Good Morning, Islanders Country.
This is how it’s going to be, isn’t it?
The push and pull. The doubt and the belief, sometimes separated by nothing more than a night, a period, a bounce. Before the game, I polled more than 1,200 fans with a simple question: Will the Islanders make the playoffs?
The response told you everything you needed to know. 52% said yes. 48% percent said no. A fanbase split straight down the middle, hearts wanting one thing, heads warning of another. And if you’re being honest, before the game, it felt like the 48 percent might have the edge.
And then the Islanders went out and did what they always seem to do.
They made you beLIeve again.
Because this is who they are, maddening and magnetic all at once. A team that shakes your faith just enough to make you question everything, then pulls you right back in when you’re ready to let go. Against the Dallas Stars, they didn’t just play well — they played like themselves again. Structured. Composed. Resilient in all the ways that have defined them when they’re at their best.
And when they needed their stars, their stars answered.
Bo Horvat set the tone early, scoring his 30th goal of the season, striking first and giving the building life. Matthew Schaefer — who somehow keeps looking more comfortable in these moments — drove play and imposed himself again. And behind it all, as has so often been the case, Ilya Sorokin, playing in his 300th career game, was brilliant, steady, and unflappable when the game tilted late.
Because, of course, it tilted.
Dallas pushed hard in the final minutes, waves of pressure, the kind that turns a comfortable night into something far more tense. You could feel it building, the nervous energy creeping back in, the same questions starting to whisper again.
But this time, the Islanders held.
The buzzer sounded. The exhale came.
And just like that, they’re back in a playoff spot.
This is how it’s going to be.
Game Recap
Ilya Sorokin delivered a statement performance when the Islanders needed it most, stopping 26 shots to lift the Islanders to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at UBS Arena.
Facing one of the NHL’s top teams, Sorokin set the tone early, turning aside a shorthanded breakaway and several high-danger chances in a sharp first period. He remained steady throughout, killing off penalties in the second and third before allowing the lone goal late on a 6-on-5.
Bo Horvat opened the scoring five minutes in with his 30th goal of the season, while rookie Calum Ritchie added insurance with his 11th. Matthew Schaefer assisted on both goals, reaching 54 points and tying Denis Potvin for the second-most by a rookie defenseman in franchise history.
Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas, but the Islanders did enough to move themselves back into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
GameScore Impact Card
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders will be back on home ice Saturday afternoon when they battle the Florida Panthers at UBS Arena. Face-off is at 1:00 PM EDT.
📊 STANDINGS
🗞 News & Notes
Hours before Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Stars, the Islanders announced that Tony DeAngelo will be out 1-2 weeks with a lower-body injury. The defenseman sustained the injury in the first period of Tuesday’s game after logging 6:09 TOI, limping off the ice after a Blackhawks goal.
DeAngelo has 33 points (5G, 28A) through 72 games this season.
• 27pts at even strength (23rd among defensemen)
• 63.3 xGF% in his minutes with Schaefer
• 93rd percentile in rush offense (via AllThreeZones)
Barzal’s Backcheck
Mathew Barzal has had one of his best all-around seasons, but that doesn’t make him immune from the type of mental mistake that’s not supposed to happen to a veteran player during a playoff push.
With the Islanders up 1-0, Barzal turned the puck over at the blueline, leading to a 2-on-0 rush for the Blackhawks. David Rittich made the initial save before the trailing player scored, with Barzal slow to come back on the back check.
Before the game, he addressed the play (h/t Stefen Rosner, The Hockey News)
Eklund To Bridgeport
The Islanders announced Thursday that their 2025 first-round pick (16th overall) will make the transition to North American hockey, assigning the forward to the Bridgeport Islanders for the remainder of the season.
The 5-foot-11, 161-pound winger is coming off his first full campaign in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he recorded 24 points (6 goals, 18 assists) in 43 games. Before earning his promotion to Sweden’s top league, he developed with Djurgårdens IF in Allsvenskan, posting 35 points (20 goals, 15 assists) across 57 games. He has been part of the Djurgårdens system since 2020.
Internationally, he played a key role in Sweden’s gold-medal run at the 2026 World Junior Championship, totaling eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in seven games. The Islanders signed the promising forward to a three-year entry-level contract on July 14, 2025, and he now takes the next step with Bridgeport.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per NHL PR, Matthew Schaefer (0-1—1) logged his 53rd and 54th points of the season and passed Vladimir Malakhov (52 in 1992-93) for the third-most points in a campaign by an Islanders rookie defenseman. He trails only Stefan Persson (56 in 1977-78) and Denis Potvin (54 in 1973-74). He also recorded his 11th multi-point game, the second most by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history behind only Phil Housley (13).
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On March 27, 1982, Mike Bossy scored the winning goal with just 24 seconds to play as the Islanders rallied from 2-0, 3-1, and 4-3 deficits and clinched first place overall with a 5-4 win over the Hartford Whalers. The Isles set franchise records with their 52nd win and 32nd home victory, improving to 20-0-2 in their last 22 games on Coliseum ice.
📺 New York Islanders Postgame Availability | NYI vs DAL
🔗 Sorokin superb again, Islanders hang on to beat Stars by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “The star netminder has allowed just one goal over his last two starts, a span that began on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in which he tied a franchise record with his seventh shutout of the season. “I don’t even know what more I can say good about him,” forward Bo Horvat said about Sorokin. “He’s a phenomenal player, we’re so lucky to have him, and he was phenomenal again tonight.”
🔗 Alexander Romanov Joins Islanders For Morning Skate Wearing Non-Contact Jersey by Stefen Rosner, The hockey News “Defenseman Alexander Romanov (shoulder) rejoined the New York Islanders for their morning skate ahead of Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars. He skated as an extra, donning an orange non-contact sweater. Romanov, due to two injuries this season, the latter requiring shoulder surgery, has played in just 15 games this season.”
And we leave you with this…on Mets opening day, the Islanders had a congratulations message for their former play-by-play, who will be retiring after this season.
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