Islanders’ Emil Heineman ejected after hit on Oilers’ Isaac Howard

New York Islanders forward Emil Heineman was ejected from his team’s game on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers after receiving a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct at 2:22 of the first period. 

The 24-year-old made knee-on-knee contact with Oilers forward Isaac Howard along the boards in the neutral zone, and Howard was helped off the ice towards the dressing room following the collision. No immediate update on his condition was available. 

This season, Heineman has two goals and four assists for six points in 13 games, and before Saturday’s brief showing, averaged 15:52 minutes per game. This season marks his second with the Islanders, after previously suiting up for the Montreal Canadiens for four games in 2023-24 and 62 games in 2024-25. 

Last season, he scored 22 goals and nine assists for 31 points, while playing in each of New York’s 82 games. Should the Swedish forward be assigned any additional suspension, it would mark his first supplemental discipline at the NHL level for in-game action, having only been fined $2,500 for taking his rookie lap without a helmet in 2023. 

Howard, 22, had one goal and two assists for three points in 12 games with the Oilers heading into Saturday’s matchup, already nearly matching his rookie season output from 2025-26, which saw him net two goals and three assists for five points in 29 NHL games, despite spending most of the season with the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. 

The Islanders will have four days off after the Oilers matchup, next looking ahead to a Nov. 5 home date with the Carolina Hurricanes, while the Oilers will return to competition quickly, facing the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Nov. 1, before completing their three-game tri-state road trip on Nov. 3 against the New Jersey Devils.