New York Islanders
Isles Practice Notebook: Eyes on Ottawa; George Returns, Romanov Absent

EAST MEADOW, NY- The New York Islanders (17-18-7) have returned home after sweeping their three-game road trip and officially beginning what could be their final run together in this group for a playoff spot. Currently, the Islanders sit five points out of a playoff spot and trail the following teams in the standings: Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers.
The two teams currently in the playoffs by points percentage would be the Senators and the Jackets. Coincidentally, the Islanders play the Senators tomorrow night in UBS Arena. The Senators enter winners of two straight, having pantsed the Penguins on Saturday and followed that up by edging the Dallas Stars on Sunday.
It’s a huge spot for the Islanders to insert themselves into the race and get back to NHL .500. A regulation loss could stymy any momentum built over the last few games.
Anthony Duclair spoke about the upcoming game with NYI Hockey Now and said this, Every game, especially against Eastern Conference, is going to be huge. That’s a team (Ottawa) that’s made a significant improvement since last year. They’re obviously looking for a playoff spot, and so are we. We all know how tight the standings are. This time of year is the right time to push, compared to later in the season when you’re looking at one, two points differential. These are the games that count, so we want to make sure they’re ready tomorrow.”
Practice News & Notes:
The first notable story of practice was that Grant Hutton did not return to the NHL, and Isaiah George returned to practice after missing the last three games with an injury. Max Domi’s elbow to the head went uncalled and unpunished. Head Coach Patrick Roy refused to tip his hand about whether or not George will play.
The 20-year-old defenseman seems set to return to the lineup tomorrow night. Alexander Romanov, who recorded two assists in the win over Vegas, did not play in Utah and did not practice.
The Islanders labeled him day-to-day with an undisclosed upper-body injury. It’s purely speculative, but I wonder if he’s re-aggravated the same injury from earlier in the season when he missed 11 games. Losing Romanov for another extended period would be far from ideal.
Elsewhere, Roy kept the same forward lines he had at the end of the Utah game, keeping the same top line of Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Mathew Barzal together while flipping Maxim Tsyplakov up with Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri, which shifts Anthony Duclair down to skate with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Casey Cizikas.
The defense remained in a blender, but the best guess is to see George reunited with Noah Dobson while Dennis Cholowski and Scott Mayfield return to their pair. Obviously, Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech will skate.
Ilya Sorokin returned after missing the Utah game with an illness. Simon Holmstrom and Semyon Varlamov continued to be absent from practice.