Takeaways: Islanders Shut Out Red Wings 5-0, Finish Road Trip 6-1-0

The New York Islanders put an exclamation point on their road trip with a 5-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena on Thursday night.

Max Shabanov (2G, 1A) Cal Ritchie (1G, 1A), Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat paved the way to the dominant win while Casey Cizikas notched two assists. Ilya Sorokin stopped all 29 shots he faced in his second shutout of the season - and second on the trip. John Gibson turned aside 21 of 26 shots in the Red Wings fourth loss of the season on home ice.

“We played a simple game and just rolled from there,” Cizikas said. “It wasn’t anything really pretty, it was north hockey and we capitalized our chances when we had them.”

The Islanders are coming home with a record of 6-1-0 on their seven-game trip, which ties a franchise record for most wins on a single road trip. The only other time the Islanders recorded six wins on the same road trip came at the end of the 2015-16 season, where they also went 6-1-0 from Feb. 19 – Mar. 6, 2016.

“What we see is clarity,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “We know that the way we’re playing, we can win a lot of games. What I love about the road trip is presence. We stayed in the present moment instead of looking at the scoreboard and being satisfied.”

TAKEAWAYS

- Cizikas’ line with Ritchie and Shabanov was exceptional in the win. The trio combined for seven points (3G, 4A) and led the way to victory for the Islanders. The line combined on the Islanders first, second and fifth goals on the evening – and their effective forechecking allowed Barzal to score to give the Isles a 3-0 lead. While Shabanov and Cizikas didn’t get points on the Barzal goal, they applied pressure in the o-zone, with Barzal finding the loose puck in the slot to bury his sixth goal of the season.

- Ritchie’s two-point night (1G, 1A) marked his first career multi-point game. Roy has talked about how his strong defensive game can eventually lead to offense.

- Thursday marked Shabanov’s fourth game since recovering from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for 12 games. He was able to develop chemistry with Ritchie and Cizikas quickly, saying postgame (with Alexander Romanov standing in as a translator) that the communication was strong among the line and he tried to play his best game to contribute.

He entered the night with three points (1G, 2A) through eight games and doubled his point total with an explosive three-period effort. The Russian winger’s three-point performance (2G, 1A) marked his first multi-point and multi-goal game.

Shabanov showed off his crafty skills – especially on his second goal – when he went backhand to his forehand, deked past two Red Wings defenders and to bury his second goal and fourth point of the game to take a commanding 5-0 lead at the 6:52 mark of the third period.

- Cizikas recorded a pair of assists and was given the iron man mask as the team’s player of the game.

- It was a clean sheet for Sorokin, who made 29 saves for his 24^th shutout of his career. Sorokin is one shy of tying Chico Resch of the franchise record in shutouts (25). He credited his teammates for playing so well in front of him.

“I didn’t have a [tough] job tonight,” Sorokin said after the win. “They guys blocked a lot of shots, had a lot of offense and played a lot in the offensive zone.”

- The Islanders saw a pair of goals come immediately after a faceoff win. After Ritchie won an offensive zone draw, Shabanov was there to collect the puck and whip a shot through Gibson stick-side at the 15:54 mark of the first period. Horvat won the draw and skated to his right, ready for when Emil Heineman chipped the puck toward Ryan Pulock, who set up Horvat in the right dot for the Isles’ fourth goal at the 5:04 mark of the middle frame.

- Adam Boqvist recorded his 100^th career point with a secondary assist on Ritchie’s goal.

- The Red Wings came in hot – winning seven of their last 10 games – but the Islanders cooled them down and have outscored them 12-2 in the season series. They beat Detroit 7-2 on home ice at the end of October.

NEXT GAME:

After seven straight games on the road, Saturday opens a seven-game homestand for the Islanders, which kicks off with a contest against the St. Louis Blues for their Hockey Fights Cancer Game. Puck drop is set for 3:30 PM.