Islanders at Devils
The New Jersey Devils attempt to strengthen their hold on a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and extend their point streak to five contests when they conclude a four-game homestand Saturday against the New York Islanders. New Jersey holds a three-point lead over Florida for the second wild card and trails Philadelphia by three for the first spot with five games remaining.
The Devils are 3-0-1 in their last four games after dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to Pittsburgh on Thursday. Taylor Hall, who leads the team in scoring, tallied in the setback to increase his career-high totals to 34 goals and 86 points. The 26-year-old left wing has collected three tallies and seven assists during his six-game point streak and is two power-play goals away from matching the career high of 13 he set in 2011-12 with Edmonton. New York, which will miss the playoffs for the second straight season, was edged 5-4 by Toronto on Friday for its fourth consecutive home loss and eighth in nine contests at Barclays Center.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus 2 (New York), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (32-36-10): Thomas Greiss could get the start against New Jersey after being activated from injured reserve on Friday and serving as Christopher Gibson's backup versus the Maple Leafs. The 32-year-old Greiss had been sidelined since suffering a lower-body injury in a 45-save shutout victory over Carolina on Feb. 16. Brock Nelson, who also notched an assist, scored on Friday to get within one tally of his fourth straight 20-goal season and 100 overall for his career.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (40-28-9): Kyle Palmieri tallied on Thursday, giving him four goals during his three-game streak. The 27-year-old right wing has recorded at least 24 tallies in each of his three seasons with New Jersey after peaking at 14 during his five-season stay with Anaheim. Nico Hischier notched an assist against the Penguins to become the seventh rookie in franchise history to register 50 points and first since Adam Henrique (51) in 2011-12.
OVERTIME
1. Devils D Will Butcher is the franchise's fourth rookie blue-liner to reach the 40-point plateau and first since Scott Niedermayer, who collected 40 in 1992-93.
2. New York F Josh Bailey, who is third on the team with a career-high 69 points, missed Friday's game with an upper-body injury and could sit out against the Devils.
3. New Jersey D John Moore's next point will be his 100th in the NHL.