Here's a brief history of the Islanders against new NHL teams.
Here's a brief history of the Islanders against new NHL teams.
Thursday night's opener for the New York Islanders is a historic one.
After their relocation from Arizona, the Utah Hockey Club will play their first-ever road game after winning their first game at home, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2.
The Islanders' history includes matchups with 40 different team names, including the likes of the California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons and Colorado Rockies. With the Islanders set to add number 41 on Thursday, let's look back on some milestone, first-ever matchups in the history of the team.
Their most recent first-time matchup came against the Seattle Kraken, who they hosted at UBS Arena on Feb. 2, 2022.
The game was a goaltender's duel through 40 minutes, but three Seattle goals gave the Kraken a 3-0 win in their first visit to Elmont.
However, in their rematch at Climate Pledge Arena, the Islanders returned the favor with a 4-2 win. Zach Parise scored twice in the win, and Ilya Sorokin earned the win with 23 saves.
Up next on the list of teams is the Vegas Golden Knights, who joined the NHL during the 2017-18 campaign.
Before becoming Western Conference champions in their first season, the Islanders did something only one other team could do before the playoffs: sweep the season series against them.
The two teams first met at Barclays Center on Oct. 30, 2017. It was a back-and-forth affair early, with the teams tied at two late in the second period, but Mathew Barzal gave the Islanders the lead on the power play before the intermission.
The third was all Islanders, with Cal Clutterbuck, Nikolai Kulemin, and John Tavares adding red lights to cruise to a 6-3 win.
In their first trip to T-Mobile Arena, New York held on for a 2-1 win to finish the sweep. Ross Johnston scored his first NHL goal to open the scoring, with Jordan Eberle adding on in the third. Erik Haula cut the lead in half in the final five minutes, but Jaroslav Halak stood tall to finish off the win.
The addition of the Golden Knights was the first expansion team for the league in 18 years, but there was a relocation that occurred in that span, that being the reincarnation of the Winnipeg Jets.