Devils at Islanders
The New York Islanders attempt to bounce back from a rare loss when they host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. New York had its five-game winning streak snapped Friday, dropping a 5-2 decision at Washington in the back end of a home-and-home series. Captain John Tavares and Anders Lee scored 35 seconds apart late in the first period to erase a 2-0 deficit, but Alex Ovechkin began a string of three straight tallies by the Capitals midway through the second to send the Islanders to their second defeat in 12 contests.
New Jersey suffered its third consecutive loss and fifth in six games Friday, squandering a three-goal lead en route to a 5-4 shootout defeat against visiting Detroit. Mike Cammalleri registered his second two-goal performance of the season and Jaromir Jagr recorded two points, including his 709th career tally. The veteran Czech moved past Mike Gartner for sixth place on the all-time list and trails Phil Esposito by eight for fifth.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New Jersey), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (9-10-4): Jagr raised his career point total to 1,770, putting him one behind Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne for fifth all-time. The 42-year-old, who leads New Jersey with 15 points, needs 29 more to surpass Ron Francis for fourth in NHL history. Adam Henrique recorded two assists Friday but did not play after the second period due to an upper-body injury and Travis Zajac took only four shifts in the third because of a lower-body ailment.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (16-7-0): New York's blue line got thinner Friday as Lubomir Visnovsky sat out the third period with an upper-body injury. The Islanders already were without fellow defenseman Johnny Boychuk due to a similar ailment. Jaroslav Halak is riding an eight-game winning streak during which he has posted three shutouts and allowed a total of 10 goals.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey C Patrik Elias' next assist will be the 600th of his career.
2. Tavares has tallied in two straight contests and three of his last four.
3. Devils G Cory Schneider has started all but one of his team's 23 games this season.