The New York Islanders didn’t need the scoreboard to tell them this preseason game was about something else.
Yes, the Rangers rolled to a 6-1 win in what was New York’s third preseason game of the year. But the Islanders were using a lineup heavy on young players, while the Rangers treated the night like a dress rehearsal for opening night with a veteran-laden group that looked much closer to their regular-season setup.
For the Islanders, the bigger story was simply getting bodies back on the ice and out of the game healthy.
That included defensemen Alexander Romanov and Ryan Pulock, both making their first preseason appearances after offseason surgery. Romanov missed the end of last season with a shoulder injury suffered in November, though he said he would have been able to play at some point in the first round if New York had reached the playoffs. That at least gave him a more normal offseason instead of one built entirely around rehab.
The Islanders wanted him to arrive at camp in strong condition, and by all accounts he did exactly that. Against the Rangers, head coach Peter DeBoer leaned on him heavily, and Romanov logged 20:24 of ice time, third-most on the team behind Kashawn Aitcheson at 22:27 and Tony DeAngelo at 21:11.
"I just have to get used to it," Romanov said via Shannon Bickert of NHL.com. "Just [the] speed and how fast you have to think, skate well and shoot.
I think in the third, I played not bad. [The] first two [periods] I was struggling, but the third one, I liked."
Pulock’s road back was similar. He dealt with a shoulder issue through the 2025-26 season, but still got into 76 games and finished with 27 points, including 24 assists and three goals, along with a plus/minus of +9. After offseason surgery in May, he made his preseason debut against the Rangers and played 18:29.
"I felt good from a recovery standpoint, from a battle standpoint," Pulock said. "I thought I was in a lot of positions where you know I was engaged, and obviously it felt really good."
The Islanders also got a clean return from goalie Semyon Varlamov. He had already been back on the ice in the second preseason game, but Friday marked his first start. He played the full game, and after surgery for partial replacements in both knees, simply getting through the night without issue was the main point.
With Varlamov back and both Romanov and Pulock making it through their first preseason action unscathed, that was the kind of outcome the Islanders were after.
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Now the bigger question is whether that presence still translates into a secure role. The Islanders are trying out other looks on the right side, and Mayfield finds himself in a position battle at a time when the roster is being shuffled around. For a player whose edge and identity have made him a fixture for so long, the debate is no longer just about what he brings in the rough stuff, but where he fits in the lineup going forward. [Read more 🡒]
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Aitcheson has already shown the kind of offensive touch in junior hockey that makes him stand out from a lot of young blueliners, and thats why he keeps popping up in conversations about the Islanders future. He is not expected to crack the Opening Night roster, but performances like this keep the door from closing too quickly, and for a team searching for reasons to be hopeful beyond the present, that matters. [Read more 🡒]
Casey Cizikas Nears Rare Islanders Mark With Plenty Still To Prove
Casey Cizikas is closing in on one of the more unusual milestones in modern hockey, with his next stretch of games set to carry him toward 1,000 NHL appearances. What makes the number stand out even more is where he has spent every one of those games so far - with the Islanders, a rare run of longevity and loyalty in a league where careers often get broken up by trades and free-agent moves.
The milestone would arrive early in the season if he stays in the lineup, giving Cizikas a chance to hit it while still doing the kind of work the Islanders have always asked of him. For a player who has built his career on consistency and team-first responsibility, the personal marker is nice, but the bigger question is how much he can still help shape the Islanders' success once the puck drops for real. [Read more 🡒]