The Islanders have a chance to take points in four of five games from this road trip with a point on Thursday against the Red Wings.
The New York Islanders conclude a season-long five-game road trip on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
A quick glance at their record on the trip so far, 1-1-2, doesn't seem all that good, but the ability to find ways to get points on the road is so important, especially for an Islanders team that will have only played seven home games this season.
"People forget that tonight is our 13th game on the road out of 20," Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said (H/t New York Islanders). "We've been on the road a lot. If we could be in the position, a game above .500 in a position that we are in the standing, and having those home games coming after that, that could be good for us."
A point against the Red Wings would give the Islanders points in four of five games on this trip and points in eight of their last 10.
For a team still without Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Adam Pelech, and Mike Reilly, with Alexander Romanov playing his second game back after a seven-game absence, that's quite an achievement.
Because of their ability to collect points, even if they left some on the table over that stretch, they are tied in points with the Buffalo Sabres, who hold down the second wild-card spot.
The Sabres hold the tie-breaker because the Islanders have only seven regulation wins on the season compared to their nine. The lack of regulation wins is due in large part to them blowing third-period leads.
The Boston Bruins also have 19 points and eight regulations as they enter their matchup on Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club, but they've played one more game, which has kept the Islanders in front of them in the standings.
The last time the Islanders faced the Red Wings, they did a great job defensively, holding them to 11 shots. However, they failed to find the back of the net, with Alex Lyon stopping all 30 shots that came his way in a 1-0 win.
Lyon will be back in between the pipes on Thursday, looking to mimic that performance.
"I think, tonight, it's about focusing on what we need to do," Roy said (H/t New York Islanders). "We can't focus on what we did in that game. I mean, that was a solid performance. I don't think we gave up more than 12 shots or something like that, but we know that's not going to happen tonight. They could have 12 shots only in that first period.
"But what we want to focus on is playing our game and trying to make it a good road trip. I mean, six points out of 10 could be a good road trip for us. So that's a big difference. It's a four-point game. We know where we are in the standings. We know how important that game is. I mean, it's early in the season. But at the same time, I mean, we need to continue to play the way we've been playing because I think we're doing a lot of good things."
A win against the Red Wings would give the Islanders tremendous confidence entering a three-game homestand that begins on Saturday night at 7:30 PM against the St. Louis Blues.