Isles Day to Day: Practice Updates Oct. 9, 2026

The New York Islanders held an optional practice at UBS Arena Friday morning after a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.  

Bo Horvat continued his hot start to the season with a pair of goals and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves in the Isles’ win.  

Read the full takeaways from Thursday’s win here.  

With just over 90 seconds remaining in the third period, Horvat scored his second of the night on an empty-netter from his own zone. He was hit up high on the play by Chicago’s Frank Nazar who was assessed a five-minute match penalty and a game misconduct.  

Nazar is set for a hearing on Friday with the NHL Department of Player Safety. 

Horvat left the game early after being placed in concussion protocol and wasn’t on the ice during the optional session. Head Coach Pete DeBoer said he is still being evaluated by the Isles’ medical personnel.  

Meanwhile, it was the second consecutive day Mat Barzal skated as he makes his way back from a lower-body injury.  

“It was a short skate yesterday, it was a longer skate today, and I guess we're just building blocks,” DeBoer said. “Good news anyway, good stuff.” 

There remains no timetable for Barzal’s return to the lineup but it’s another day of positive progression for the Isles’ top point producer from a season ago.  

“We're not even having those conversations yet,” DeBoer said of Barzal’s return. “We're still in the initial phase of return to play.” 

Here’s more from Friday’s practice.

Lines

With the optional practice, the Islanders didn’t have official line rushes but here's how they lined up against the Blackhawks: 

Emil Heineman – Bo Horvat – Kyle Palmieri
Brayden Schenn – Cal Ritchie – Victor Eklund
Simon Holmström – JG Pageau – Anthony Duclair  
Ondřej Palát – Casey Cizikas – Matias Maccelli  

Logan Stanley – Matthew Schaefer 
Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock  
Tony DeAngelo – Scott Mayfield  

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov  

Extras: Kyle MacLean, Matt Kessel  

Stay tuned for updated lines during Saturday’s morning skate.

'He's The Engine Of This Team’  

Horvat has delivered one of the best starts to a season in his 13-year NHL career at a goal-per-game pace with four tallies – three on the power play – across the opening four games.  

His three power-play goals are tied for the NHL lead and it’s the first time in his career he’s opened the season with a four-game point streak (five points in that span).  

While his special- teams play has paced the team, Horvat’s attention to detail in all three zones and his leadership off the ice have already paid dividends less than a month after he was named the 16th captain in Islanders franchise history.  

“I thought last night was his best game of the season for us,” DeBoer said. “He's leading the way in detail, in how we want to play. He's working really hard away from the puck. Just that championship detail we're looking for from our entire group and you need your captain to set the tone with that and it's not a lot of stuff that shows up on the scoreboard although he is scoring some goals but there's a lot of really good detail in his game away from the puck that bleeds into our group.” 

Horvat’s compiled four 30-goal seasons over the last five full years and his consistent play was recognized last February as he played for Team Canada in the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

Logan Stanley called Horvat a, “world class player” on Thursday night after the win and Kyle Palmieri – who’s been teammates with Horvat since the 2022-23 season – said, “he’s wearing the ‘C’ for a reason.”  

Stanley and Palmieri were both part of the scrum after Nazar’s hit on the Isles captain. It was a sign that this group would back anyone but there’s something extra when it’s against the team’s leader who is targeted, as Anthony Duclair explained.  

“We follow him,” Duclair said about Horvat. “He’s the engine of this team, and the way he plays obviously motivates all of us and he leads the way [in] practice, games, all that. He's one of the best in the league at it, and I think he's proved that all his whole career but I think last year it was a big step for him in his career playing in the Olympics and playing a big part of that too and we're all super happy that he's our captain and leading the way, and we're always going to be backing him up for sure.”

Duclair Rises To The Occasion  

After a performance against the New York Rangers on Tuesday that DeBoer declared a “step back” for Duclair, the Isles Head Coach sat down with his veteran winger and the two talked about how the latter could find his game.  

“Just going through a couple details in my game,” Duclair said of the meeting with DeBoer. “It's nice to have that constant communication, good or bad. Just try to learn moving forward and just try to apply those things in my game, and I think it was [a] good meeting to have.” 

"We had a conversation about just responding,” DeBoer added. “I think you don't have your A game every night, and he wasn't the only guy against the Rangers. It was more about make sure we have the right response, and he did. I thought he played really well last night for us.” 

It was evident Duclair indeed got to his style of game against the Blackhawks on his goal that featured a power move to the net that drew a penalty. He followed that with a high IQ play to circle the net and find the soft spot in the defense as JG Pageau and Stanley exchanged passes before finding Duclair. 

While Duclair was with the Isles last season when DeBoer was hired in early April, it was the first full offseason to digest and understand the system the 19-year NHL head coach is working to implement.  

It's now starting to click as Duclair said the pair have developed a positive relationship together where DeBoer’s feedback is leading to results.  

“He's been around a long time and he's a very experienced coach,” Duclair said. “He's had a lot of success over the years so obviously anything he says you want to take that and apply it right away. We've all bought into his system here in the last couple games, and it's just a question of keep building and keep learning.”