Islanders at Senators
Less than 24 hours after being eliminated from playoff contention, the New York Islanders attempt to halt their three-game losing streak when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. New York's postseason hopes expired with Monday's 3-0 loss to Florida, which ended a 1-4-0 homestand and dropped the club to 2-10-4 in its last 16 contests.
The Islanders have two reasons to be optimistic about Tuesday, one being the fact they've earned points in four of their last five road games (1-1-3). The other is the current plight of the Senators, who have lost five in a row following Monday's 4-1 setback at Carolina. Bobby Ryan tallied for Ottawa, which has recorded a total of eight goals during its slide. The 31-year-old right wing has scored in back-to-back contests after enduring a 10-game drought to reach double digits for the 10th straight season.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (31-35-10): Casey Cizikas missed Monday's contest due to an upper-body injury and is likely to sit out against Ottawa as well. "He's having some lingering effects of some injuries," coach Doug Weight told the team's website. "Just hasn't bounced back and got through a couple games and was expecting him to play better and hasn't played better." One player who could be in the lineup Tuesday is defenseman Scott Mayfield, who has not seen action since Feb. 5 due to a lower-body injury but has been practicing since Wednesday.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (26-38-11): Ben Sexton made his NHL debut on Monday, posting a minus-1 rating in 12 minutes, 20 seconds of ice time. The 26-year-old center, who was a seventh-round draft pick of Boston in 2009, recorded 10 goals and 11 assists in 28 games with Belleville of the American Hockey League this season before being recalled on Sunday. Captain Erik Karlsson, who is mourning the death of his unborn son, did not make the trip to Carolina but could be in the lineup on Tuesday.
OVERTIME
1. Senators C Matt Duchene needs three goals to reach 200 in the NHL.
2. New York C Brock Nelson has gone five games without a tally, keeping him three shy of his fourth consecutive 20-goal season and 100 overall for his career.
3. Ottawa LW Tom Pyatt has recorded just one point over his last six contests and is two away from reaching the century mark in the league.