Islanders at Devils
After concluding the Western Canadian portion of their seven-game road trip, the New York Islanders look to claim sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division when they visit the rival New Jersey Devils on Friday. New York, which resides one point behind Pittsburgh, emerged victorious in its first two stops of the trek to improve to 7-1-1 in a nine-game stretch before suffering a 5-2 loss to Edmonton on Sunday and a 3-2 setback to Vancouver two nights later. "Even the last three games, we haven't been quite ourselves and had that same pop – that same jump," Islanders forward Kyle Okposo said. "... It’s not time to panic, but we need to be better."
New Jersey would have every right to panic after going through the motions during its 3-0 setback to Boston on Thursday. The Devils yielded a season-high 43 shots on goal and mustered just 14 of their own - including seven over the first 40 minutes. "You have to get shots. We didn't get shots," general manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters after the contest.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), MSG (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (26-13-1): John Tavares netted five goals and set up four others in his previous seven games before being kept off the scoresheet versus the Canucks. The captain also collected six tallies and three assists in his last six meetings versus New Jersey before being held without a point in New York's 3-2 shootout win on Dec. 15. Jaroslav Halak has yielded seven goals in his last two contests but stopped 60-of-63 shots in a pair of victories over the Devils this season.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (15-21-7): Perhaps the lone bright spot in Thursday's debacle in Beantown was the play of Cory Schneider, who turned aside 40 shots in the loss. The high volume and the team's playing on back-to-back nights may allow Keith Kinkaid to make his fifth start of the season against New York. Kinkaid, whose last start came last Friday versus Montreal, turned aside 31 shots against the Islanders on Dec. 15.
OVERTIME
1. Should New York emerge victorious on Friday, the team would tie the franchise mark for wins halfway through the season with 27 - set during an 80-game campaign in 1978-79.
2. New Jersey C Patrik Elias needs one goal to become the 91st player to reach 400 for his career.
3. New York LW Matt Martin scored on Tuesday for his first point since Dec. 15.