Blue Jackets at Islanders
The New York Islanders' dominance at home has hit a bump in the road recently with regulation losses in back-to-back tilts at the Barclays Center after a stellar 9-0-2 run. The Islanders look to rediscover the magic at home on Saturday afternoon when they host the season series finale against the Metropolitan Division-rival Columbus Blue Jackets.
The home team has won the previous three meetings this season, with New York improving to 8-0-3 in its last 11 meetings when Columbus pays a visit. Anders Lee didn't play in the Islanders' 4-2 home win on Jan. 24 but did notch his team co-leading 26th goal in Thursday's 4-2 setback to Winnipeg, which dropped New York one point behind Toronto for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Columbus has bigger fish to fry as its 2-1 victory over Florida on Thursday moved it within two points of first-place Washington for the Presidents' Trophy. "The top of our division is really tight," defenseman Zach Werenski said. "We want to be No. 1. We are not trying to slow down now. We are going to pick it up, and hopefully we can get first come the end of the season."
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FSN Ohio (Columbus), MSG-Plus (New York), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (45-18-6): Josh Anderson, who had a goal and an assist versus the Panthers, has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past 11 games. He has feasted on the Islanders this season with a tally in a 6-2 win on Dec. 10 before scoring twice in a 7-0 rout of New York on Feb. 25. Captain Nick Foligno and fellow forward Cam Atkinson also have excelled versus New York, with the former netting three goals while the latter had two tallies and two assists to add to his career-best totals in goals (32) and points (59).
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (33-26-11): Captain John Tavares (team-leading 60 points), who scored a goal and set up two others versus Columbus this season, had an assist against the Jets and remains two shy of becoming the 10th player to record 300 as an Islander. A heavy workload may be wearing on journeyman goaltender Thomas Greiss, who has started 12 straight games and competed in a career-high 43 this season - posting personal bests in wins (23) and shutouts (three). The 31-year-old has yielded 14 goals in his last four contests, earning an early hook after permitting four in an 8-4 setback by Carolina on Monday.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus G Sergei Bobrovsky boasts three shutouts, a 1.17 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage during his six-game winning streak.
2. New York LW Josh Bailey (team-leading 37 assists) has been held off the scoresheet in each of his last four contests.
3. Blue Jackets D David Savard recorded a fifth of his season's point total after scoring a goal and setting up three others in his last meeting with the Islanders.