Game Preview: NY Islanders @ NY Rangers

LAST GAME

After winning six straight, the NY Islanders dropped their third game in a row but salvaged a point. The Islanders struggled to get their legs moving, floundering to generate offensively, and making too many mistakes with the puck. Matt Martin gave the Isles a lead early in the first, but Ottawa evened things up in the second off a Brady Tkachuk goal. The two teams went back and forth until the Sens took a 3-2 lead in the third. Bo Horvat scored on the power play with 38 seconds left, sending the game to an extra frame. During OT, Adam Pelech tripped over himself as the Sens brought the puck up the ice, leading to a 2-on-1 as Long Island native Shane Pinto found Tkachuk for his hat-trick goal and game-winner.

The NY Rangers played a matinee game yesterday as well, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Much of the game was defense optional, as there were three goals scored four minutes into the game. Despite being outplayed much of the day, the Rangers claimed a 7-4 victory with two goals from Artemi Panarin who is approaching the 100-point mark

HISTORICAL MATCHUP

There's not much to be said about the last time these two bitter rivals faced off. The Isles blew a 4-1 lead in the Stadium Series matchup at MetLife Stadium, losing 6-5 in OT. It seemed to be one of the turning points of the season for the Islanders, as they seemed to find their game following that brutal loss, putting themselves back into the playoff mix.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Islanders top line of Brock Nelson, Mat Barzal, and Bo Horvat have struggled over the last three games, failing to register a point at even strength. This team will only go as far as their best players take them, and this would be the perfect opponent to get rolling once again.

Since being acquired at the deadline, Jack Roslovic has slid into a first-line role with the Rangers, registering his first goal and assist on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Rangers struck out when trying to acquire a top winger like Jake Guentzel or Frank Vatrano, but Roslovic could be a sneaky good pickup if he can return to his play like in the early days with Columbus.

PROJECTED LINES

ISLANDERS

Brock Nelson - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Anders Lee - J.G. Pageau - Kyle Palmieri
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov - Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

Rangers

Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Jack Roslovic
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trochek - Alexis Lafreniere
Jimmy Vesey - Alex Wennberg - Kaapo Kakko
Will Cuyle - Barclay Goodrow - Jonny Brodzinski

Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Braden Schneider
Zac Jones - Erik Gustafsson

Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick