Islanders at Sharks
The New York Islanders look to forge a split of their four-game road trip and complete a season sweep of the San Jose Sharks on Saturday when the clubs meet at SAP Center. The Islanders, who posted a 4-0 victory in the teams' first encounter on Columbus Day, have won three in a row over the Sharks and three of their last five in San Jose.
Scott Mayfield and Casey Cizikas each scored in New York's win over the Sharks earlier this month and provided multi-point performances in the team's 7-2 romp over Los Angeles on Thursday. "When your top guys aren't scoring as much as you would like them to, you get contributions from up and down your lineup and that's what's been happening," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "Let's be a four-line team. I have to trust that everybody can play and the everybody can contribute. If we can do that, we'll be a hard team to play against." Logan Couture proved to be a hard man to play against on Thursday as he recorded his third career hat trick in a 5-1 win over Buffalo. The 29-year-old, who also scored three times in a 5-3 loss to the Islanders on Oct. 21, has five goals and two assists in 11 career encounters against New York.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), NBCS California
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (3-3-0): Robin Lehner turned aside all 35 shots he faced in the first encounter versus the Sharks, but the 27-year-old Swede's availability for Saturday remains a mystery after he was stunned by a shot late in the third period against the Kings. "We'll see where he is," Trotz said of Lehner, who owns a 1-4-0 mark with a shutout in five career meetings with the Sharks. Should Lehner be sidelined, Thomas Greiss would get the nod to face the team with which he spent parts of four seasons.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (3-3-1): San Jose's sputtering power play was just 2-for-21 before coach Peter DeBoer elected to split up stud defensemen Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson with the team enjoying the man advantage -- and it worked, to the tune of scoring three times on seven opportunities. "Obviously something that we haven't had, and when you get it, it makes a big difference," DeBoer said of the power-play success. "We scored enough goals. I think it gave us a little bit of a comfort level there, and some confidence. Captain Joe Pavelski's confidence has received a boost with goals in back-to-back games to tie Evander Kane for the team lead.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose F Timo Meier has two goals and two assists during his four-game point streak.
2. Islanders captain Anders Lee, who scored in the previous meeting versus the Sharks, will play in his 350th career NHL game on Saturday.
3. San Jose D Brent Burns has six assists on his four-game point streak.