Game Preview: Islanders vs Lightning

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (13-10-3) VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (16-7-2)

7 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS

WATCH/STREAM: MSGSN | GOTHAM SPORTS APP

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

The New York Islanders will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

The Islanders dropped a 4-1 decision to the Washington Capitals on Sunday at UBS Arena where Bo Horvat (PPG) scored the lone goal in a game where the Isles outshot the Caps 31-18.

The loss extended the Isles’ winless skid to three games (0-2-1), while Islanders are 1-3-1 on the seven-game homestand.

The Islanders will face the Lightning three times in their next seven games.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES

JG Pageau (upper-body, week-to-week) took a positive step on Tuesday, joining the Islanders for morning skate donning an orange non-contact jersey.

Pageau missed five games and last played in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 22. The center has 12 points (6G, 6A) through 22 games this season. His exact timeline to return is unknown, but it was a positive step for the center.

Tony DeAngelo (sick) is a game-time decision against the Lightning. DeAngelo has nine points (1G, 8A) through 26 games this season.

PROJECTED LINEUP

See below for how the Isles took line rushes on Tuesday morning ahead of their contest against the Lightning:

Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Jonathan Drouin
Emil Heineman – Bo Horvat – Max Shabanov
Simon Holmstrom – Cal Ritchie – Anthony Duclair
Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Max Tsyplakov

Matthew Schaefer – Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech – Adam Boqvist
Travis Mitchell – Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Horvat extended his team lead to 15 goals with a power play tally in Sunday’s contest.

Matthew Schaefer notched an assist on Sunday for his 19^th point of the season, which ranks second on the Islanders. The 2025 first-overall pick leads all rookies with eight goals, which also ranks fourth among NHL defensemen.

HOME VS ROAD

The Islanders are 8-4-1 on the road and 5-6-2 on home ice. Head Coach Patrick Roy insists that his team plays the same way at home and on the road.

The Islanders have outshot opponents 170-94 in their last five games, but have a record of 1-3-1 over that span and were outscored 9-6.

“I feel like we play pretty much the same way,” Roy said. “We might give more shots on the road than at home, but other than this, we’re playing the same style of hockey. Does the puck bounce our way maybe a little more on the road, yes. But we’re playing really well defensively.”

SEASON SERIES

The Isles went 1-2-0 in the season series against Tampa last season, with Tony DeAngelo scoring the overtime winner in a 3-2 OT victory on the road on Feb. 1.

LIGHTNING NOTES

The Lightning will face the Islanders in their final game of a three-game road trip, where they are 2-0-0 and outscoring opponents 10-4 in that stretch. They are also riding a league-high, seven-game winning streak. Tampa Bay currently sits tied for first with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference with 34 points.

Brandon Hagel earned the NHL’s Second Star of the Week with six goals in his last four games, along with a league-leading 17 shots on goal and a plus-nine rating. He’ll skate in his 400th career NHL game on Tuesday against the Islanders.

Nikita Kucherov collected seven points (1G, 6A) in the last three games and is riding a nine-game point streak with 18 points (4G, 14A) over that span. He leads the Lightning with 32 points (11G, 21A) and is tied with Toronto’s William Nylander for the ninth most points in the NHL.

The Lightning haves five other players entering this game on a point-streak. Brandon Hagel is on a five-game point streak, with 12 points (8G, 4A) in that span. Darren Raddysh, Jake Guentzel, Yanni Gourde and Nicholas Paul all have points in each of the last three contests. Raddysh has totaled seven points (1G, 6A) in those three games.

Brayden Point (undisclosed injury) has missed four straight games and will not be in the lineup against the Islanders, though he joined the Lightning on their three-game road trip. Point has 11 points (3G, 8A) in 21 games played this season.

Tampa Bay owns the best penalty kill in the NHL at 88.8%. When on the road, the penalty kill jumps up to a 90% success rate, which is also first in the league.

The Lightning’s faceoff win percentage (45.5%) ranks 31st in the NHL.

The Lightning are an especially strong team on the road, with a record of 8-2-2.