Islanders at Ducks
The New York Islanders saw their run of recent dominance over the Anaheim Ducks come to an end in 2017-18, with the latter avenging consecutive season sweeps by recording one of their own. After falling short in the opener of their four-game road trip, the Islanders begin a stretch of three contests versus the California contingent in four days with Wednesday's meeting against the Ducks.
Signed to a one-year, $4.25 million contract in the offseason, Brock Nelson began paying dividends on Saturday by scoring his 100th career goal in New York's 5-2 setback in Nashville. The 27-year-old has found his offensive touch versus Anaheim, against which he tallied twice in a 3-2 loss on Oct. 11, 2017, and five times in 10 career outings. The Ducks have overcome key injuries to record at least a point in five of six matches, highlighted by rallying with a pair of third-period goals in Sunday's 3-2 victory over St. Louis. Jakob Silfverberg upped his team-leading totals in goals (three) and points (seven) with a tally in the first period before exiting with an upper-body injury.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), FS West (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (2-2-0): Mathew Barzal has continued his success from his Calder Trophy-winning campaign, setting up a goal Saturday to extend his assist streak to eight games dating back to last season. Captain Anders Lee also had an assist against the Predators to push his point streak to three games heading into the tilt versus the Ducks, against whom he has yet to score a goal in eight career encounters. Thomas Greiss is expected to get the nod in net and bid for his 100th career win on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (4-1-1): Defenseman Hampus Lindholm is enjoying one of the best offensive runs of his career, as he matched a personal best by extending his point streak to four games (one goal, five assists) with two assists against the Blues. The 24-year-old Swede likely relishes the last time he met the Islanders, as he capped his first career hat trick by scoring 4:03 into overtime of a 5-4 win on Dec. 21. Andrew Cogliano, who collected a goal and two assists against the Islanders last season, scored with 5:16 left to cap the comeback versus St. Louis.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim G John Gibson has turned aside 84 of 90 shots to post a 1-0-1 mark in three career appearances versus New York.
2. Despite being swept in 2017-18, the Islanders own a 5-2-1 mark in their last eight regular-season matchups with the Ducks.
3. Anaheim RW Ben Street has answered 38 scoreless games in his career with two goals in his last three.