Early look The full preview opens on Friday 15 January, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Nashville Predators at New York Islanders: game preview

Puck drop18 Jan · 3:00 PM ET
VenueUBS Arena
All-time meetings40 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Five points apart last season

Nashville finished last season 23rd in the league on 86 points. NY Islanders finished 19th on 91.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 41

Across 40 completed games, Nashville lead the head-to-head 27-10-3.

All-time record27-10-3Nashville's record in the series
Meetings played40This is number 41
2025-26 series—
Last 53-2Nashville
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
31 Jan 2026NSH 4 – NYI 3——NSH
8 Jan 2026NYI 1 – NSH 2 SO——NSH
8 Apr 2025NYI 6 – NSH 7 OT——NSH
1 Mar 2025NSH 4 – NYI 7——NYI
6 Apr 2024NSH 0 – NYI 2——NYI
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateNashvilleNY Islanders
8 Jan 202620-19-4 · 44 pts26th24-15-5 · 53 pts8th
31 Jan 202624-23-4 · 52 pts26th28-19-5 · 61 pts13th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 8 Jan 2026, Nashville were 26th in the league and NY Islanders 8th. By 31 Jan 2026 it was 26th and 13th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Nashville out-attempted NY Islanders 142 to 104

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Nashville Predators

142 att · 69 on goal · 5 G · 7.2%
Crease21 att · 0 G
Slot47 att · 3 G
Wing47 att · 2 G
Point23 att · 0 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G

New York Islanders

104 att · 61 on goal · 4 G · 6.6%
Crease6 att · 1 G
Slot43 att · 2 G
Wing41 att · 1 G
Point13 att · 0 G
Neutral zone1 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Nashville and NY Islanders are level on chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

NashvilleNY Islanders
2.50xG for per game2.90
3.14xG against per game3.70
44.3%xG share44.0%
−0.5FinishingGoals minus expected goals+0.3
+0.4GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+4.1

This season: 3 games for Nashville, 3 for NY Islanders. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Nashville

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2737.5%
Power play · 2025-2623.1% · 11th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2775.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2681.7% · 5th
Faceoffs · 2026-2747.6% · 80/168
Drawn · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

NY Islanders

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2718.2%
Power play · 2025-2616.5% · 30th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2783.3%
Penalty kill · 2025-2680.8% · 10th
Faceoffs · 2026-2749.1% · 81/165
Drawn · 2026-2711 (3.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
91Steven Stamkos33141.33
21Nils Hoglander33031.00
10Brayden Schenn31341.33
14Bo Horvat32131.00
53Casey Cizikas31120.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
59Roman Josi31231.00
76Brady Skjei30110.33
47Jack Ahcan20110.50
8Logan Stanley30220.67
3Adam Pelech30110.33
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 16 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 16 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Nashville crease

NSH · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 15 Jan

Juuse Saros.9073 GP · 1-1-1 · GSAx +0.4

No appearances against NY Islanders in the last meetings.

NY Islanders crease

NYI · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 15 Jan

Ilya Sorokin.9682 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx +4.1
Semyon Varlamov.8641 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx +0.4

No appearances against Nashville in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 5.9 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

31 Jan 20267 · NSH 4–3 NYI
8 Jan 20263 · NYI 1–2 NSH
8 Apr 202513 · NYI 6–7 NSH
1 Mar 202511 · NSH 4–7 NYI
6 Apr 20242 · NSH 0–2 NYI

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Nashville2.333.003.013.28
NY Islanders3.002.332.842.94

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest5.9Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings7.2Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

3 on the injury lists

Nashville · injuries

Justus AnnunenUndisclosedIRReturn13 Oct

NY Islanders · injuries

Alexander RomanovUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
Mathew BarzalKneeIRReturn10 Oct
6 Oct · NSH

Recalled G Matt Murray from Milwaukee (AHL). Placed G Justus Annunen on injured reserve.

4 Oct · NSH

Recalled LW Yegor Pinchuk from Milwaukee (AHL). Assigned G Matt Murray to Milwaukee.

3 Oct · NSH

Recalled G Matthew Murray from Milwaukee (AHL).

27 Sep · NYI

Agreed to terms with LD Logan Stanley on a 1-Year contract worth $1.5M. Placed G Vitek Vanecek on waivers with the intention of sending to Hamilton (AHL)

26 Sep · NYI

Waived Fs Tanner Fritz, Matt Luff and Nathan Chaffee. Waived Fs Dylan Foudy and Hudson Kuefler for the purpose of sending to Hamilton (AHL).

24 Jul 2026 · NYI

Signed F Alex Jefferies to a one-year contract.

Injury report
#10Wyatt CullenRound 1 · Usa U-18LW
#31Thomas BleylRound 1 · MonctonD
#70Dmitri BorichevRound 3 · Loko-76 YaroslavlG
#106Jakub FlorisRound 4 · Lukko Jr.D
Full draft

NY Islanders · 2026 draft

See all: NY Islanders · 2026 draft →
#13Malte GustafssonRound 1 · Hv71D
#109Lincoln KuehneRound 4 · Arizona StateD
#141Vladimir DraveckyRound 5 · BrantfordD
#173Artyom MatyukRound 6 · Nizhny Novgorod Jr.C
Full draft

Updated after every final