Hurricanes at Islanders
The New York Islanders play their first game at Barclays Center in more than three weeks when they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday in the opener of a home-and-home series. New York ended a season-high nine-game road trip with a 4-3 loss at St. Louis on Saturday, finishing 5-3-1 on the trek, and sits one point behind Toronto for the second wild card in Eastern Conference.
The Islanders, who visit Carolina on Tuesday, fell behind 4-1 after 40 minutes Saturday before rallying for a pair of goals in the third period despite managing just six shots. “I think all we can do is keep chucking forward,” New York captain John Tavares told reporters. “We’re still in a good spot. We know we’re right there battling for that last wild card. There’s going to be some games where you don’t get the results and you’ve just got to keep moving forward.” Carolina has registered points in five of its last seven games (2-2-3) after a 3-2 overtime loss to Toronto on Saturday and is 5-0-2 in its last seven meetings with the Islanders. “We’ve got to find a way to finish some plays,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters told reporters Saturday after his team registered 38 shots.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (27-27-11): Jeff Skinner leads the team with 43 points and Victor Rask is next with 39 as they both have notched three in the last four contests while Teuvo Teravainen (33) has recorded four in his last five games. Valentin Zykov scored in his NHL debut against the New York Rangers on Thursday but played only 37 seconds against the Maple Leafs before leaving with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Justin Faulk is riding a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists) after enduring a nine-game drought.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (32-24-11): Tavares leads the team with 58 points after notching a pair of goals and three assists over his last four games while Josh Bailey, who is one point shy of 300 for his career, has helped set up five tallies in the same span. Anders Lee has scored two goals in the last three games to match his career high of 25, which he set in 2014-15. Thomas Greiss is beginning to show signs of fatigue after allowing four goals on 18 shots before being pulled on Saturday and has posted an .888 save percentage over his last seven contests.
OVERTIME
1. New York RW Cal Clutterbuck is one goal away from 100 for his career but is mired in an 18-game drought.
2. Carolina D Jaccob Slavin leads the team with a plus-15 rating and is coming off a season-high 29 minutes, 47 seconds of ice time.
3. The Hurricanes have gone 3-for-6 on the power play over the last two games, while the Islanders are 2-for-18 with the man advantage in their the past eight.