Islanders Morning Skate: Warren Remains In vs. Bruins, Pregame Chat With Horvat

The Islanders look to extend their point streak to six games and get back in the win column against the Eastern Conference's last place team.

BOSTON – As all 32 NHL teams take the ice on the league’s annual Frozen Frenzy, the New York Islanders (4-3-1) visit the Boston Bruins (4-7-0) as part of a jam-packed night of hockey.

Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:15 p.m., and the game can be found on MSGSN.

The Islanders claimed the season series from the Bruins last year, going 2-1-0. The road team won all three games in their three meetings, with the Islanders picking up 5-4 overtime and 2-1 regulation wins on Jan. 5 and Feb. 27, respectively, in Beantown.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES

• Ilya Sorokin (2-3-1, 3.70 GAA, .875 SV%) will be in goal for the Islanders.

• Following his NHL debut, Marshall Warren will remain in the lineup.

  • His father, Lewis — it’s his birthday today — will be in attendance after missing his son’s debut as he was in the hospital with Marshall’s grandfather.

• Despite missing practice on Monday, Scott Mayfield will play alongside Matthew Schaefer

• Alexander Romanov will not play in Boston but is expected to return during the Islanders’ four-game road trip.

• Lines:

Drouin-Horvat-Heineman

Duclair-Barzal-Palmieri

Lee-Pageau-Holmstrom

MacLean-Cizikas-Tsyplakov

Pelech-Pulock

Schaefer-Mayfield

Warren-DeAngelo

Sorokin

Rittich

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ISLANDERS NOTES

• Following his shorthanded goal on Saturday, Simon Holmstrom has points in three straight games (2 G, 2 A).

• Anders Lee is riding a four-game point streak (2 G, 6 A).

• Ryan Pulock has a four-game point streak against the Bruins, posting 1 G and 5 A (7 pts), including a three-point night on Jan. 5.

• Kyle Palmieri leads active Islanders with 14 goals in 36 games vs. Boston.

• Mathew Barzal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each have 15 assists against the Bruins, with Pageau leading all Islanders in total points (27).

• Sorokin took the shootout loss in his last outing (23 saves on 26 shots vs. Philadelphia). Against Boston, he’s 4-3-2 in nine games with a 2.73 GAA and .906 SV%, most recently making 38 saves on 39 shots.

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OPPONENT’S NOTES

• Boston enters on the second half of a back-to-back after a 7-2 loss to Ottawa.

  • Morgan Geekie opened the scoring for Boston before Ottawa rattled off seven straight goals.

  • Tim Stützle scored twice; Viktor Arvidsson added a late goal.

• Geekie has five goals in his last four games and leads the Bruins with six on the season.

• Pavel Zacha tallied 2 G and 3 A (5 pts) in three games vs. the Islanders last year.

• Joonas Korpisalo (1-3-0, 4.03 GAA, .845 SV%) is projected to start after Jeremy Swayman played Monday.

  • Korpisalo last started Oct. 23 vs. Anaheim (6 GA on 29 shots).

  • Against the Islanders: 6-5-4 in 16 appearances (2.87 GAA, .913 SV%).

• David Pastrňák scored in all three meetings with New York last season (3 G, 3 A, 6 pts) and leads all Bruins against the Islanders with 35 points (12 G, 23 A) in 34 games.

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BO HORVAT AHEAD OF TONIGHT’S GAME:

Russ Macias: After losing last night to Ottawa, you know Boston is going to come out hard tonight. How do you guys handle that type of energy?

Bo Horvat: “They’re not going to be happy with what happened last night. So I would assume they’re going to be coming out hard at home, and we have to match that—if not come out even harder on our end. The first five minutes are going to be important tonight, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”

Russ Macias: For the team as a whole, this is kind of the first extended road trip, with a longer one coming up in November. How nice it is to have this serve as almost like a warm-up road trip with these guys in this room?

Bo Horvat: “It’s great. I mean, anytime you can get together on the road and kind of bond that way—especially for the new guys and stuff. Everybody’s fitting in tremendously so far with us being at home, but I know it’s definitely huge for team morale. And obviously, getting road wins is going to be big for us too.”

Russ Macias: One more thing on Boston—their PK gave up four goals last night. Knowing they’ll have that chip on their shoulder, is it a thing where you expect them to be more aggressive? Or do you not think about it?

Bo Horvat: “No, I mean, you don’t think about that. Obviously, we watch videos and stuff to see what their strengths and weaknesses are, and we have to do our best to try to exploit those. But for the most part, it’s about what we do—our ability to make plays when they’re there and outwork their penalty kill. So no, it’s up to us tonight. They’re obviously going to be coming hard, like you said, and we’ve got to be ready for it.”

Russ Macias: They play a different style—very physical, almost reminiscent of the Islanders’ teams from a few years ago, where it’s all physicality and counterattacking. How do you approach a game like that and keep control without letting their physicality overrun?

Bo Horvat: “Yeah, like you said, they’re going to be physical. But we’ve got some physical guys in here, too, that can lay the body and play that way. I think if we just stick to our game, the way we know how to play, we’ll be all right.”

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