Goaltender Chad Johnson will start his second consecutive game and forward Mikhail Grabovski is likely to return to the lineup when the New York Islanders host the Dallas Stars on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.
Johnson stopped 30 shots Thursday as the Islanders defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 at TD Garden. He's 2-0-0 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in three games.
"You can get on a good rhythm and a good routine the more you play," Johnson said, according to the Islanders website. "The more you play the more confident you’re going to be. The comfort and confidence go hand-in-hand the more you play, the better off it's going to be."
Grabovski hasn't played since sustaining an upper-body injury Oct. 16 against the San Jose Sharks. Coach Jack Capuano said if "all goes well … he'll be in the lineup [Saturday]."
Defenseman Travis Hamonic, who missed the game Thursday with an upper-body injury, remains day-to-day and won't play Saturday. Forward Josh Bailey will miss a couple weeks with a broken hand. Capuano said Bailey is scheduled to see another doctor regarding the injury.
The Stars come off a 3-2 shootout victory at the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Kari Lehtonen didn't take part in an optional practice Saturday after starting against the Devils, and it appears Anders Lindback will get the start in net.
Here are the projected lineups:
STARS
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Colton Sceviour
Erik Cole - Jason Spezza - Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel - Cody Eakin - Ryan Garbutt
Shawn Horcoff - Vernon Fiddler - Patrick Eaves
Jyrki Jokipakka - Jamie Oleksiak
Scratched: Curtis McKenzie, Kevin Connauton
Injured: Sergei Gonchar (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (lower body), Patrik Nemeth (arm laceration)
ISLANDERS
Cory Conacher - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Mikhail Grabovski - Frans Nielsen - Nikolay Kulemin
Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Ryan Strome
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Thomas Hickey - Lubomir Visnovsky
Injured: Travis Hamonic (upper body), Michael Grabner (lower body), Matt Carkner (back), Josh Bailey (hand).