Saturday, February 28, 2026 – 6:00 PM ET
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
New York Islanders (33-21-5, 71 points, 3rd Metro, 8th East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (29-21-7, 65 points, 5th Metro, 10th East)
Previously
A strong effort in Boston, but the Jackets got goalied by Joonas Korpisalo of all people. Ugh.
Notes
Another big game tonight, with a regulation win being critical in order to hang on to a chance to get Metro 2 or 3.
That Matthew Schaefer kid is pretty good, huh? Aren’t defensemen not supposed to hit their peak until their mid-20s? What if he hasn’t?
Fun fact I just learned this week: the wives of Sean Monahan and Casey Cizikas are sisters.
Presumably Jet Greaves gets the start tonight, which would be his first game action since shutting out the Blackhawks 24 days ago.
Stats
| NY Islanders | Columbus | |
| 2.86 (22) | GPG | 3.09 (17) |
| 2.71 (3) | GAPG | 3.16 (20) |
| 16.1 (27) | PP% | 19.6 (18) |
| 81.5 (9) | PK% | 77.2 (24) |
| 48.4 (22) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 50.8 (14) |
| 48.9 (19) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 50.2 (16) |
| 8.9 (23) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.3 (17) |
| 91.8 (4) | 5v5 Save % | 91.1 (12) |
| Bo Harvat (24) | G Leader | Z. Werenski, K. Marchenko (20) |
| Mathew Barzal (35) | A Leader | Zach Werenski (43) |
| Mathew Barzal (52) | P Leader | Zach Werenski (63) |
| Scott Mayfield (74) | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier (62) |
| 17-11-3 | Home/Road | 15-8-4 |
| 6-4-0 | Last 10 | 8-2-0 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Mason Marchment | Adam Fantilli | Kirill Marchenko |
| Dmitri Voronkov | Sean Monahan | Kent Johnson |
| Cole Sillinger | Charlie Coyle | Mathieu Olivier |
| Isac Lundestrom | Boone Jenner | Miles Wood |
| Zach Werenski | Damon Severson |
| Denton Mateychuk | Ivan Provorov |
| Dante Fabbro | Erik Gudbranson |
| Jet Greaves |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
New York Islanders
| Ondrej Palat | Bo Horvat | Mathew Barzal |
| Jonathan Drouin | Calum Ritchie | Emil Heineman |
| Anders Lee | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Simon Holmstrom |
| Kyle MacLean | Casey Cizikas | Marc Gatcomb |
| Matthew Schaefer | Ryan Pulock |
| Adam Pelech | Tony DeAngelo |
| Carson Soucy | Scott Mayfield |
| Ilya Sorokin |
| David Rittich |