Islanders at Devils
THE STORY: The New York Islanders travel to New Jersey for the first game of a home-and-home with the Devils on Thursday. The Islanders have taken two of three meetings with the Devils this season. All three games have been decided by one goal. The clubs will clash again in Long Island on Saturday and finish the season series on Apr. 3. New York has strung together back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 31 and Feb. 3.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-PLUS (New York), MSG-PLUS 2 (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (28-29-9): The Islanders want to believe they're still in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but they're seven points back of eighth-place Winnipeg and sit in 13th place in the conference. New York is missing goaltenders Al Montoya (upper body) and Rick DiPietro (groin) and has been relying on rookie goalie Anders Nilsson. The Swedish netminder stopped all 24 shots he faced to blank the Devils 1-0 on Sunday and earn his first career win. Nilsson became the first Islanders goalie to record a shutout on his first career victory.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (37-24-5): New Jersey is sixth in the East with 79 points and is coming off an impressive 4-1 victory over the conference-leading New York Rangers on Tuesday. Forward Ilya Kovalchuk snapped a nine-game scoring drought with a goal in the first period. The scoring slump was his longest since December 2008. The Russian sniper has 17 goals and 36 points in 41 career games against the Islanders. Forward David Clarkson has four points in his last four contests.
OVERTIME:
1. The Devils will get forward Alexei Ponikarovsky back in the lineup. He missed the last three games with a sprained MCL.
2. The Islanders have the third best road power play in the NHL at 21.8 percent, while the Devils boast the second best home penalty kill in the league at 88 percent.
3. Islanders forward Josh Bailey has four goals in his last four games.