Islanders at Stars
With losses in three of their last five contests (2-2-1), the New York Islanders find themselves with company atop the Metropolitan Division as they open a four-game road trip against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Nikolay Kulemin scored in Saturday's 5-3 loss to Carolina to extend his point streak to three contests and also notched a goal and two assists in New York's 7-5 triumph over Dallas on Oct. 25. Frans Nielsen recorded his first career hat trick in the win over the Stars but has been held without a point in each of his last five games.
Tied in points with the rival New York Rangers, the Islanders elected to shore up their goaltending and add forward depth at the trade deadline. For its part, sputtering Dallas was relatively quiet on the trading front, save for sending Erik Cole to Detroit for a pair of prospects and a draft pick prior to Sunday's 3-1 setback to Anaheim. Patrick Eaves scored a power-play goal in his return from a seven-game absence due to a concussion, but the Stars mustered nothing else en route to their sixth straight loss (0-4-2).
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (41-21-2): New York was busy prior to the trade deadline, acquiring Michal Neuvirth from Buffalo for fellow goaltender Chad Johnson and a third-round pick in the 2016 draft while also gaining the services of Tyler Kennedy from San Jose for a seventh-round selection. Neuvirth will serve as the backup to Jaroslav Halak, for whom he ironically was traded prior to last year's deadline. "Jaro Halak is having an outstanding season; he's a great goalie," Neuvirth said. "I think we'll be a great tandem. Hope we go deep in the playoffs."
ABOUT THE STARS (27-26-10): Jason Spezza, who scored and set up a goal in the previous meeting with the Islanders, was held off the scoresheet versus the Ducks after collecting 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in his previous 23 games. Dallas recalled Patrik Nemeth from Texas of the American Hockey League after fellow defensemen Trevor Daley and rookie John Klingberg were held out of Monday's practice for "maintenance days." The 23-year-old Nemeth appeared in five games with Dallas before suffering an arm laceration against Philadelphia on Oct. 18 and missed 52 games with the injury.
OVERTIME
1. New York also made a pair of moves involving players currently competing in the AHL, acquiring Dustin Jeffrey from Vancouver for fellow C Cory Conacher and RW Mark Louis from Arizona for G David Leggio.
2. Dallas assigned LW Curtis McKenzie and RW Brett Ritchie to its AHL club on Monday.
3. Islanders captain John Tavares is riding a three-game point streak and has collected 10 (four goals, six assists) in seven meetings with the Stars.