NEW YORK ISLANDERS (2-2-0) VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (3-1-0)
7:30 P.M. | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
HOW TO WATCH/STREAM: MSGSN, MSG+ ON DAZN
HOW TO LISTEN: 88.7 FM WRHU | 103.9FM LI NEWS | 92.5FM THE BEACON | ISLES + UBS ARENA APP
The New York Islanders are coming off a commanding 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday and return to UBS Arena for a meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Bo Horvat scored twice and has four goals in four games. Emil Heineman and Anthony Duclair recorded goals and Ilya Sorokin carried a shutout streak of 165:31 into the final minutes of the third period.
Read the Isles Day-to-Day from Friday
It’s America 250 Night at the arena and proceeds from game-issued autographed jerseys will go toward the Islanders Children’s Foundation.
After dropping the season opener, the Lightning took advantage of their three-game homestand with a trio of wins. They’re coming off a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild and snapped an 0-for-14 start on the power play as John Carlson’s two goals helped the Lightning to their third straight victory.
The Lightning have been a model of consistency with at least 98 points in each of the last five seasons after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, but have lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the last four years.
They still boast a roster full of talent including 2025-26 Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov – who had 44 goals, 86 assists and 130 points last season – and two-time Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy.
It’ll be an early season measuring stick game for the Islanders who are still looking to put a complete effort together according to Head Coach Pete DeBoer. That’ll be a challenge against a physical and talented Lightning team that likes to mix it up and throw other teams off their game.
“We’ve been building towards a game like this,” DeBoer said. “This is one of the top teams in the league so we’ve got to try and put all the pieces together tomorrow night. I think we’ve slowly made improvements every night out in different areas. We haven’t put it all together for 60 minutes yet, and this is a team that we’re going to be forced to do that if we want to have a chance to win.”