Islanders at Hurricanes
The New York Islanders look to rebound from their first home loss to a Metropolitan rival when they hit the road to face another division foe in the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Islanders saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt and fell to 11-1-0 at home versus Metropolitan members with a 6-5 setback to the New York Rangers on Monday. Captain John Tavares and defenseman Johnny Boychuk each scored versus the Rangers and both recorded a goal and four assists as the Islanders completed a home-and-home sweep of the Hurricanes to begin the season.
Carolina also experienced quite the offensive explosion on Monday, as Andrej Nestrasil and Jeff Skinner continued their strong stretches in a 6-3 victory over Ottawa. Nestrasil, who has three goals in four games, scored for the second consecutive contest and added two assists versus the Senators. Skinner tallied in his third straight outing for the cellar-dwelling Hurricanes, who are 10-5-3 in 2015.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), FSN Carolinas
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (37-19-1): Brock Nelson scored three goals and set up three others in the first two meetings with Carolina but has cooled considerably with just five points - all assists - in his last 18 contests. Jaroslav Halak yielded all six goals in a heavy workload on Monday, likely sending Chad Johnson into the crease versus Carolina. Johnson made 21 saves in a 4-3 victory on Oct. 11 to improve to 3-0-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average versus the Hurricanes.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (20-28-7): Jiri Tlusty set up a goal in Carolina's 5-3 loss to the Islanders on Oct. 10 before registering his second career hat trick the following night in a setback. Tlusty, however, has recorded just one goal and two assists in his last 14 games overall. Nathan Gerbe registered one of each versus the Senators after being held without a point in his seven previous contests.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina, which went 3-for-5 on the power play on Monday, converted on 4-of-9 opportunities in the first two meetings with the Islanders.
2. The Islanders have gone 4-for-8 with the man advantage against the Hurricanes this season but are 0-for-11 in the last four contests.
3. Carolina D Michal Jordan recorded his first career NHL goal and added two assists in two games since being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League.