EAST MEADOW, NY -- The New York Islanders conclude their preseason slate on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. We will be chatting with head coach Patrick Roy and select players at 4 PM ET.
Puck drop is slated for 7 PM ET and can be watched, exclusively, on ESPN+.
Forward Jonathan Drouin, who missed Wednesday's skate due to illness, did rejoin the team on Thursday but did not take part in line rushes. Roy didn't think he'd play when we spoke to the bench boss following Wednesday's skate.
Drouin went pointless in three preseason games, but was clearly getting more comfortable with his new team in each passing game.
"It’s something you feel. You’re forechecking and you're in your head saying, ‘Am I in the right spot?’ or ‘Am I forechecking the right guy?’ That stuff kind of goes away. & you’re just playing. You’re skating, you’re freer."#Isles@TheElmontershttps://t.co/4cIaYpPSMH
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 2, 2025
Forwards Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri were on the ice but neither took part in line rushes. Both took part in penalty kill work.
Goaltender Ilya Sorokin told us he wanted to play in two preseason games, and he'll get to do that as he'll start the finale. He stopped 23 of 26 in a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils last Friday \\.
Here's the lines:
#Isles morning skate lines:
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 2, 2025
Duclair-Ritchie-Heineman
Lee-Barzal-Tsyplakov
Holmstrom-Pageau-Shabanov
Cizikas-MacLean-Gatcomb
E: Horvat, Drouin, Palmieri
Pelech-Pulock
Schaefer-Mayfield
Romanov-Boqvist
George-DeAngelo
Sorokin
Rittich
Forward Maxim Tsyplakov, who wasn't available for the first four preseason games, did skate on Monday, but did so on the fourth line. He's focused heavily on going North and not as much East-West-South play that got him in trouble at times during his rookie season.
We'll see what he can show alongside Barzal.
Forward Calum Ritchie also played on the fourth line last game, but we know he is a top-six forward once he develops to the level the organization envisioned.
While making the Islanders' roster out of training camp is going to be tough despite his strong performance, Thursday serves as his final chance to show his worth, and the Islanders seem to be giving him an opportunity to do that, playing alongside Anthony Duclair and Emil Heineman.
Here's how the Islanders lineup on the power play:
#Isles PP: (QB-LW-RW-B-N)
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 2, 2025
PP1: Schaefer-Barzal-Duclair-Heineman-Lee
PP2: Boqvist-Shabanov-Holmstrom-Ritchie-Tsyplakov
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