Islanders demolish Red Wings to close out dominant road trip in style

DETROIT — The Islanders are real, and they are spectacular.

The seventh game of a seven-game road trip, no matter who it is against, is as close to a scheduled loss as there could be. Legs are dead. Everyone is tired. Everyone wants to sleep in their own bed.

The Islanders, in the seventh game of a seventh-game road trip, walked into Detroit on Thursday night and demolished a Red Wings team that started the day atop the Atlantic Division by a 5-0 score.

It was their sixth win in seven on a trip that spanned four time zones and in which all seven teams they faced had serious playoff aspirations.

Since losing three straight to open the year, the Islanders are 12-4-2 for a points percentage of — get this — .777.

They are for real. They are a contender, if not for the Stanley Cup then certainly for the Metropolitan Division. They are far better, far sooner, than anybody expected.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND ISLANDERS STATS

What played out Thursday night on the Little Caesars Arena ice, and what played out in the six games preceding, served to prove it.

Outside of their power play, where the progress has lagged behind that of other areas, the Islanders walked all over the Red Wings.

The fourth line, which has found a new level since Max Shabanov’s return to the lineup in Denver, keyed the Islanders as if Barry Trotz was still behind the bench.

Shabanov sprung Cal Ritchie for a breakaway goal 6:48 into the game, then got one of his own following an offensive zone faceoff that caught Detroit netminder John Gibson out.

Two-thirds of the fourth line — Shabanov and Casey Cizikas — helped create Mat Barzal’s second-period goal, too, with an aggressive forecheck that deposited the puck perfectly for Barzal to rip it home from the slot.

Bo Horvat’s one-timer from the right circle that made it 4-0 was another where Gibson looked lost in his own crease, and the moment when the boos started for the home team at Little Caesars Arena.

Shabanov, for good measure, added a fifth goal when he stickhandled through a cadre of Red Wings defenders and finished past Gibson on his backhand at 6:50 of the third to cap off a four-point night.

The top nine was good, but it was the fourth line that took two points by the hands and pocketed them for the Islanders. Shabanov and Ritchie appear to have found chemistry quickly, and even Cizikas, who had struggled through the first 15 games, has been excellent lately. 

The Islanders forechecked, they worked on the boards and even with tired legs they kept up with a Red Wings side that — at least on paper — is younger, faster and better rested. Adam Boqvist had no trouble at all filling in for an injured Alexander Romanov, who was spotted in the press box with a sling on his right arm.

The Swede’s 100th career point came on a secondary assist off Ritchie’s opener.

When there were breakdowns, Ilya Sorokin was splendid in nets, turning aside 29 shots, including solo breakaways from Lucas Raymond and Nate Danielson, respectively, to continue an unimpeachable run of play since Sergei Naumovs was installed as goaltending coach. It was his second shutout of the season, both of which have come on this trip, and put him one shy of Chico Resch’s franchise record.

When the Islanders return home after two long weeks on the road for a weekend back-to-back against the Blues and Kraken, they should do so to a full house.

Attendance has been a recurring issue since the move to UBS and the obvious reason why has been that the team occupying it has never been as good as the building itself.

Not anymore.