RITTICH TO START VS CANES
David Rittich will get the start against the Hurricanes, Head Coach Patrick Roy announced on Monday. . Rittich is 5-3-0 lifetime against Carolina along with a .916 SV% and a 2.63 GAA. Rittich won his first two starts as an Islander this season.
INJURY UPDATES
Alex Romanov (IR) shed his red non-contact jersey on Tuesday during skate, but missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. More updates to follow Thursday’s morning skate in Raleigh.
Max Shabanov will miss his fourth straight contest on Thursday, as he did not accompany the team on the four-game trip.
IMPROVING SPECIAL TEAMS
The Islanders didn’t have their best night on special teams on Tuesday, as their power play went 0-for-5 and their penalty kill went 2-for-4.
“We have to find a way to do a better job on special teams,” Ryan Pulock said postgame. “We had a lot of power play chances, and we couldn’t get it done. We found some good looks, but weren’t able to capitalize. On the PK, we gave them a little too much space at times.”
Carolina enters Thursday’s game with the NHL’s 32nd ranked power play, converting at 10% this season. That said, Carolina went 1-for-1 on the man advantage against Vegas in their most recent outing.