NEW YORK ISLANDERS (20-20-7) VS CAROLINA HURRICANES (30-16-3)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
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The New York Islanders picked up their third straight win with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night at UBS Arena.
The three-game winning streak matched a season high and also marked the first time the Islanders strung three wins together on home ice this season.
Brock Nelson (1G, 1A), Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair scored for the Islanders while Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves. The Islanders (47 points) narrowed a five-point gap in the standings behind the Flyers (50 points) to three points, while the Islanders have three games in-hand.
The Isles are focused on maintaining the connected way they’ve been able to play recently – as they’ve won six of their last eight games – and bringing that on Saturday when they host the Hurricanes.
“Tonight our four lines were very good, we had great energy from everyone and we’re going to have to match that tomorrow,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said postgame after Friday’s 3-1 win. “In back-to-back games, that’s how you want to play the first one. We should be rested enough to play a strong game tomorrow.”
In a high-scoring affair, the Hurricanes took down the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-4 on Thursday night to earn their fourth consecutive win. Nine of their forwards hit the scoresheet in the win, with five of them recording multi-point games. Seth Jarvis (2G, 2A), Sebastian Aho (1G, 2A), Jackson Blake (1G, 1A), Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in the win, while Frederik Andersen made 18 saves on 22 shots.
SEASON SERIES
The Isles and Canes are knotted in the season series 1-1-0 after a 4-3 Islanders win on Dec. 7 at UBS Arena and a 4-0 shutout loss in Raleigh on Dec. 17. After Saturday’s contest, the season series will conclude on March 30th in Raleigh, which is also the back end of a back-to-back set for New York.ISLES NOTES
- Marcus Hogberg will get the start for the Islanders on Saturday night. Hogberg recorded 18 saves in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 18 in his most recent outing. The Swedish netminder has been reliable for the Islanders in a short sample size, with a .952 SV% and a 1.32 GAA through four starts and two relief appearances.- Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat each extended their point streaks on Friday night to four games. Horvat has six points (4G, 2A) in this run, while Barzal also has six points (2G, 4A) over that span. Horvat scored his his 17th of the season which turned out to be the game-winning goal against Philadelphia.
- Nelson buried his 14th goal of the season on Friday and recorded his eighth multi-point game of the season.
- The Isles had 34 hits in Friday’s game against the Flyers and recorded 111 hits over the span of their last three games, including a season-high 40 on Monday against Columbus.
- The Islanders are 2-3-0 in the second half of back-to-back sets this season.
CANES NOTES
- The Carolina Hurricanes were part of a blockbuster, three-team trade with the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night, acquiring forwards Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall. Rantanen as 64 points (25G, 39A) through 49 games this season for the Avalanche, while Hall 24 points (9G, 15A) through 46 games with the Blackhawks this season.- The Canes parted ways with Martin Necas and Jack Drury, sending them to Colorado while also dealing away a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Chicago also received back its own 2025 third-round pick, a pick previously acquired by Carolina.
- William Carrier is out long-term with a lower-body injury, and Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour said that the forward will be out "a couple months." Carrier re-aggravated an injury and has not played since Jan. 4. Per Brind'Amour, the team has hope that Carrier can play toward the end of the regular season. Carolina signed Carrier to a six-year deal over the offseason and he has nine points (4G, 5A) through 39 games this season.
- Tyson Jost (lower-body) is sidelined with an injury and has not played since Dec. 31. The forward has two goals through 16 games this season.
- Until the trade, Martin Necas led the Canes in scoring with 55 points (16G, 39A) and had four assists in his last three games. Seth Jarvis is the leading goal scorer (18) and has seven points (5G, 2A) in his last five games, including a four-point night (2G, 2A) on Thursday against the Blue Jackets. Mikko Rantanen’s 25 goals, 39 assists and 64 points on the season now lead the Canes.
- Carolina has been able to stay hot although its power play has been struggling, as the Canes went 2-for-34 (5.8%) since Jan. 1 but they have been found ways to win without much help from their man advantage, with a record of 8-3-1 over that span.
- The Hurricanes own the league’s best penalty kill (85.4%).
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