PREVIEW: Red Wings host Islanders Hockey Fights Cancer Game, presented by Comerica, Thursday
New York improved to 5-1-0 during its current seven-game road streak with a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday. Overall, the Islanders are 7-4-1 away from UBS Arena.
Bo Horvat, who has a team-high 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists), has six goals on two and four assists in his last five games. Kyle Palmieri ranks second on the club with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists), while rookie Matthew Schaefer (seven goals, eight assists) and Mathew Barzal (five goals, 10 assists) are tied for third with 15 points each.
“He’s a pretty dynamic player,” McLellan said of Schaefer, the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft. “They’re pretty lucky to have him as a club, but also as a community, to be able to see him play night after night for many years,” McLellan said.
Goaltender Ilya Sorokin has a 6-5-2 record, a 2.91 goals-against average, a .898 save percentage and one shutout in 13 games. He backed up David Rittich in the last meeting between these Eastern Conference foes on October 23, when Detroit lost 7-2 to Long Island.
“They’re a stingy defensive team, but they’re also a stingy offensive team,” McLellan said of the Islanders. “When I look at the game we played in their building, it led to us coming back from that road trip and spending a lot of time – both good practices – working on solutions going forward because they trained us in that. Their starters are as good as anyone in the League.”
