Islanders at Blackhawks
The New York Islanders find themselves three points out of playoff position after losing two straight and seven of the past 10 contests as they begin a three-game trip Saturday night against the well-rested Chicago Blackhawks. The Islanders have been ravaged by injuries of late, and are last in the league in goals-against per game (3.66) after being outscored 9-3 in losses to New Jersey and Boston in their last two.
“You need to work in this league, every shift,” New York coach Doug Weight told reporters after the 5-2 loss to Boston on Thursday. “The teams that have 60, 55 points, they’re working hard nine out of 10 shifts. We’re 7½ right now and it’s costing us.” The Islanders also face Arizona and Vegas on their trek and are 10-13-1 on the road as they take on the Blackhawks, who have been off since a demoralizing 4-0 loss to Detroit on Jan. 14. Chicago is missing All-Star goalie Corey Crawford (upper-body) for an indefinite period and has three games left on its homestand with a 5-3-1 mark over the last nine outings overall. Leading scorer Patrick Kane (18 goals), who is three points shy of 800 in his career, and captain Jonathan Toews have yet to hit the scoresheet on the homestand for the Blackhawks - last in the Central Division.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), NBCS Chicago
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (23-20-4): Second-leading scorer Josh Bailey (51 points) returned from a four-game injury absence Thursday to notch an assist, but fellow top-six forward Andrew Ladd (upper-body) is not expected back this weekend. Captain John Tavares (55 points) recorded his 25th goal Thursday, moving within one of team-leader Anders Lee, and right wing Jordan Eberle also scored to give him eight points in the past five games. Center Mathew Barzal easily leads all NHL rookies in points with 48 and boasts three goals along with eight assists in his past five contests.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (22-17-6): Forward Nick Schmaltz has picked up a lot of the slack offensively over the last 10 games with six goals and six assists during that stretch. Schmaltz is second on the team behind Kane (45) with 32 points overall - one more than Toews - while speedy forward Anthony Duclair has one assist in two games since being acquired from Arizona. Jeff Glass, a 32-year-old first-year player, is 3-2-1 with a .910 save percentage and fellow goalie Anton Forsberg allowed five goals in his last three games (2-1-0) to keep Chicago afloat with Crawford on the shelf.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago is 0-for-9 with the man advantage during its current homestand, but has killed all 17 power plays over the last six contests.
2. New York LW Ross Johnston, who played one game with the team in 2015-16, was recalled from Bridgeport of the AHL on Friday.
3. The Blackhawks have won five straight meetings with the Islanders, including a 2-1 shootout triumph last March in Chicago.