, 2A) in the 9-0 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. This is the fourth time this season the Islanders forward has accumulated a point streak of three games or longer.

Barzal leads New York with 36 points (11G, 25A) in 43 games played and is two points away from hitting 500 in his career.

PK SUCCESS

The Islanders penalty kill is tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for seventh best unit in the NHL at 82.0% this season. New York has gone 4-for-4 on the penalty kill in the last two games.

Since the NHL’s holiday break, this number improves to 84.2%, killing 15 of 18 penalties over the seven-game span.

SEASON SERIES

This is the second of two meetings between the Islanders and Wild. Minnesota won 5-2 at UBS Arena on Nov. 7.

The Isles will seek a road win against the Wild for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

WILD NOTES

The Wild are entering Saturday’s contest coming off a 3-2 overtime victory against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. Minnesota opened the game with a pair of first period goals and then wouldn’t find the back of the net until Mats Zuccarello’s overtime goal 2:09 into the extra frame. The win snapped a two-game winless streak, both to the Los Angeles Kings.

Brock Faber has turned up the heat to start 2026. Faber earned two points (1G, 1A) on Thursday and enters the game against the Islanders on a three-game point streak. The 23-year-old defenseman has five points (2G, 3A) in those games. He netted a goal on Nov. 7, and has totaled four points (1G, 3A) in five career games against the Islanders. Faber ranks fourth on the team with 26 points (10G, 16A) in 45 games this season.

Kirill Kaprizov also notched two points (2A) against the Kraken. Kaprizov’s second helper of the night tied him with Marian Gaborik for the second-most points (437) in Wild history. He only trails Mikko Koivu (709) for the most points with the franchise. Kaprizov leads the Wild with 51 points (24G, 27A) and is ranked in the top-10 for goals and points in NHL this year.

Minnesota’s goaltending has been stellar this season. Jesper Wallstedt is 12-2-4 and ranks fourth in the NHL with a 2.28 GAA, first with a .928 SV% (among goalies with 15 or more games played) and is tied for first with Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin with four shutouts. His 12^th win tied him with Darcy Kuemper and Kaapo Kahkonen for the most by a rookie goaltender in franchise history.

Filip Gustavsson has also been strong between the pipes with a 14-9-4 record, 2.48 GAA, .912 SV% and three shutouts this season.

The status of Joel Eriksson Ek (lower-body) and Zach Bogosian (undisclosed) are yet to be determined heading into Saturday night’s matchup. Eriksson Ek exited Minnesota’s Thursday night game in the second period after recording 7:57 TOI. The 28-year-old center is tied for third on the team with 32 points (11G, 21A) in 45 games this season. Bogosian has missed the Wild’s last two games and has four points (1G, 3A) 23 games this season.

Minnesota’s penalty kill (76.6%) ranks 23^rd in the NHL this season, but they are a disciplined team and are the only team to have taken fewer than 300 penalty minutes (292) this season.

The Wild own the ninth best power-play in the NHL at 22.3% this season.