Islanders getting by without Bo Horvat due to the play of IIya Sorokin, defense

CALGARY, Alberta — Whatever mirrors the Islanders are using to get by without Bo Horvat  will need to keep working for at least three more games.

Actually, it’s the goaltending and the defense that are the foundation.

After Friday’s practice at Scotiabank Saddledome, Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said the top-line center will remain on Long Island as he works his way back from another lower-body injury (believed to be an ankle issue) and will not join the team on this seven-game road trip.

The Islanders will face the Flames on Saturday after Thursday’s 1-0 win in Edmonton  pushed their record to 2-1-1 on the trek and 4-1-1 without Horvat this time around.

So yes, the results are coming, more so than the 2-2-1 stretch they went through when Horvat was out Dec. 13-23 with a similar but unrelated injury. But the offense and power play have struggled for stretches without Horvat, who has a team-high 21 goals along with 12 assists in 36 games. The Islanders also miss his two-way play five-on-five and his yeoman work as a penalty-killer.

Darche said Horvat resumed skating three days ago and would have lost valuable rehab time traveling out west rather than just working at the Islanders’ facility at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. He repeated that Horvat will play before the Olympic break and said there is a possibility that he will be in the lineup when the Islanders return to UBS Arena against the Sabres on Jan. 24.

Coach Patrick Roy said he will stick with the same top two lines against the Flames that finished the game against the Oilers, with Mathew Barzal centering Anthony Duclair and Anders Lee and Cal Ritchie between Max Shabanov and Emil Heineman.

“I thought they played well,” Roy said of Barzal’s line. “I thought they had a lot of good chances yesterday, especially in that second period. They moved the puck really well.”

Still, in each of the last three games, including this past Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win in Minnesota and Tuesday’s 5-4 loss in Winnipeg, the opponent’s top line (or lines) have dominated puck possession and chances.

The Oilers held a 23-6 shot advantage in the last two periods, though Duclair scored the only goal on a power play at 13:42 of the third period. It was the Islanders’ first power-play goal in six games after they had gone 0-for-7.

But the Islanders’ relative success without Horvat during this stretch is a reflection of their season.

The Islanders are 21st in the 32-team NHL with 139 goals scored, though their plus-nine goal differential is 11th. Their power play is ranked 28th.

According to MoneyPuck.com, the Islanders are 25th with an expected goals for of 89.11 and 29th with an expected goal differential of minus-15.76.

Yet they are second in the Metropolitan Division at 26-16-5 and, again according to MoneyPuck, have a 59.9% chance of qualifying for the playoffs, which is 13th best in the NHL.

Look no further than Ilya Sorokin (15-11-2, 2.47 goals-against average, .915 save percentage), a candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie and the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP, and capable backup David Rittich (11-5-3, 2.39, .910).

Rittich, the Flames’ No. 1 netminder in 2018-19 and the following season, will get the start against one of his five former teams on Saturday after Sorokin was masterful in stopping 35 shots against the Oilers. Rittich has lost his only two starts in Calgary since being traded to the Maple Leafs in 2021.

“A lot of memories,” he said of his time with the Flames. “A lot of really good teammates. It’s good to be back, but I would love to finally win here.”

Somehow that’s what the Islanders have been doing without Horvat.

Notes & quotes: The letter Rangers GM Chris Drury sent to the team’s season-ticket holders on Friday detailing an upcoming retooling of the roster brought back memories for Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo. He was in his first season with the Rangers when then-president Glen Sather and then-GM Jeff Gorton sent out a similar letter on Feb. 8, 2018, that forewarned of an upcoming rebuild. “I was one of the young guys, so it was probably beneficial for me,” DeAngelo said. “But there were a lot of good players who we wound up getting good assets for and they went on a five-, six-year run there that was pretty good. It made sense for the team. As a young player, I was just along for the ride.” .  .  . Defenseman Cole McWard and forward Max Tsyplakov will remain healthy scratches against the Flames.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.