Islanders at Predators
Music City has provided many positive notes for the Nashville Predators, and many sour ones for the New York Islanders. After clinching a third consecutive playoff berth and 10th in the last 13 seasons, the Predators vie for their eighth win in their last nine home outings against the Islanders on Tuesday when the clubs meet at Bridgestone Arena.
Ryan Johansen (team-best 47 assists, 61 points) scored in Nashville's 3-1 triumph over New York on March 27 and extended his point streak to three games in Sunday's 4-1 setback at St. Louis. The 24-year-old didn't feel much like celebrating after Sunday's loss dropped the team two points behind the third-place Blues, but the mood changed hours later after Arizona upended Los Angeles to secure a playoff berth for the Predators. New York has some work to do if it looks gain entry into the NHL's second season, as the Islanders find themselves six points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with four games remaining. "There's a ton of guys with a ton of pride in this room. No one's giving up," Anders Lee (team-leading 31 goals) told Newsday after recording his 12th career two-goal performance in Sunday's 4-2 victory over Buffalo.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus2 (New York), FSN Tennessee (Nashville), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (37-29-12): With injured captain John Tavares out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, Lee admitted that a little puck luck and intelligent play could go a long way for New York. "Sometimes you've got to get the bounces, and they went our way in the third period," Lee said Sunday. "When you lose a player like Johnny, you've got to keep it simple and play north-south." Josh Bailey (team-leading 39 assists), who scored his team's lone goal versus Nashville, could use a bit of a jolt after being held off the scoresheet in nine of his last 12.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (40-28-11): Pekka Rinne, who received the afternoon off Sunday, is expected back in net Tuesday with Nashville attempting to leap past Calgary for the top wild-card spot in the West. The Finn turned aside all 31 shots he faced in Saturday's 3-0 triumph over Minnesota and has yielded 14 goals during his last past eight starts (6-2-0). Filip Forsberg (team-leading 31 goals) is heating up again with two goals and an assist during his three-game point streak after mustering just four points (two goals, two assists) in his previous 10 contests.
OVERTIME
1. New York's 27th-ranked power play is just 3-for-33 in the last 11 games, although the club's penalty kill has denied 35 of its last 40 short-handed situations in the last 16 contests.
2. Nashville captain Mike Fisher has been held off the scoresheet in all three games since returning from a lower-body injury.
3. Islanders RW Josh Ho-Sang has recorded a goal, an assist and a plus-4 rating in his last two contests and has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 17 games since being recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League.