Islanders at Rangers
The New York Rangers and New York Islanders look to regain their footing on Saturday afternoon when they return from their respective NHL-mandated five day breaks at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers dropped five of eight contests to fall into fourth place in the Metropolitan Division while the Islanders reside in the basement with losses in five straight before forging a shootout win over New Jersey.
Anders Lee scored as the Islanders posted their eighth win in nine outings versus their crosstown rivals with a 4-3 triumph on Oct. 19 and also tallied in a 5-4 victory over the Devils. The 27-year-old has a team-best 25 goals, but was snubbed from joining captain John Tavares (club-high 51 points) and Josh Bailey (team-best 38 assists) in the upcoming NHL All-Star Game. Henrik Lundqvist is heading to his fourth All-Star Game as the Rangers' lone representative, and he'll likely receive no argument from the Islanders. The former Vezina Trophy winner and Swedish Olympian has yielded two goals or fewer in 34 of 57 career appearances versus the club, posting a 30-19-7 mark with five shutouts.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, MSG, MSG-Plus
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (21-18-4): Rookie Mathew Barzal scored his first career NHL goal versus the Rangers and has steadily picked up steam, recording 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his last 11 games. Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves in the first encounter against the Rangers, but has yielded 21 goals in his last five appearances. The 32-year-old turned aside 42 shots versus the Devils to secure his 224th career victory, moving within one of Ken Wregget for 67th place on the NHL's all-time wins list.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (22-15-5): Mika Zibanejad scored for the second time in three games in Sunday's 2-1 loss to Vegas as the 24-year-old Swede bids to regain his rhythm on the heels of missing three-plus weeks due to a concussion. Zibanejad has tormented the Islanders of late, collecting at least one point in seven of his last 10 encounters. Defenseman Marc Staal also enjoys facing the Islanders, recording more goals (five), assists (15) and points (20) against the club than another other in the NHL in his career.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers RW Mats Zuccarello (team-leading 23 assists, 31 assists) resides one assist shy of 200 for his career.
2. The Islanders' 30th-ranked penalty kill permitted six power-play goals in a four-game stretch before thwarting all five short-handed situations versus New Jersey.
3. Rangers D Kevin Shattenkirk has recorded at least a point in seven of his last eight encounters with the Islanders.