Isles try to end 13-game slide on busy Wednesday

The New York Islanders would like nothing more than to reach Thanksgiving without the baggage that goes along with a 13-game losing streak.

The Isles come home for a game with the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets looking for their first win since Oct. 21. They've dropped 13 in a row since then, though they did get a point on Sunday in a 2-1 overtime loss at Atlanta. But ending their slide won't be easy: The Jackets have won four in a row and are coming off back-to-back shutout wins against San Jose and Nashville.

The Jackets-Islanders game is one of 13 on the NHL schedule for the night before Thanksgiving, and one of four that gets under way at 7 p.m. ET. The others include Pittsburgh at Buffalo, Washington at Carolina and Detroit at Atlanta.

Five more games start at 7:30 p.m. Los Angeles will try to bounce back from a 3-2 loss at Ottawa on Monday when it visits Montreal. The Canadiens lost 3-2 at Philadelphia on Monday. Dallas, a 4-1 loser at Toronto on Monday, visits Ottawa. Calgary tries to bounce back from a 2-1 loss at New York when it goes across the Hudson River to New Jersey, where the Devils routed Washington 5-0 on Monday. The Rangers start a road trip with a visit to Tampa Bay, which beat visiting Boston 3-1 on Monday. The Bruins move on to Florida, which lost 3-2 to Pittsburgh, also on Monday.

Two more games face off at 8 p.m. ET. Versus will be on hand in Nashville, where the Predators try to bounce back from a 2-0 loss at Columbus on Monday when they host St. Louis. Also, Philadelphia visits Minnesota, which has been off since losing 5-2 at home to the Rangers on Saturday.

At 10 p.m. ET, Vancouver tries to bounce back from weekend home losses to Chicago and Phoenix when it hosts Northwest Division rival Colorado, which has won four in a row and has been off since Saturday's 4-3 shootout win at Dallas. At 10:30, fans in the U.S. can tune into the NHL Network as Chicago visits San Jose. Both have been off since Saturday, when the Hawks won 7-1 at Vancouver while the Sharks were beaten 3-0 at home by Columbus.