Islanders at Flames
The Calgary Flames are trying to hold onto third place in the Pacific Division while the New York Islanders find themselves on the outside looking in following the team's longest losing streak in two years. The Islanders will look to avoid an eighth consecutive defeat when they continue their four-game road trip with a visit to Calgary on Thursday night.
New York erased three one-goal deficits before falling in a shootout at Vancouver on Tuesday to drop one point behind Carolina and Columbus for the two wild cards in the Eastern Conference. “You’d like two but we fight back and get that point,” forward Andrew Ladd said after the Islanders fell to 0-3-4 in the last seven. “It could be the point that gets us in. At this time of the year, you can’t dwell on the what-ifs. You’ve got to move on and get ready for Calgary.” The Flames had a three-game winning streak snapped in Sunday's 5-3 loss to Vegas, leaving them one point ahead of the Canucks in the division and in danger of slipping back into a pack of four more teams battling for the wild cards. "At this time of year you can't dwell on anything," Calgary forward Milan Lucic said. "You have to take it like playoff mentality -- control what you can and we still control our own destiny.”
TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: MSG-Plus, Sportsnet West
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (35-23-10): Forward Brock Nelson reached a number of personal milestones in Tuesday's loss, scoring a pair of goals to match his career high of 26 (set in 2015-16) while becoming the 17th player in franchise history to reach 150. Nelson also established a career best with 54 points, but he has been bottled up by the Flames, managing only one goal and one assist in 12 meetings. Ladd, who missed the majority of the 2018-19 campaign, scored his first goal in his fourth appearance this season to leave him one shy of 250 for his career.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (36-27-7): Defenseman Travis Hamonic, who missed nearly five weeks due to an upper-body injury, has been medically cleared and could return against New York -- the team with which he played his first seven seasons. Hamonic would be a welcome addition after fellow blue-liner Noah Hanifin (upper body) missed practice for the second straight day. “Hammer is obviously another guy who plays top minutes,” captain Mark Giordano said of Hamonic. "He’s a warrior out there for us so when we get him back, it’s going to be a big boost, for sure.”
OVERTIME
1. Flames F Mikael Backlund has 10 goals and 22 points over his last 16 games.
2. The Islanders have lost seven straight games on the road (0-5-2).
3. Flames F Matthew Tkachuk has been held off the scoresheet only three times in 20 games since the All-Star break.