Game Preview: Islanders at Senators

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (5-6-2) AT OTTAWA SENATORS (6-6-0)

7 PM | CANADIAN TIRE CENTER

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The New York Islanders are up north to take on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

The Isles are coming off a comeback win where they edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 to win in a shootout. Kyle Palmieri, Simon Holmstrom and JG Pageau scored for the Islanders and Bo Horvat’s shootout goal decided the game. Ilya Sorokin posted a solid performance between the pipes on Tuesday night, making 32 saves in his 200th career game, while stopping all three shots faced in the shootout.

“We knew it was an important game for us," Head Coach Patrick Roy said." I don't like to use must win, but there are games in the season you want to win. We lost our last two at home. I thought it was important to play a good game for our fans. It was an important game for us in the standings as well.”

The Senators are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on the road on Tuesday night. Ridly Greig scored the lone goal for Ottawa and Linus Ullmark made 29 of 34 saves in the loss.

Last season, New York went 2-0-1 in three games against Ottawa in the season series. The Isles have a successful track record in road games against the Senators in recent years, going 7-2-0 in their last nine visits.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES:

- Matt Martin is expected to draw into the lineup in place of Hudson Fasching on a line with Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom. Martin, who signed a one year deal on Oct. 26, has played two games for the Isles this season, most recently skating in a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Oct. 30.

- Alexander Romanov and Mike Reilly are day to day with upper-body injuries and both are expected to miss their third consecutive game.

- Semyon Varlamov is expected to start for New York. Varlamov is 1-3-1 this season along with a .876 SV and a 3.21 GAA. Against the Senators, Varlamov is 7-5-3 lifetime with a .905 SV% and a 3.07 GAA.

- Anton Forsberg is the expected starter for Ottawa. The netminder has two shutouts in his last three starts, including a 3-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday in the second half of a back-to-back. The netminder is finding his groove again, suffering knee injuries since the 2021-22 campaign.

ISLES NOTES

- Alexander Romanov (day to day, upper body) and Mike Reilly (day to day, upper body) missed their second consecutive game on Tuesday.

- The Isles sent Sam Bolduc to Bridgeport on loan on Monday and recalled Isaiah George, who his NHL debut against the Pens. The 20-year-old defenseman had an impressive performance in his fifth career pro game, logging 15:41 TOI, registering a shot on goal and playing a 40-second shift in four-on-four overtime action.

“Outstanding,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “Except for that one turnover, I thought he had a solid game. He skates and he's moving well. The more he's going to play, he's going to feel more comfortable out there. And good for him. I was happy that he was here tonight, because he played a lot of minutes for his first game. I thought they were good minutes. I was very pleased with his performance, even playing overtime, come on. Good job, kid.”

- Ryan Pulock is expected to play in his 500th career game when he suits up against the Senators. The veteran defenseman has four points (4A) in his first 13 games of the season and has been shouldering extra minutes with injuries to the blue line, logging 29 minutes for two consecutive games. His 29:24 TOI on Sunday and his 29:03 TOI on Tuesday rank as the highest and second-highest logged in his career respectively.

- Simon Holmstrom potted his first goal of the season and 22nd of his career with his tally against the Penguins on Tuesday.

- Anders Lee leads the team in career goals (13) against the Senators through 29 appearances lifetime. Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal lead the team with 19 career points against the Senators.

SENATORS NOTES

- The Senators are 6-6-0 in their first 12 games of the season, but they’ve had success on home ice with five wins in six games at Canadian Tire Centre (5-1-0).

- Tim Stutzle leads the Senators with 17 points (6G, 11A) in his fifth season with the team. The 22-year-old led Ottawa with 52 assists in 2023-24 and is two seasons removed from a 90-point campaign.

- Brady Tkachuk is the team leader in goals (7) and is riding a five-game point streak with eight points (4G, 4A). He buried a team-high 37 goals last season, which was a career-best for the 25-year-old forward.

- Linus Ullmark was traded from Boston to the Senators in a blockbuster trade over the offseason, where Ottawa traded forward Mark Kastelic, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and its 2024 first-round pick.

Ullmark signed a four-year deal with the Senators and is struggling a bit to start his first season with the team, as the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner has a 2-4-0 record in his first six starts of the season, along with a 3.02 GAA and a .892 SV%.

- The Senators have been a force on the power play to start the year. Converting at 30.8% on the man advantage, Ottawa ranks fourth in the NHL, which is an improvement from last season’s 18.0% which ranked 23rd in the league.