Islanders Sticking With What Worked, Schneider Starting in Columbus?

EAST MEADOW, NY– After their most dominant performance of the season, a 5-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New York Islanders got right back to work on Wednesday morning.

The New York Islanders didn’t have any relief on the injury front as Kyle Palmieri, Cal Clutterbuck, Adam Pelech and Semyon Varlamov were out, as they have been.

Simon Holmstrom continued to miss practice and Oliver Wahlstrom, who left after just one shift Tuesday night, did not skate.

Before practice, Ross Johnston and Robin Salo hit netminder Ilya Sorokin and Cory Schneider, usually implying they were the extras.

With Wahlstrom out and no call-up yet to fill his hole, here are the lineups the Islanders ran in practice:

Josh Bailey-Matt Barzal-Hudson Fasching
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Casey Cizikas
Matt Martin-Aatu Räty-Ross Johnston

Parker Wotherspoon-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Cory Schneider

Hudson Fasching joined the Mat Barzal line soon after Wahlstrom’s injury. In 3:51 minutes, that streak outscored the Penguins 5-0 and put them up 2-0, for The Natural Statistics Trick.

“It’s a different kind of game,” Fasching said of playing with Barzal. “He’s a really creative player and you have to adjust your game, but still try to stay true to yourself at the same time.”

“So I think it’s kind of a balance of likes, how can my game mesh with his. I’m just trying to open up to it. He gets behind the ball and creates plays by pulling guys into him, so you’re trying to find those spots where he creates the other space behind them and try to use that.”

Casey Cizikas, in his first stint as a winger at the NHL level, said he likes it.

“It was good. Both Parise and Pageau made it very easy for me,” Casey Cizikas said. “They’re smart players with a high IQ and they’ve definitely made it a lot easier for me to play my game and make it where I can have an impact.”

“So we read each other very well. We did a lot of shows. We had some really good chances and that’s something we’ll build on.”

On another note, netminder Cory Schneider was the first goaltender off the ice at practice, as he could very well start against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

He has yet to play for the Islanders this season, but had a magical performance last season in a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on April 3.

“He is a true professional. I mean, he’s been around a long time and he’s got a lot of great hockey under his belt and he’s a great goaltender,” New York Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “And it’s no different now . He’s playing really good hockey and seeing the ball and it’s always hard to score in practice.”

“So if he gets a look, I’m excited for him and excited for him to show it.”

New York Islanders coach Lane Lambert would not comment on whether Schneider would play.

Lambert provided updates on injured players, indicating that Semyon Varlamov (IR) skated Wednesday morning, along with Palmieri and Clutterbuck. Wahlstrom, Holmstrom and Pelech did not skate.

Rosner: Hudson Islands Fasching is the real deal