Flames at Islanders
THE STORY: There was a two-game stretch a little over a week ago in which the New York Islanders seemed to put it together and ended up with a pair of shootout victories on the road. The Islanders have been unable to maintain that pace over their last three contests, however. A 3-0 loss at the New York Rangers on Monday stretched the latest losing streak to three games, during which the Islanders have been outscored by a 12-5 margin. At least New York will be at home on Thursday when it tries to avoid a fourth straight setback against the visiting Calgary Flames. Streaking in the opposite direction, the Flames come in winners of four straight and have been particularly strong on the defensive end, yielding just five tallies during the streak. Two contests into a seven-game road trip, Calgary will move to .500 away from home with a win on Thursday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RSNC (Calgary), MSG+ (New York)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (18-15-4): Jarome Iginla scored on the power play in the third period and tallied in the shootout in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at Columbus. The Flames captain has eight points in the last seven games and five during the current four-game streak. Even more impressive has been the play of goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who has allowed four goals on 89 shots over his last three starts for a .955 save percentage. He denied all three attempts in the shootout to boot.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (11-17-6): The latest slide has sent New York back down into last place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders are last in the NHL with a total of 77 goals. Top line RW Kyle Okposo has one point over his last five games after a productive start to December. New York has shuffled through goaltenders due to injury, but has received solid production lately from Evgeni Nabokov. The Russian netminder is just 2-8-0 despite a reasonable 2.76 goals-against average.
OVERTIME:
1. Nabokov is 13-12-2-2 with a 2.44 goals-against average in 30 career starts against the Flames.
2. Iginla has eight goals and six assists in 16 career games against New York.
3. The Islanders have taken four of the last five meetings, dating back to Jan. 12, 2006.