At the Rink: Islanders at Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Defenseman Nick Leddy and goaltender Jaroslav Halak will return to the lineup for the New York Islanders against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Islanders coach Jack Capuano confirmed that Leddy, who has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury, and Halak, who missed the past two with a lower-body injury, will return following the Islanders optional morning skate.

Leddy will resume his normal role alongside Johnny Boychuk. Defenseman Calvin de Haan, who has no points in his past 19 games, will serve as a healthy scratch. Leddy leads all Islanders defensemen with 10 goals and a plus-17 rating.

"When you lose elite players you have a hole to fill," Capuano said about Leddy. "He means a great deal and is important. When you got a guy that can move the puck and work the power play, it's big."

Halak this season against the Devils is 3-0-0 with a 1.60 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.

"This is a great time of year to play with 10 games left; you want to make a push and play well as a team and you want to get guys that are starting to get healthy playing the way they want to play," Capuano said. "The teams are desperate, so they are all good matchups."

The Islanders, who have lost four straight, trail the New York Rangers by five points for first place in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have three games in hand on the Islanders. Capuano was asked if it is difficult not to pay attention to the standings at this stage in the season.

"It's easy for me not to look [at the standings] but I'm sure guys do it; I know that [John Tavares] is up there as far as the leading scorers and obviously you'd like to see him achieve and try to win the race, but for me it's about how we play and that's the most important thing," Capuano said. "I know our record hasn't been good lately but our play hasn't been bad, and that to me is the frustrating thing. When we do the analysis of the game, I'd be the first to say we're not playing well, but we need to stay the course and keep battling. Every team goes through stretches like this and it's going to happen, so hopefully as we move down the stretch we can get back on the winning track."

The Devils did not hold a morning skate after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Friday at First Niagara Center. Forward Patrik Elias, who has missed the past three games with back spasms, skated on his own at Prudential Center. Devils interim co-coach Lou Lamoriello said Elias was possible against the Islanders, according to NorthJersey.com.

Here are the projected lineups:

ISLANDERS

Josh Bailey - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo

Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Ryan Strome

Nikolay Kulemin - Frans Nielsen - Tyler Kennedy

Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck

Thomas Hickey - Travis Hamonic

Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk

Brian Strait - Matt Donovan

Jaroslav Halak

Michal Neuvirth

Scratched: Michael Grabner, Eric Boulton, Colin McDonald, Calvin de Haan

Injured: Mikhail Grabovski (upper body), Lubomir Visnovsky (lower body)

DEVILS

Adam Henrique - Scott Gomez - Steve Bernier

Martin Havlat - Travis Zajac - Jordin Tootoo

Dainius Zubrus - Stephen Gionta - Michael Ryder

Tuomo Ruutu - Jacob Josefson - Peter Harrold

Andy Greene - Adam Larsson

Jon Merrill - Damon Severson

Mark Fraser - Eric Gelinas

Cory Schneider

Keith Kinkaid

Scratched: None

Injured: Mike Cammalleri (ill), Patrik Elias (back spasms), Bryce Salvador (back), Ryane Clowe (concussion)

Status report: The Devils lineup will not be confirmed until later today. New Jersey recalled forwards Reid Boucher and Stefan Matteau from the Albany Devils of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis and each player skated Saturday. Cammalleri missed the game against the Sabres due to an illness and is questionable. If Elias and Cammalleri cannot play, Boucher and Matteau could factor into the lineup. … Capuano said the four lines he had in place in a 4-1 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks will remain intact against the Devils.

Who's hot: Tavares has three goals and seven points in the past seven games. … Henrique has a four-game point streak, scoring two goals and five points over that stretch. He has four goals and eight points in the past seven games.