Islanders at Lightning
The New York Islanders stuck a bandage on their bleeding playoff hopes last time out and look to build off that success when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. The Islanders, who also play at Carolina on Saturday during their brief Southern trek, knocked off Ottawa 3-1 on Wednesday to snap a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).
New York will host six of its final eight games of the regular season after the trip and trails Pittsburgh by one point for third place in the Metropolitan Division while clinging to a two-point lead over Philadelphia for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning eased their fears of dropping out of a playoff position by winning their last two contests and sit two points behind Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand. Captain Steven Stamkos has notched five goals and three assists in his last five games while Nikita Kucherov has scored in three straight contests for Tampa Bay, which is 1-0-0 on its six-game homestand. The Islanders posted a 3-2 win at Tampa Bay on Nov. 28 in the teams' first meeting this season.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, MSG Plus (New York), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (39-24-9): Captain John Tavares snapped a five-game goal-scoring drought on Wednesday to push his team-leading total to 27 and Brock Nelson (24) scored for only the third time in 16 contests. Impending free agent Kyle Okposo has scored three goals in his last six games and recorded 56 points – one behind Tavares for the team lead. J-F Berube made 22 saves on Wednesday for his second victory with the Islanders as he provided rest for Thomas Greiss (19-10-4, .927 save percentage), who has dropped three straight.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (42-26-5): Defenseman Victor Hedman continues to add to his Norris Trophy resume with four assists and a plus-5 rating (plus-20 overall) in his last three contests. Coach Jon Cooper has been going with seven defensemen in the lineup of late - mostly due to injuries to forwards Ryan Callahan (lower body) and Valtteri Filppula (upper body), who both are questionable for Friday. Vladislav Namestnikov scored his 13th goal in the 6-2 win over Detroit on Tuesday and is an impressive plus-17.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay G Ben Bishop is among the league leaders in goals-against average (2.02) and save percentage (.928).
2. Islanders D Nick Leddy ended a six-game point drought Wednesday with an assist and has 37 points overall – placing him fourth on the team.
3. New York has won three straight over the Lightning and has earned points in nine of the last 10 in the series (7-1-2).