Laurel Hollow's Marshall Warren impresses in Islanders' exhibition opener

Marshall Warren found himself at the intersection of opportunity and moment.

The 24-year-old from Laurel Hollow was in the Islanders’ lineup for the exhibition season opener Sunday night at UBS Arena against the Flyers, comprising the third defense pairing with Cole McWard.

It was a chance. It was his chance to prove to Executive Vice President and General Manager Mathieu Darche and head coach Patrick Roy that he could be factored into the franchise’s plans. That he could contribute.

And when the game ended nearly three hours later, even though the Islanders dropped a 3-2 decision in an 11-round shootout to their long-time antagonists, Warren had done exactly what he set out to do:

He made at least one organizational decision-maker sit up and take notice.

“He had a great game,” Roy said during his post-game press conference. “He scored that second goal for us–jumped in the rush–and I was very impressed with him. I thought he had a really good game.”

In 16:45 of ice time spanning 18 shifts, Warren recorded three hits, five shot attempts and two shots on goal. His goal with 3:12 left in the second period gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

As Roy stated, Warren did jump into the play and skated alongside Mathew Barzal in a bit of an odd-man rush. The two gained the offensive zone before Barzal’s cross-ice pass found Warren in the left circle, where he fired a hard shot over Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov.

“Just a good pass by [Barzal]. He’s so good at making those slick plays [and] I was able to find the back of the net,” said Warren, who was then asked if he saw Kolosov sliding right-to-left with his torso slightly tilted downward toward the ice, in an attempt to get over to in order to challenge the the shot.

“When the puck is going east-to-west, you kind of have the corner open,” Warren said. “So I kind of saw that. You just got to make that play and I was able to bury it. So it’s nice but it was a great pass by [Barzal, who] kind of slipped it through the triangle. It’s really cool.”

As critical as his play in the offensive zone was, Warren was also stout defensively. He did not appear out of position when he was on the ice, and threw a hard, heavy, clean check on Lane Pederson with six minutes left in the first period which cost the Flyers center the remainder of the game.

Roy believes Warren benefitted from spending the 2024-25 season at AHL Bridgeport, where he recorded four goals and 13 assists for 17 points and 38 penalty minutes in 53 games.

“He’s free out there,” Roy said of Warren, who attended training camp last season but did not dress for any of the games. “The goal he scored, it’s an example. He was not afraid. He just said well, I’m going there and I want to create that two-on-one with [Barzal]. But what I loved is the check he made in the first period. That was a great hit. They way that he defended. The way he moves the puck. I could see, in general, how good he feels out there and how confident he is, and I think [spending the season] in the AHL last year was really good for him.”