New York Islanders
Islanders Game 8: Lou Speaks Pregame; Romanov Out, Lineups, How to Watch
ELMONT, NY — After an afternoon filled with transactions and deck shuffling, the New York Islanders (3-2-2) take on the Florida Panthers (5-3-1) tonight at 7:30 in UBS Arena. Alexander Romanov will not play and is deemed day-to-day with an undisclosed (but specifically not a concussion) upper-body injury.
The Islanders polish off the second half of a back-to-back after last night’s victory over the New Jersey Devils, 4-3 in overtime. Bo Horvat scored his ninth-career overtime winner to send the Islanders home victorious.
The Panthers enter after earning Sergei Bobrovsky’s 400th career win against the New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Panthers are the reigning Stanley Cup Champions. They will not have Bobrovsky in net or standout center Aleksander Barkov, who remains sidelined due to a lower-body injury.
The Islanders have gone 3-0-1 in their last four against the Panthers.
President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello Speaks:
Lou Lamoriello spoke to the media today following the placement of Anthony Duclair on LTIR, Matt Martin signing recalls of Pierre Engvall and Hudson Fasching, and the demotion of Liam Foudy.
On Anthony Duclair: “We had said originally it would be four to six weeks, which it will be, and we intentionally waited to put him on long-term injury to try and accumulate as much space that we could during that period of time, which you cannot do when a player is on long-term injury.”
On Matt Martin: “Timing also had something to do with the long-term injury. Marty came to camp completely on a trial, worked extremely hard, is probably in the best shape, I’ve actually seen him physically over the last couple of years, so today we decided that we would go forward with him. Marty understands his role and what he brings to this team, not only on the ice but off the ice. He understands he won’t be in the lineup every night; he can accept that role, be a coaching decision each and every night, and we all know what he does physically when necessary.”
On Pierre Engvall: “We certainly weren’t happy with Pierre, to be perfectly honest. We know what he can bring, and he’s gotta bring it every night. He can help us in that lineup. He’s an NHL player, without question. There are certain elements that each player has to bring, and we know what he can bring. He’s got to bring it every night, and we want a lineup that we can solidify.”
On Hudson Fasching: “Hudson this summer had an injury, and he had been rehabbing it and wasn’t just 100%, even though he said he was, so we wanted to get him to the minors and just play and get to where he should be.”
On Liam Foudy: “He had a great camp, and the timing was good to give him an opportunity. Coming in, we knew it would only be for a couple of games. We didn’t know how long we would keep him, but when this situation took place today, with other players as far as potential injuries, we thought we’d get him back, and we would recall both Engvall and Fasching.”
On Alexander Romanov: Â “Romanov will definitely be out (tonight). He has an upper-body injury, but I’m going to put it to rest right away. It is not a concussion, and it will be day-to-day, but we’re not going to take any chances with it; he should be back in the next game without question.”
Brief Pregame Breakdown of Lou’s Presser:
As Lou said when he finished, “That was a mouthful.” What does it all mean?
Well, first, Lamoriello made it extremely clear that placing Duclair on LTIR does not change his status. Duclair should be on track to return in mid-November.
Lamoriello then expanded further on Pierre Engvall’s demotion, flat-out saying the Islanders were unhappy with his training camp. The hope is that the demotion motivated Engvall to raise his game and permanently earn his place in the lineup.
Elsewhere, Lou confirmed that Fasching entered camp with an injury. Fasching fought through it, despite Fasching’s insistence otherwise. Lou essentially called it a conditioning stint, allowing the Islanders to give trials to Liam Foudy and Julien Gauthier.
Lou mentioned multiple injuries are affecting the Islanders, Duclair aside. Firstly, Romanov is out. Dennis Cholowksi will skate in his first NHL game since January 2023. Lou refused to elaborate on other potential players ailing, so we’ll stay tuned until warmups.
Projected Islanders Lineup:
With multiple potential injuries and three new call-ups, along with a defensive injury, these lines are EXTREMELY subject to change:
Forwards
Simon Holmstrom – Bo Horvat – Mat Barzal
Maxim Tsyplakov – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Pierre Engvall
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Hudson Fasching
Scratches: Oliver Wahlstrom, Kyle MacLean
Defense:
Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock
Dennis Cholowski – Noah Dobson
Mike Reilly – Scott Mayfield
Out (Injury): Alexander Romanov
Goalies:
Semyon Varlamov (Ilya Sorokin)
Projected Panthers Lineup:
Forwards
Eetu Luostarinen – 15 Anton Lundell – 13 Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Evan Rodrigues – Jesper Boqvist – Mackie Samoskevich
AJ Greer – Patrick Giles – Uvis Balinskis
Injured: Sasha Barkov (LBI), Jonah Gadjovich (back), Tomas Nosek (LTIR-UBI), Justin Sourdif (UBI)
Defense
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Adam Boqvist – Nate Schmidt
Goalies
Spencer Knight (Sergei Bobrovsky)
How to Watch:
TV: MSGSN, Out-of-Market ESPN+
Radio: 88.7 WRHU FM