The Islanders, 1-4-1 in their past six games, are coming off a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and look to enter the break with two straight wins. Goaltender Thomas Greiss, who made 48 saves, will start. "We have three goalies but when you play that well, you go back in," coach Jack Capuano said. "Hopefully he can build off that confidence." New York has lost its past three home games, getting outscored 15-8. "We obviously need to get some wins, put some things together and each point is valuable," said captain John Tavares, who will play despite appearing to sustain a hand injury in the third period against the Bruins. "One game before a few days to relax and enjoy being with your families and a great time of year, so we just want to put a great effort tonight and earn the two points." Tavares said it would probably be an emotional return for Okposo. "I'm sure there will be a lot of different feelings for him," he said. "I know after talking to him last week [after the Islanders' 3-2 win at Buffalo last Friday], he said it was one of the weirdest games he's played, so I'm sure he'll have some feelings, some thoughts come back to him stepping out onto the ice, but he'll probably feel after playing us last week. Obviously we want to make it tough on him and his linemates. He's a very good player, we know that, so it should be fun."
