UBS Keys to the Game: Islanders at Oilers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (17-17-6) AT EDMONTON OILERS (23-18-3)9 PM ET | ROGERS PLACE WATCH: MSG+ | MSG GO | ESPN+LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 98.7FM
The New York Islanders look to keep the momentum going as they continue their western Canadian road swing with their next stop against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night at Rogers Place. It will also mark the first leg of a back-to-back set for the team as they play Calgary the following night.

The Islanders enter the matchup coming off a morale-boosting win where they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-3, powered by a five-goal first period. Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves on 37 shots in the win. The victory, which featured three new-look lines, was motivated by a 3-0 shutout loss to Seattle that left a bad taste for the Islanders throughout the All-Star break.
"We wanted to come out and prove to ourselves that we're a good hockey team and a lot better than that," Casey Cizikas said. "We did that [against Vancouver]."
The Oilers are looking to get back in the win column after suffering two-straight losses following the All-Star break. Edmonton's most recent loss was 4-1 at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday evening. Leon Draisaitl scored the Oilers' sole goal on the power play, while Mike Smith made 26 saves on 30 shots.
The Islanders and Oilers last met on New Year's Day, where the Islanders collected the two points with a 3-2 overtime win. A key to that game for the Islanders was not taking any penalties to allow Edmonton's lethal power play any reps.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• The Islanders' first-period frenzy was sparked by scoring three goals in 31 seconds; from Zach Parise, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee, it was their fastest three goals since Denis Potvin (15:15), Bryan Trottier (15:25) and Bob Bourne (15:42) scored in a 27 second span against the Rangers on October 23, 1983, and the second fastest in team history.
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• Parise notched his fourth goal of the season and now has 14 points (4G, 10A) through 40 games.
• Nelson put away his team-leading 15th goal of the season and now has 23 points (15G, 8A) through 31 games.
• Lee scored his 12th goal and has totaled 17 points (12G, 5A) through 35 games.
• Cizikas recorded his fourth goal of the season and now has six points (4G, 2A) through 33 games.
• Mathew Barzal scored against his hometown club with friends and family in attendance. The centerman registered his 11th goal of the season and leads the Islanders in scoring with 29 points (11G, 18A) through 37 games.
• Matt Martin tallied the Islanders' final goal of the game. The strike marked his second goal of the season. The veteran winger now has four points (2G, 2A) through 32 games.
• Ilya Sorokin made his 26th start of the season and improved his record to 14-8-5. The Russian netminder has a 2.34 GAA, a .924 SV% and four shutouts this season.
• In addition to six players finding the back of the net, a total of 12 different players recorded a point.
• The Islanders are 13-4-4 when scoring first and are 4-13-2 when allowing the opening goal.
• Per team statistician Eric Hornick, the Islanders have allowed only 31 goals in their last fourteen games; their 2.21 goals against average is the 2nd-lowest in the NHL in that span (Colorado - 2.18), dating back to December 30th.
• The Islanders have won all four games that they have played in Canada this season and have outscored their Canadian opponents 19-8.
• Kyle Palmieri is expected to join the team in Edmonton. The winger did not play against Vancouver after he and his wife welcomed a baby earlier this week.
• The Islanders are 5-2-1 in the front end and 2-5-1 in the back end.

OILERS NOTES:

• On Tuesday afternon, Edmonton announced that the club relieved Dave Tippett & Jim Playfair of their coaching duties and that Jay Woodcroft will assume head coaching duties with Dave Manson also joining in an assistant coach role.
• Draisaitl scored his league-leading 33rd goal of the season and his 14th power-play goal of the season. The German winger also leads the NHL in scoring with 64 points (33G, 31A) through 44 games.
• Oilers' captain Connor McDavid assisted on Draisaitl's goal and now has 61 points (23G, 38A) through 43 games.
• Smith made his eighth start of the season, while his record fell to 2-4-1. The veteran netminder has a 3.83 GAA, and a .890 SV%. Smith played both games of Edmonton's back-to-back on Feb. 8-9, his first two games since Jan. 5. Smith allowed four goals in both games.
• Edmonton boasts the third-best power play in the NHL at 27.6%.
• On the injury front, Kris Russell (undisclosed) is on IR, while Mikko Koskinen (COVID-19 Protocol) is day-to-day. During a press conference Oilers General Manager Ken Holland provided updates that Zack Kassian sustained a fractured jaw against Chicago and will be out 4-8 weeks. Duncan Keith is in concussion protocol and has some upper-body soreness that could keep him out 2-4 weeks.
• On Jan. 27, the Oilers signed forward Evander Kane to a one-year contract for the remainder of the season. Since joining the team on Jan. 29, Kane has produced four points (2G, 2A) through five games.
• Edmonton is 12-0-0 when scoring first this season and are the only undefeated team in the NHL when scoring first this season.
• The Oilers, like the Islanders, rank in the top-10 in the NHL for FOW%. Edmonton sits in seventh place with a FOW% of 52.2%, while the Islanders sit in eighth at 51.7%.
• The Oilers average the 10th most goals against per game in the league at 3.32.