Islanders: Previewing the Most Important Road Trip of the Season

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 21: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders celebrates his second period goal against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 21: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders celebrates his second period goal against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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New York Islanders
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 29: Loui Eriksson #21 of the Vancouver Canucks skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 29, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

The Islanders first game of the road trip will start with the most western team in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks. This will also be the latest game of the trip with a 10 p.m. puck drop.

As of today, the Canucks are in second place in the western conference wild card standings. They are tied on points with Nashville and Winnipeg, but hold the tiebreaker over them for the wild card spot.

Vancouver is led by forwards J.T. Miller, Ellias Pettersson, Bo Horvart and Tyler Toffoli. The Canucks acquired Toffoli in a big trade to gear up for a post-season push right before the trade deadline.

On the back end, the Canucks are led by rookie sensation Quinn Hughes. Hughes has 52 points in 67 games. He leads the Canucks in assists and powerplay points. He is definitely someone to watch out for if the Canucks get a powerplay.

In net, the Canucks have Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko and Luis Domingue (who was acquired via trade with devils). We will not see Markstrom due to the fact that the Canucks number one net-minder is hurt, but he should be back soon.

The Canucks have not had the best luck injury wise. They are without one of their best forwards, Brock Boeser. Boeser is on the injured reserve and may make his return right before the end of the regular season.

Also, Micheal Ferlund is on the injured reserve and is out for the rest of the season. Josh Leivo is also out for the rest of the regular season, but could make a return in the playoffs.

The Canucks are actually top five in the league in shots faced per game. On average they see 33.1 shots against per game.

The Islanders must play physical against the Canucks top line of Miller, Pettersson, and Toffoli.

If the Islanders want to have success in this game they must get plenty of pucks and people to the net.

Schedule