Palat Earns Iron Man Mask in Isles Debut 

First game with the Isles. First star. First Iron Man mask.

Ondrej Palat notched two points (1G, 1A) as was named the game’s first star in his New York Islanders debut on Wednesday. As a result, Palat earned his first Iron Man mask as the Islanders player of the game in their 5-2 win over the New York Rangers at UBS Arena .

“For [my] first game, I thought we played well,” Palat said after the win. “Bo and Heinny helped me so much.”

Palat wasted no time to have his presence felt. The newest member of the Islanders opened the scoring with a one-timer from the slot on the power-play 14:59 into the first period.

Palat wasn’t satisfied with a goal and earned a secondary assist on Emil Heineman’s tally to make it 5-2 with 48 seconds left in the second period. He got a rousing ovation from the fans when he was named the game’s first star.

“I hope it is welcoming, but at the same time he deserved it and I thought he had a heck of a game,” Ryan Pulock said. “It’s a family in here. It’s a tight group and when guys come in you try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.”

Palat was acquired from the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, along with a 2026 third-round pick and 2027 sixth-round pick, in exchange for Max Tsyplakov. The move came one day after the Islanders acquired defenseman Carson Soucy from the Rangers as the Isles bolstered their depth.

“We woke up a better team today,” Captain Anders Lee said. “Pally has seen it all. He’s played a lot of hockey in this league, and he plays it hard every night.”

The 34-year-old Palat has 12 points (5G, 7A) and was pivotal as the Isles won their third consecutive game against the Rangers this season.

“I thought the whole team played well and [a] great game against [the] Rangers,” Palat said. “We just need to do that tomorrow again.”

Tony DeAngelo was the most recent Iron Man mask recipient before Palat.