Islanders aim to continue surge vs. rebuilding Canucks

Bo Horvat is one of three key New York Islanders who won't suit up Friday night against the Vancouver Canucks, with whom Horvat spent the first eight-plus seasons of his career.

But the Islanders, even in their banged-up state, are faring far better than Horvat's former club.

The Islanders will look to resume their December resurgence when they face the Canucks in the first battle of the season between the teams in Elmont, N.Y.

Both teams have been off since Tuesday, when the visiting Islanders squandered a third-period lead in a 3-2 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings while the Canucks continued an East Coast road trip with a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers.

The loss to the Red Wings snapped a three-game winning streak for the Islanders, who are 6-2-0 this month despite playing with an undermanned lineup. Forward Kyle Palmieri (left knee) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) are out for the regular season with injuries suffered last month.

Left winger Jonathan Drouin missed five games earlier this month with a lower-body injury. Horvat, who leads the Islanders with 19 goals and 31 points, was injured Dec. 11, when his left ankle bent awkwardly as he got tangled up with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson.

Horvat will miss his third straight game Friday, though head coach Patrick Roy said Thursday he wasn't ruling out the possibility Horvat could travel with the Islanders for Saturday's game at the Buffalo Sabres.

While Roy wasn't willing to use Horvat's absence as an excuse Tuesday, his eventual return will be welcomed by a club struggling to score this month. The Islanders have scored two goals or fewer in five of their last nine games.

"It happens to every team to miss a quality player during the course of the season," Roy said Tuesday night. "We're missing three. But, hey, stay in the present moment. We want to give ourselves a chance."

Any chance the Canucks had of making the playoffs likely disappeared last Friday when they dealt captain and leading scorer Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for center Marco Rossi, left winger Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium and the Wild's first-round pick in the 2026 draft.

The Canucks, who traded Hughes following a 3-9-3 skid that dropped them into last place in the NHL, signaled their plans to mount another rebuild with the acquisitions of Rossi, Ohgren and Buium, all of whom are 24 or younger.

Vancouver has made the playoffs just three times in the last 12 seasons. Horvat helped the Canucks to the postseason in 2015 and 2020 before being dealt to the Islanders on Jan. 30, 2023.

The Canucks have not advanced beyond the second round since their most recent trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011.

Still, the blockbuster trade has paid some early dividends for the Canucks, whose consecutive wins since the deal are their first set of back-to-back victories since a season-high three-game winning streak from Oct 16-19. Buium and Ohgren each have a goal apiece for Vancouver, which remains last in the NHL with 29 points.

"It's a bonus for sure if you can get off to a good start with the new guys and get them feeling good about themselves as well," Canucks head coach Adam Foote said. "You lose your captain, a guy that's been here a long time, it's hard on a lot of our guys. It's a big thing, but you have to move forward and play hockey."

--Field Level Media