It’s been a very tough season for the New York Islanders, between injuries plaguing the team and things just not going the way they have wanted. But the Islanders have a chance to send their season in a positive direction, as they begin a season-long road trip to the northwest. Riding a three-game point streak into Edmonton, the Islanders are looking to build on their recent success.

The road trip kicks off in Edmonton Tuesday night against the Oilers, a team that began the season struggling, but is back to .500 with a 7-7-1 record. The Islanders enter with a 6-6-3 record and are also .500. The key to defeating the Oilers at Rogers Place is to keep them off the power play. Edmonton’s power play success rate this season is very low, with just a 15% success rate, but don’t be fooled by the numbers, as Connor McDavid and Leon Drasaitl thrive on the power play.

Next up on the road trip is a visit to Vancouver. The Canucks have carried over their recent success into the 2024-2025 season, but they have an added chip on their shoulder, as their postseason loss to the Oilers still stings. They host the Calgary Flames Tuesday night, before the Islanders come into town on Thursday. With a 7-3-3 record prior to playing the Flames, the Canucks are climbing the standings out west, trying to win the Pacific Division for the second straight year.

The key for the Islanders to defeat the Canucks is taking an early lead, as the Canucks play well with the lead. The other key factor is Thatcher Demko, who is not going to return in time for the game as he is still recovering from an injury suffered in the playoffs last season. However, Kevin Lankinen has stepped up and has been a solid replacement for Demko, as Lankinen is 7-1-2 with a 2.61 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

The Islanders will then head to Seattle on Saturday, followed by Calgary and Detroit, before returning home to host the Blues on Nov. 23. Throughout this entire road trip, the key will be to stop the key offensive players on their opponents, which proved to be a big reason the Islanders didn’t defeat the Devils in their previous game.

Jack Hughes, who has stayed healthy, has shown the full potential that the Devils were hoping for from the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He scored two goals and added an assist in the win over the Islanders on Saturday, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime for the cherry on top.

How does this relate to the upcoming road trip? Players like McDavid on Edmonton or Elias Pettersson on Vancouver will cause the Islanders a lot of problems, so they will need to shut them down. On the defensive side of the ice, Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov have both played well, so they will need to continue theirsolidplay.

During his postgame interview on Saturday, head coach Patrick Roy was very pleased with how the young defensemen have stepped up. With the success of the young players, it will be interesting how Roy sets his lineup with players due to return from injury in the coming weeks. Anthony Duclair is eligible to return as early as Thursday in Vancouver, but he didn’t travel with the team to Edmonton. With Isaiah George and others developing in a very positive direction, the Islanders are ready to take on the five-game road trip to get a true test of what this team is capable of.

Featured photo courtesy of Danny Wild/Imagn Images

Andrew Nowel

Andrew Nowel is a hockey nerd and has been following the game for many years. He grew up a Devils fan because of his Dad and also roots for the Penguins and has been rooting for them since he was in 4th grade. Andrew is currently in college studying Journalism and Business with a concentration in Sports Production and Broadcasting at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York.