This is quickly turning into another ugly road trip for the Edmonton Oilers.
The team went 1-4-0 during a five-game Eastern Conference swing after the 4 Nations Face-Off Break but appeared to be out of the funk following wins over the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars at home.
Through the first four games of this trip against Eastern teams who are below Edmonton in the standings, the Oilers have fallen 3-2 to both the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils. They’ll play the New York Islanders on Friday and then they’ll wrap up the trip with the New York Rangers on Sunday.
All four of the games on this trip are ones the Oilers should win. Now, after dropping the first two games, the last two have suddenly become must wins.
1. The Oilers are now in third place in the Pacific Division as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Washington Capitals at home after Edmonton lost to New Jersey. The idea of winning the division looks like a dream with the Vegas Golden Knights having stretched their lead over the Oilers to seven points.
Both the Oilers and Golden Knights have 17 games remaining and they’re scheduled to play once more during the regular season on April 1 in Vegas. The Kings have one game in hand on both teams. They’ll play the Oilers once in Los Angeles and once in Edmonton in April ahead of what’ll likely be the fourth consecutive first-round playoff meeting between the two teams.
2. The Islanders are still technically alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race but they’re a longshot to make it given how many teams they need to jump over. New York’s 29-98-7 record has them five points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second Wild Card spot with the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Rangers also in front of them.
3. Finding the back of the net has been an issue for the Islanders this season, as the team ranks 29th in the NHL with 172 goals scored. A big part of that problem has been the team’s power play, which is dead last in the league with a brutal 11.95 percent efficiency.
Anders Lee is leading the way for the Islanders offensively with 25 goals and 45 points. Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat are second on the team in scoring with 20 goals and 43 points each, though the former was moved to the Colorado Avalanche ahead of the trade deadline last week. Kyle Palmieri, who has 20 goals and 41 points, appeared in trade rumours but appears to be close to signing a new contract with the Islanders.
Last season, Mat Barzal led the Islanders with 80 points. This season, their top centre has been limited to just 30 games because of injury. He scored six goals and 20 points over those 30 games for New York this season and might not return before the end of the regular season.
4. Scoring goals hasn’t been the forte of the Islanders for a very long time. Tight defence and excellent goaltending was what led to back-to-back trips to the Conference Finals in 2020 and 2021.
During four seasons (2018-19 to 2021-22) with Barry Trotz behind the bench, the Islanders finished first, fifth, second, and seventh in the league in goals against. They finished fifth in goals against in 2022-23 with Lane Lambert as head coach and dropped to 18th in 2023-24 between Lambert and Patrick Roy.
The Islanders are again in the middle of the pack this season, sitting in 15th with 191 goals against. 1A starter Ilya Sorokin has a .905 save percentage over 48 games while 1B starter Semyon Varlamov has been limited to 10 appearances because of a lower-body injury. Third-stringer Marcus Hogberg has posted a .938 save percentage in eight games in Varlamov’s absence.
5. The season series between the Oilers and Islanders has followed the same script in each of the past three seasons — the home team wins and the teams split the two games. Will it continue this year or can Edmonton break the cycle?
The Oilers hosted the Islanders back in November and managed an overtime victory after blowing a 3-1 lead in the latter part of the third period. New York is coming into this game with two days of rest while Edmonton just played in New Jersey.
The last time the Oilers won a game on the road against the Islanders was well before they were playing at the UBS Arena in Elmont. It was in October of 2019-20 while the Oilers were in the midst of a five-game heater to start the season and the Islanders were still playing at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. James Neal scored four goals and Mikko Koskinen made 25 saves in a 5-2 win.
