Islanders complete historic road trip with dominant win over Red Wings
Islanders center Cal Ritchie, left, celebrates with center Casey Cizikas after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Red Wings on Thursday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Ryan Sun
DETROIT — Exclamation point. Actually, another two points.
The Islanders concluded a revelatory and historic 6-1-0 road trip with a 5-0 win over the Red Wings on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena, the same score the trip started with against the Rangers on Nov. 8.
According to team statistician Eric Hornick, it’s the second road trip in team history with six victories, the first coming on an identical 6-1-0 trek in 2015-16.
“What we see is clarity,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We know if we play the way we’re playing, we could win a lot of games.”
The Islanders (12-7-2) — who have outscored the Atlantic Division-leading Red Wings 12-2 in two games — moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the division-leading Hurricanes.
“We’re playing really well,” said goalie Ilya Sorokin, who made 29 saves after earning his first shutout of the season against the Rangers. “We’re playing a lot in the offensive zone. It’s teamwork.”
Sorokin has 24 career shutouts, one shy of tying Chico Resch’s team record.
But it was the newly formed fourth line of rookie Cal Ritchie (one goal, one assist) centering rookie Max Shabanov (two goals, one assist) and Casey Cizikas (two assists) that sparked this win with their forecheck and production.
“I feel good and I’m so excited about my game and that the team won,” Shabanov said (with injured defenseman Alexander Romanov, his right arm in a sling, interpreting). “I just do my job and try to play my best game.”
Shabanov was playing his third game since returning from an upper-body injury that kept him sidelined for 12 matches.
“He’s so smart. He’s always looking to make a play,” said Ritchie, who opened the scoring off Shabanov’s feed at 6:46 of the first period for his second goal as an Islander after getting his first in Tuesday’s 3-2 win in Dallas. “He has a good awareness of where guys are on the ice at all times. That pass to me on my goal was unreal.”
Shabanov, with a fluttering shot under the right arm of a shaky John Gibson (21 saves) made it 2-0 at 14:54 of the first period.
The fourth line’s forecheck also set up the third goal as Mathew Barzal hopped over the boards to pounce on a turnover and scored at 3:19 of the second period. Bo Horvat’s right-circle one-timer pushed it to 4-0 at 5:04 of the second period. Shabanov’s backhander at the crease made it 5-0 at 6:52 of the third period.
By then it had become clear that the Islanders would return to Long Island having earned 12 of 14 possible points. That clearly exceeded anyone’s expectations for the stretch.
The Islanders also beat the Devils, Vegas and Utah, and Sunday’s 4-1 loss in Colorado might have been their best performance.
“There were a lot of big moments on this road trip,” Horvat said. “A lot of will, a lot of character shown by our group. So many different guys stepped up, too, in different ways. It was a solid team effort.”
The Islanders were playing their first game in what is expected to be a lengthy absence for Romanov. He was driven into the end wall late in the third period by the Stars’ Mikko Rantanen, who received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.
Notes & quotes: Laurel Hollow’s Marshall Warren was recalled from AHL Bridgeport with Romanov on injured reserve for his second stint with the Islanders. He had two assists from Oct. 25-28 but was a healthy scratch against the Red Wings. “Always being consistent, that’s the biggest thing,” Warren told Newsday of the lessons from his first two NHL games . . . No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer confirmed that he’s been added to Team Canada’s International Olympic Committee list of at least 90 players under consideration for February’s Winter Games in Italy, which includes a drug testing protocol. “It’s pretty cool,” Schaefer told Newsday. “You don’t really think about it, though.” . . . Defenseman Adam Boqvist, in the lineup with Romanov injured, notched his 100th career point with the secondary assist on Ritchie’s goal . . . Forward Simon Holmstrom returned to the lineup after missing one game because of illness . . . Forwards Max Tsyplakov and Kyle MacLean joined Warren as healthy scratches . . . The Red Wings are 12-8-1.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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