The New York Islanders are riding high these days. Despite season-ending injuries to key players, Ilya Sorokin missing six straight games, and another injury to Bo Horvat, the Islanders have gone 5-2-0 over their last seven games and 2-0-0 without Horvat.
It's easy to lose sight of those key injuries piling up, even when questions were raised about the lack of offense.
Tuesday's 9-0 shellacking of the New Jersey Devils silenced any and all questions about their offensive potency. The game gave a desperately needed showcase of the skill and firepower that this team possesses.
Now, after that win and Matthew Schaefer's show-stealing performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada this past Saturday, the Islanders embark on a gargantuan seven-game road trip.
It's actually tied for the team's second-longest road trip of the season, with a seven-game trip back in November. However, that trip began with two games against the Devils and the New York Rangers, and if you're sleeping in your own bed after the game, it's hard to compare this seven-game trip to the upcoming one.
That trip saw the Islanders go 6-1-0, with marquee wins over the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights, while only losing to the Colorado Avalanche. In total, the Islanders went 15 days without a game in UBS Arena, with the entire trip squished down into 12 days for the seven games.
The total air mileage for the trip is estimated at 5,135.6 miles.
This trip, however, is longer in terms of both miles traveled and total length. The Islanders' last home game came on January 6 against the Devils, and it'll be 18 days until they return home for a Saturday afternoon matinée against the Buffalo Sabres.
The road trip itself sees all seven games compacted into 13 days, with a total air mileage of 5,719.3 miles. The level of competition is not quite the same as that of the first one. Instead of the world-beating Avalanche, Stars, Knights, and Detroit Red Wings, this trip features just three teams in playoff positions, along with the three worst teams in the league.
The trip begins Thursday in Nashville, where the Islanders take on Barry Trotz's Predators. It's Nashville's first home game since December 21. Nashville went seven straight on the road, going through the Pacific Northwest along the way.
Nashville went 4-3-0 on the trip, but lost 6-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Usually, teams returning home from a long road trip look jet-lagged to start, while teams beginning a road trip start hot.
The Islanders have not won in Nashville since Oct. 28, 2017, losers of six straight at Bridgestone Arnea.
They'll need a hot start against the Predators, as they can't let Nashville settle into the game. It's the first meeting of the season, with a January 31 game in UBS Arena later this month. The game is a second straight ESPN+/Hulu exclusive, with the puck dropping just after 8 o'clock on the East Coast.
After Nashville, the Islanders fly north to Minnesota to take on Quinn Hughes' Wild. It's the second meeting of the season, with the Wild beating the Islanders 5-2 in UBS Arena back on November 7.
Minnesota has since traded for Hughes, dramatically changing its team in the process. Marco Rossi, who scored in the 5-2 win, is no longer with the Wild.
The Islanders are 0-3-1 in their last four trips to Minnesota, and overall are 1-9-1 against Minnesota this side of COVID-19. Last time the Islanders won in Minnesota, it was December 29, 2019, and New York's goal scorers were Ryan Pulock, Matt Martin, and Tom Kuhnackl, with Leo Komarov setting up Martin for the game-winning goal.
After Minnesota comes a game against the 32nd-placed Winnipeg Jets. The Jets have lost 10 straight games, cratering in the standings. In the one previous meeting this season, Winnipeg beat the Islanders 5-2 on October 13, just the third game of the season for the Islanders.
The Islanders then head into Edmonton to meet Connor McDavid's Oilers. The Islanders' first win of the season came against the Oilers in UBS Arena back on October 16, with Bo Horvat scoring a natural hat trick across the second and third periods to lead New York to a comeback win.
The Islanders haven't won in Edmonton since March 6, 2017, losing six straight (0-3-3). That day, the Islanders won 4-1 behind two goals from Anders Lee, along with tallies from Josh Ho-Sang and Andrew Ladd. So, suffice to say, it's been a long time since a win in Edmonton.
Then comes the 30th-place Calgary Flames, a team the Islanders have yet to play this season. The Flames are a very low-event team, one that struggles to score. It'll be paramount to start hot. That game is a 3 o'clock puck drop here, but a 1 o'clock puck drop in Calgary.
That leaves just two games for the road trip. First, the aforementioned Vancouver Canucks, who no longer have Quinn Hughes. The meeting will come exactly one month after the 31st-placed Canucks ran roughshod in UBS Arena behind Kiefer Sherwood's hat trick, en route to a 4-1 win on December 19.
The trip ends with a game against Lane Lambert's Seattle Kraken, currently third in the Pacific Division. The two teams squared off on November 23, with the game ending in a double shutout, with Kyle Palmieri scoring the shootout winner to give David Rittich the win and shutout.